I tried to give smartwatches a second chance, but it didn’t go well

For most of my life, I’ve been the kind of tech geek who gets excited about the next big thing. I don’t always jump in immediately, but if I see long-term potential, I usually want to try it. That’s been true for VR, AI, smart home gear, and even wearables.

I remember being genuinely hyped for the Moto 360. It felt like the next evolution after smartphones. Once I had my own, I instantly fell in love with it. Tracking health data from my wrist, using Google voice commands, and occasionally leaving my phone behind for quick tasks all felt futuristic and exciting.

Over the next few years, I tried fitness trackers, hybrid watches, and even devices like the TicWatch line. Eventually, though, the novelty wore off. Notifications became overwhelming, screens felt cramped, battery life was frustrating, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that the smartwatch created as many problems as it solved. By around 2018, I stopped wearing one entirely.

More than five years later, I decided to try again. I picked up a second-hand Galaxy Watch 7. It was affordable enough to feel low risk but modern enough to represent what today’s smartwatches can actually do. And to be fair, things have improved a lot.

In the end, though, I went back to my traditional wristwatch. There is a lot to like about modern smartwatches, but they still aren’t for me.

Design-wise, this is easily one of the best smartwatches I’ve worn. It’s similar in footprint to the Moto 360, but far more polished. It’s comfortable, lightweight, and the quick-release straps make customization easy. The controls are intuitive, and it feels like a mature product instead of an experiment.

Software is where some of the biggest improvements show. Compared to early Android Wear and even early Wear OS iterations, the experience is dramatically faster. Transitions are smooth, apps open reliably, and the watch doesn’t feel like it’s constantly fighting itself.

Samsung’s customization layer also adds personality without breaking the core experience. I also appreciate the four years of promised One UI and Wear OS upgrades, which wasn’t necessarily the case with many early watches.

Surprisingly, I also liked some of the Galaxy AI-powered touches. I could take or leave personalized wellness advice, but features like suggested replies were genuinely convenient.  I also appreciated the Energy Score system, which combines sleep and activity data to estimate how you’re likely feeling.

Health tracking in general feels more refined and accurate than what I used years ago. The addition of sensors like SpO2 came in handy when I had a mild case of COVID last year. ECG support is another strong addition, especially for users with heart concerns.

Battery life has also improved. Where the Moto 360 often needed a charge by evening, the Watch 7 comfortably lasts a day and a half for me. I even stretched it into a third day once, though that required charging by late morning.

By almost every measurable metric, the Galaxy Watch 7 is a massive leap forward from the smartwatches I gave up on years ago. The problem is that my issues with smartwatches aren’t really about the hardware anymore.

I like the idea of a smartwatch replacing my phone for short bursts around the house and my yard. In practice, the small screen still limits that vision.

Even on larger models, the experience is constrained. There are useful apps, but most tasks still feel abbreviated. I also think that part of the problem is that after the novelty wears off, I don’t really need most of the smartwatch’s capabilities.

Modern smartwatches seem to focus primarily on notifications and health tracking, as well as a way to quickly make changes to settings without needing to bust out your phone. The latter of these functions might matter more to me if my phone wasn’t often sitting next to me in the work day or easily reachable from my pocket the rest of the time.

Let’s also talk about notifications. As someone who already feels overwhelmed easily by constant pings for my attention, adding them to my wrist can be too much. Yes, you can fine-tune alerts. I disabled everything except critical notifications, which helped a lot. Still, that kind of triage takes effort, and not everyone wants to put in that effort.

Even with notifications disabled, I found the watch might be more pleasant, but it also ends up having limited utility. In fact, I primarily used it to tell time, track sleep and health metrics, or as an occasional shortcut over bringing out my phone. The first two of these features were genuinely helpful at first. Over time, though, I felt both features became less essential unless something changed in my routine.

Once I settled into consistent lifting and cycling habits, I didn’t need constant monitoring. I now track only intense sessions or new activities. For that, even an older Fitbit handles the basics just fine.

The smartwatch might appeal to me in theory, but in reality, it feels more like using the cover screen on a Galaxy Flip. Early on, I experimented with tools like Good Lock to unlock the Flip’s potential beyond the out-of-the-box experience. After months of ownership, though, I found that the limited app experience meant most of the time I ended up unfolding the phone to complete the task anyhow.

The same story plays out for the smartwatch, at least in my case. It’s useful for alerts, but I usually end up grabbing my phone anyway. That means I’m still carrying my phone around the house, which undercuts the watch’s value for me.

Then there’s battery life.

Yes, a day and a half is impressive for a smartwatch. But compared to a traditional watch that lasts for years on a single battery, it’s not close. Ironically, two-day battery life can make charging less habitual, increasing the chances you forget and end up with a dead watch that can’t even tell time.

There are solutions like hybrid watches, which offer longer battery life by cutting features, but they’re often expensive and still don’t match the simplicity or longevity of a traditional timepiece. And that’s part of the deeper issue for me.

A traditional watch is lighter, often built with better materials, and designed to last decades. It doesn’t depend on software updates or platform support. A smartwatch, by contrast, is effectively a tiny phone. In four or five years, it’s likely to be outdated. For some people, that trade-off makes perfect sense. For me, it doesn’t.

Despite my personal preference, I still think smartwatches are excellent products. I actually gave the Galaxy Watch 7 to my wife to replace her aging smartwatch, and she loves it. She’s more socially connected and more responsive to notifications, so the constant access genuinely benefits her.

Likewise, for fitness enthusiasts who thrive on detailed metrics, smartwatches are incredibly useful, especially models with built-in GPS. For people who rely on immediate alerts, they can be essential as well. Even safety features can justify ownership for some. Car crash detection, fall detection, and loss of pulse detection on select Pixel Watch and Galaxy Watch models add meaningful peace of mind.

The bottom line is that there are many types of users who can benefit from a modern smartwatch. They’re faster, more capable, and more polished than ever. But for me, I’d rather wear my Timex Weekender. It’s simple, reliable, comfortable, and always ready. No updates. No charging schedule to remember. It just works.

Could I try smartwatches again someday? Absolutely. If we get multi-week battery life and a more transformative interface like a foldable display, I’d definitely be interested. For now, though, I’m sticking with the old school option.