Help went with cheap smartwatch

[Pedro Vera]

It was sort of the testing of the pool water by putting in my big toe. I bought a cheap smartwatch on ebay. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bluetooth-...var=641800998695&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

(it says 'samsung-iPhone'. I bought this even though I have a Motorola phone)

The smartwatch wants me to install SimvalleySmartwatch-APP to my phone but this app is not on Google Play and I can got to https://simvalley-smartwatch.en.softonic.com/android to download APK, but Android does not allow me to install it. Yikes!

Google Play does have other Smartwatch apps, but I tried one and it does not seem to work with this watch. Is there a recommended Smartwatch app? is there a recommended Smartwatch?

 

[Hadron]

Well on the bright side, you didn't waste much money on it

The question is, why does your phone not allow you to install it? Bear in mind that by default installation from sources other than the Play Store is disabled, so you have to allow that before you can install and apk. If that's all it is then you shouldn't read anything into it. That said, you should only install apks from trusted sources, so you do need to decide whether you trust these people.

From what I've seen it looks like that app is designed for that company's watches, and if they are not using standard interfaces it's unlikely anyone else is going to bother making an app for them. So it probably is that app or nothing.

I'm not into smartwatches (the watch I'm wearing today is powered by a spring rather than a battery...), so not an expert. But a WearOS watch (Google's smartwatch app) will either require no app or a very standard one you can install from the Play Store. Samsung's own smartwatches will be similarly straightforward (Samsung watches usually run their own OS rather than Wear). I couldn't recommend a watch without knowing what features and design you want and what your budget is.

 

[Pedro Vera]

"what your budget is"

I went with $15 watch instead of the $300 watch. I somehow thought a generic watch would work.

 

[Hadron]

The question is, would you be interesting in buying a $300 watch, or would it be a waste of time anyone suggesting one? That's what I meant by "what is your budget?": someone might decide to try a cheap watch to see whether they got on with smartwatches rather than necessarily because the cheap watch was their only option, so I try not to make assumptions.

Whatever that watch is based on is probably less "generic" than WearOS, in that there are many WearOS watches but probably few others that use the same system and interfaces as that one. It's very possible that your watch will work (to the level you might expect for a $15 watch) if you install the software. You haven't said anything about why you were unable to do that, i.e. whether it's just that you've not enabled "unknown source" app installation on your phone.

 

[codesplice]

The trouble with inexpensive wearables is that they're often very poorly supported - as evidenced by the app not being available in the Play Store. It may work, but it may not have been updated in years and might not be compatible with recent versions of Android. And it probably won't integrate well - nor would I, personally, trust it to have access to my contacts and messages and fitness data and such.

The hardware may function just fine but I'd wager that the hardware is actually the less important part of the smartwatch equation. No matter how good the hardware is, without polished software to match you're probably going to have a pretty poor experience.

Wear OS has plenty of issues but it does at least seem to be pretty consistent across different watch hardware. I've worn watches from Huawei, ZTE, LG, Fossil, and now Misfit (the last of which I picked up for $15) and the experience has been largely the same. I know what to expect from it. Keep an eye out and you can probably find a decent Fossil watch for under $100, and you'd probably have a decent experience with it - and wouldn't have to gamble with a shady sideloaded application. It might not have all the bells and whistles and smooth performance of a $300 smartwatch but I'm getting on just fine with that $15 Misfit Vapor X.

 

[mikedt]

"what your budget is"

I went with $15 watch instead of the $300 watch. I somehow thought a generic watch would work.

That $15 cheapo, like many of these things, is anything but "generic" . As it requires some proprietary app from an unknown manufacturer, that only works with that particular watch. It also might be phoning home your private info to servers in China, for aggregation and sale to other third parties.

 

[dontpanicbobby]

I had one of those @Pedro Vera
You'll probably get a year of use out of it.
Just use the apps on the watch. Google Play won't work with it.
They do do their primary function of keeping time very well.