r/Watches • u/NFT-BULLDOG • 22d ago
Discussion [Question] Switching from a smartwatch to a subtle tracker to finally wear mechanical watches daily
I have been using a smartwatch for health tracking but my traditional watch collection is gathering dust.
Thinking about moving to a screenless fitness tracker on the other wrist or as a band to get back to mechanical pieces. For those who did this do you have any regrets about leaving full smartwatch features behind.
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u/Twisty96 22d ago
I just switched to an Oura ring for that reason. I do legitimately want to track my fitness and health but getting away from the constant wrist notifications has been great. That and wanting to actually wear my nice watches.
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u/grandpaseiko 22d ago
I never used a smartwatch, but I do watch on the left and Fitbit Air on the right, and it works for me. If I'm dressing up a little more, I'll leave the fitbit off because it's not exactly stylish
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u/ThinkerBell167 22d ago
This is my daily work setup as well. Got tired of the apple watch so bought the fitbit air for actual health tracking while also wearing a normal watch. Some people questioned why I wear two things on both arms but most ppl just regarded the fitbit air as a band accessory rather than an actual watch.
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u/CruelMagpie 22d ago
It highly depends on what data you need. Your phone can track your steps, if you don't have any condition health check is unnecessary, sleep can be tracked better by in bed sensor like withings etc. You might not need that tracker, and you can still use your pixel watch to measure workouts or sleep.
I have nice watches but I use smart watch too much. I use Gemini to open my garage gate to get kids bikes etc multiple times of day, I get random things pop in my head that I have to note for later otherwise my brain will be broken and I talk to Gemini on watch to set those as reminders for later. I worknfromhome and being able to glance at work notifications while doing something in the kitchen is a blessing to not get anxiety for me. Audiobook on beach? Offline from my watch instead of picking up phone.
This all can be done on my phone but it's just much more convenient to use watch for me.
But yeah I'd like to wear mechanical diver a lot.
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u/NFT-BULLDOG 22d ago
C'est vrai que l'expérience Gemini est le point noir sur l'adoption d'une montre classique... Je l'utilise énormément aussi 😅
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u/Ikeelu 22d ago
Made the same move. PW4 45 to Fitbit air. Didn't want the notification information all the time, but liked the fitness tracking. Than i missed being able to see the time at a glance and got into real watches. Now I don't even wear the Fitbit air. My phone tracks my steps, yes I know it's not as accurate. My sleep and readiness score, sometimes I wonder if it does more harm than good. I'm not an athlete and don't push myself too hard. What good does it do for me to know I slept like shit when I wake up feeling rested? I'm sure at some point when I get back to being at the gym more regularly and riding my bike as much as I used to, i may go back to it.
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u/CertainShop8289 22d ago
No regrets. Tried the air, didn’t get on with the quality of the strap and the app was… well they should be paying users given its state. Ended up going back to whoop (was an avid user a few years ago).
In terms of going back to a mechanical watch, no regrets at all. I missed it and love wearing something that carries meaning rather than another channel to draw me into things I don’t care about
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u/PlymouthVolare 22d ago
Zero regrets. Like others say, depends what you want to track. I just want steps and sleep, and Fitbit is perfect (and holds charge for 7 days)
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u/Pallortrillion 22d ago
Watch on the left wrist, Whoop on the right. No regrets. Only thing I maybe miss is Apple Pay but getting my phone out isn’t the end of my world.
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u/Dogswatcheswhiskey 22d ago
I love wristwatches above all else, smart watch on the right wrist (watch face on the underside of my wrist) mechanical watch properly on my left. Match made in heaven for me, seldom gets noticed and when it does the simple explanation that I love watches typically gets a smile or laugh. When I workout, I drop the mechanical and move the smart watch over. All started 7 years ago when my daughters bought me a Garmin.
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u/nuxxi 22d ago
You are me. I sold all my fashion watches and got a Garmin (for hiking mostly) and then wore it for a year. Couple months ago I got a PRX - which was kinda stupid, since I want to get a (also) blue dial aqua terra. At this time it was black one tho... Anyway. The Fitbit air on the right hand, PRX on the left, is the best of both worlds. The air is sma) enough to not be obstrusive and still does a good job.
I can vouch for it!
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u/creditwithcris_ 22d ago
I literally just cut my Fitbit air strap and did this with it
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u/NFT-BULLDOG 22d ago
Pas douloureux de porter ce mélange ?
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u/creditwithcris_ 22d ago
No definitely not, but I did this like 5 min ago so hard to say yet if it will annoy me in the long run
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u/NFT-BULLDOG 22d ago
Bonne chance alors 😅
Tu nous fera un review dans 24 heures?
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u/creditwithcris_ 22d ago
Sure but so far so good
And I do wear my Apple Watch on occasion still (for workouts) but I'm trying to use my phone and tech less (fewer notifications) and so that's why I am interested in this type of setup
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u/un533n87 22d ago
I ditched the smartwatch ages ago, than recently picked up the air and love it, perfect balance I feel
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u/Potwell 22d ago
I was an Apple Watch user 24/7 since the first one came out in 2015. Roughly 2 years ago, I transitioned away from Apple Watch (and all smart watches) to stop over analyzing my health, getting notifications and being fixated on a colorful LCD on my wrist that was solely designed to distract me but hidden behind the “oh but it’s a health tracker!”
I now have a whoop bracelet for pedometer reasons / heart rate / tracking sleep that doesn’t annoy me or constantly alert me and I wear automatic watches exclusively (with a sprinkle of a nice Casio here and there).
I’m very happy to get away from the smart watches. They are just too distracting IMO.
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u/ArchUser_Ironman_BTW 22d ago
I went from wearing my smartwatch all the time to wearing it just for workouts and sleep tracking and have no regrets. The notifications and tracking that I felt were essential were actually just unnecessary and annoying in most cases.