You can reply to messages with canned responses or voice dictation on Android, but not if used with an iPhone. Notifications from your phone are fairly basic, showing texts and alerts, but no images from chats, smart cameras or similar. Press and hold it to invoke Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant for voice queries, timers and other functions, which are responsive as long as the watch has a good connection to your phone. Press the side button once to return to the watch face, or twice to access four quick shortcuts for music, apps and other functions. Swipe down from the top for smartphone notifications, up for widgets including health stats and the weather, left for apps and right for quick settings. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardianįitbit’s software is fairly slick.

There are built-in apps for timers, alarms, health monitoring and viewing your calendar, but good third-party apps are a little thin on the ground.

Batteries in other smartwatches typically last for at least 500 cycles while maintaining at least 80% of their original capacity. Sustainabilityĭespite publishing a sustainability statement, Fitbit declined to answer any of the Guardian’s sustainability questions, including on the use of recycled materials, whether the watch is repairable and the costs to do so out of warranty, and battery lifespan, losing it a star. The watch connects to the Fitbit app on your Android or iPhone via Bluetooth, but also has wifi for downloading updates, apps and similar. A 26-minute run with the screen on and GPS active consumed 6% of the battery, meaning it should last the length of a marathon or so. I had to charge it before bed every other night with everything turned on, running a couple of times a week, tracking walks and my sleep. The battery can last up to six days between charges, but lasts more like two with the screen on all the time, calls and notifications turned on, and using some of the more advanced health monitoring features. The watch charges to 100% in 77 minutes or 50% in 26 minutes with a small magnetic USB-A puck that clips to the back.

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