Top 5 Smart Watches: 2015

Watches for technophiliacs have come a long way since the calculator watch. Today, you can tote a lot more than a low-grade Texas Instrument on your wrist. Smart Watches are loaded with apps, Internet capability, and a few even look like watches. But not all Smart Watches are created equal. Here’s our top five.

5. Samsung Gear 2

With its built-in mic/speaker, this Smart Watch takes calls as handily as Dick Tracy’s. It’s ideal for running simple apps like a weather indicator, keeping your contact list, or running a heart monitor. As Smart Watches go, it’s one of the least strange-looking. Even with its built-in camera, the Gear 2 doesn’t beg for attention and represents several design refinements over its predecessor.

4. Moto 360

If you’ve got your heart set on owning a Smart Watch but can’t tear yourself away from that classic watch look, the Moto 360 is on your short list. Its polished circular stainless-steel body contains everything you expect from a Smart Watch. A 320 x 290-pixel screen displays a convincing watch face when it isn’t running other applications. The 360 is also one of the most rugged Smart Watches around, with its practically unbreakable Gorilla Glass face, wireless charging and water resistance.

3. LG Urbane

Not to be outdone by the Moto 360, Android’s LG Urbane is perfectly disguised as a watch. It would take a sharp eye to distinguish it by the pixelated screen- otherwise it is indistinguishable from an ordinary luxury watch. It comes with Google’s famous portable operating system and access to thousands of apps. The user can cycle through menus with gesture and voice commands. It comes with a heart rate monitor and will display any notification your phone receives. In a competition for Most Stylish Smart Watch, the LG would take first place, hands down.

2. The Pebble

Value shoppers stop here. The Pebble sells for just $99, gives you access to thousands of apps and is water resistant. It comes in a selection of colors and delivers all the functionality of other Smart Watches inside a housing that isn’t afraid to admit that it is, in fact, a piece a wearable tech. Like the famous 1973 Volkswagon Thing, the Pebble screams functionality and economy.
A sleeker version is now available for twice the price. And while it’s not the fashion statement in sensibility that its predecessor is- it’s still got one of the nicest prices you’ll find in a Smart Watch.

1. Apple Watch

What did you expect? Just like Apple computers, this Smart Watch does everything its competitors do, but it does it slicker, longer, cooler and at a steeper price. It is the most versatile Smart Watch on the market with its bright screen that shines even in full sunlight. Its innovative Taptic Engine generates an alert vibration to indicate incoming calls, text, or notifications. The underbelly tracks heart rate and an NFC chip allows it to facilitate mobile payments. It’s limited in the area of fitness apps and the interface is so featureful that it takes some getting used to. But if you’ve got to have the best, this is it.

Source:

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-smartwatches,review-2156.html

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/samsung-galaxy-gear-2,review-2154.html