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Comment by bambax | Hacker News Reader

> That perfect watch is impossible to build

Do not compare to the Apple watch; have you looked at Garmin's Fenix 3? It has an always-on screen, a compass that works EVERYWHERE including indoors, on airplanes, in underground car parks, etc., a super-accurate GPS, and all the other functions you would need. Its battery lasts over a week when not using GPS, or 24hrs with GPS.

It doesn't need a phone to operate, it's very sturdy and what's more, it's round (square watches are ugly, how do makers of other "smart" watches not see that???)

It's a bit thick but not too heavy. I've had it for a year and couldn't live without it.

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Too bad it looks like you literally have a computer mounted to your wrist.

http://www.wareable.com/media/images/2015/04/uber-1428589196...

Good lord, that's hideous! I'd go for the Apple Watch over that, even though I also prefer round watch faces.

Better photo:

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRP5vxx...

Lol nope.

The page for that watch hasn't been updated since 2011. I wouldn't put much faith in it.

I disagree about the style. A sleek square smartwatch is a lot less ugly than that bulky, messy Garmin. There's no reason to make it round, it's not analogue, it's digital, it displays text and images. Round displays just cut off text and anything that scrolls. Square is far more functional.

What page? I didn't point to any page. The Fenix 3 came out in March 2015 so I'm not sure what you're saying.

Regarding square vs round, if you look at the high-end watch market it's a ratio of maybe 1-10 in favor of the round watch. Why the makers of smart watches thought they could ignore this, I don't know.

In regard to the compass aspect, why would the compass work mostly everywhere? Indoor is not a problem for the earth magnetic field, nor is a airplane.. The GPS not working everywhere (specially indoors) makes sense: it can't receive the satellites signals. But a compass is made with a magnetometer which works indoors and in airplanes, etc. Only problems will be in the poles and near objects producing strong magnetic fields..

Yeah I though about that when writing it. I don't know.

What I do know is I used to wear a Tissot T-Touch which has a compass, and it doesn't work everywhere. Not in underground car parks, and certainly not on airplanes.

Maybe it's specific to the Tissot, I'm not sure.

Maybe they are using GPS as a compass?

This. Many mobile, or even vehicle (GPS) compasses are not magnetic at all, but are doing point to point math on your GPS coordinates to "determine" your compass heading.

A compass is influenced by anything that disturbs the local magnetic field: magnets, metal objects, electrical currents, etc.

The magnetometer is always recalibrating itself, so changes to the local magnetic field can be cancelled out.

How? Sensor fusion with a gyroscope will help transient problems, like walking past some iron rebar, but would have to drift back to the magnetometer's reading if in a long-term situation. Using the GPS as a compass is pretty sketchy, too, AFAIK. Is there some smarter trick?

> and near objects producing strong magnetic fields.

Or any ferrous material that distorts magnetic fields locally, such as steel beams, rebar in concrete, electric cables, etc. You can map an office building by measuring the local magnetic field distortion.

Compass everywhere sounds easy until you try it.

That thing is a brick compared to a Pebble Time Round and over twice the price. I don't need a GPS or compass in my watch, so it's not for me.

Could you say more about your use cases?

For me, the point of a smartwatch is that it serves as a secondary interface to my phone. I like that my phone stays in my pocket more, because then I'm less likely to be rude because of my phone, or to have to drag it out just to see what that notification was.

I've owned and used an earlier Garmin watch for running and I loved it, but eventually stopped using it because I just didn't need to maintain another separate device. But clearly you're up to something else than me.

Well, glancing at your watch when you receive a notification is even ruder, because then the other party thinks you're bored! ;-)

I really like having a compass, I'm not sure why but when I get lost in a town (at night) I usually can find my way back if I know where North is. Some people always know where North is -- not me, but I usually can figure out where everything else is, relative to the North.

I sometimes take walks in the woods with my kids and like to track where we've been. You can do this with a phone but then you have to have the proper app, launch it, etc. I don't like to use my phone for anything else but calls (I'm old). With the Fenix it's just the push of a button.

You can use GPS also to record where your car is, and it will direct you back to it; this is useful everywhere.

Also, as a photographer, if you record your tracks when shooting you can later import GPS data to photographs (some cameras have GPS but not all, it doesn't work too well and it drains the battery).

It remembers my sleeping patterns, which is completely useless but nice to look at, in a narcissistic kind of way.

Science is finding that sleep, and sleep patterns are very important to mental health and well-being. If you have trouble regulating your sleep, there's a bit more to the concept than "completely useless" and "narcissistic".

The primary benefit is for people who do a lot of distance-based athletics. I bought one recently because in addition to all the usual smart-phone/fitbit features, it works so well as a stand-alone athletic device. Now I can go running with just the watch for GPS+HR and a lightweight iPod shuffle clipped to my waistband for music. No more gigantic phone bouncing around in an armband. Plus the battery life is insanely good so you can easily track hours-long activities with plenty of juice to spare. It also can be used to track swimming and other water sports that you'd normally avoid using your phone for at all. I do some hunting, so I like that I can set a waypoint when I park and use the track-back feature in case I get turned around in the woods.

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