Three best smartwatch options for Indian users

Every year does have its own trend Last year it was large phone displays Before that multicore processors on handsets And this year it seems to be wearable technology in general and smartwatches mdash watches that do a bit more than just tell the time mdash in particular Almost every notable tech brand in the market is working on some sort of smartwatch or the other Interestingly though not too many are available in the market at the time of writingWhat cannot be denied however is that the coming year will see a flood of such gizmos mdash even Apple is believed to be working on one However if you are the impatient type and love to wear your tech on your wrist you can still choose from three smart watches that are accessible in the Indian marketSamsung Galaxy Gear Powerful but not for everyoneRemember all those films where characters could make calls and take photographs from their wristwatches Well the Samsung Galaxy Gear delivers just that In terms of versatility no smartwatch in the market comes even close to what it delivers mdash you can take pictures make and receive calls check mail and and do almost everything that you can on your handset on the device short of typing out messages What holds the Gear from being an out and out winner is the fact that it stumbles on the watch front The camera on the strap is an eyesore in aesthetic ones The strap cannot be changed because it has a camera on it Some of the sensors donrsquot work as smoothly as expected mdash we found it did not show the time every time we looked at it At the time of writing it worked only with a select number of devicesBut this is the only smartwatch in India that supports calling and photography It used to be very expensive but Samsung has cut its price even as we got to print making it perhaps the gold standard for smart watchesPrice Rs 15290Pros Does almost everything a phone can It comes with a camera and calling optionsCons Works with a limited number of devices Strap cannot be changed Perfect for Those who want to make heads turn And they WILL turn every time you take a call and a photographPebble The frontrunnerThe Pebble is for many people synonymous with a Smartwatch Unlike many of its competitors it does not come with a very stiff price tag and is also not restricted to a particular OS mdash the Pebble works with both iOS and Android devices While it does not boast of a spectacularly colourful display the fact that it is based on eink similar to what you see on the Kindle ebook readers means that not only is it very visible in sunlight but also that the battery life is excellent It connects over Bluetooth but we found we could get by with about a single charge a week There are a number of apps being developed for it and even talk of a Pebble app storeBest of all this looks the most like a watch even while delivering all the functions that you would expect from a smart devicePrice R10000 approxPros Works with Android and iOS Simple design lots of appsCons Getting it in India can be complex Display not colourful Perfect for The geek and the app lovers who treasure simplicity and innovationSony SmartWatch 2 Getting better but not perfectSonyrsquos second attempt at a smartwatch is significantly better than its first one Not only does the SmartWatch 2 look much better than its predecessor which had to be clipped on to a strap but it also comes with the ability to work with most Android devices Setting up is still a bit of a pain as you have to download apps on your phone first but in terms of appearance the SmartWatch 2 manages to look more than a watch than its predecessor although it remains a chunky affair Whatrsquos more you can now switch its strap easily too any 24 mm strap will work It still works over Bluetooth but battery life is much better mdash three to four days on a single charge is what we have seen Sony is also working on a number of apps for the device and in terms of checking mail and social networks we did find it working more smoothly than the competition showing more information and letting us view long updates without too much trouble We would have liked a brighter display and support for iOS but maybe that will come in the next iteration of the SmartWatch Sony does seem to be learning from experiencePrice Rs 14990Pros Works across most Android devices Has its own appsCons Bulky Not the brightest displayPerfect for Those who value information and the convenience of not having to pull out their phones every time to get it