Top 10 Best Small Smart Watch Review

What is a smartwatch?

Many people picture smartwatches as talking wrist devices. We prefer to think about it as an upgraded timepiece, that not only helps you organize but actively simplifies your life. Smart phone users are on average taking their phone out of their pocket more than 100 times a day. The smartwatch enables to eliminate 2/3 of the repetitive moves by simply monitoring and controlling most of your smart phone applications from your wrist.

Is a smartwatch a wearable smart phone?

Remember that when soldiers began to tie their pocket watches to their wrists to facilitate time consultation, most people considered it silly:

Top 10 Best Small Smart Watch

Boddie by Rearden Technology

Boddie, your buddy smartwatch. Let’s meet a newcomer in the smartwatch Industry! Rearden Technology, a Polish company just launched its indiegogo crowd-funding campaign to finance the development of their first wrist wearable connected device: the Boddie. It is developed by a dream team of tech enthusiast and microelectronics experts.

The Boddie smartwatch simplifies your life: it enables you to display all your notifications on your wrist (SMS, emails, Calendar, Facebook or Twitter) and even enables you to read messages without taking your smartphone out of your pocket. While you receive a call, the watch’s screen will show up your contact’s name and let you take or reject the call with a swipe of hand.  It also includes a camera trigger and a music controler.

PPT addict are going to fall for it: developers announced that you will be able to command your slide presentations from your wrist be it for Windows, Mac OS or Linux.

The Boddie smartwatch is your new personal trainer

Not only the Boddie has a sporty look due to an extended range of flashy colors and the use of rubber band, it will fit adapt to and enhance your workout routine. Its accelerometer and digital compass will help you track your steps, running distance and burned calories through its fitness app.

Boddie is the battery life friendly smartwatch

If you are a returning reader of smartwatchiz.com you know that one of our key concerns remains the watches’ battery life. Just like smart phones, you don’t want to have to plug your connected device all the time. Boddie’s developer might have heard our prays and have announced a CPU consuming 16 times less energy than Peeple’s one. We will of course have to test it but Boddie enables you to turn it all off!

There is one more feature included in the Boddie, something you might have dreamt of: a switch to silence all your notifications: simply rotate your Boddie and enjoy the sound of silence. It connects to iOS and Android through Bluetooth 4.0.

Drive Smart With Your Nissan Nismo Smartwatch

The smartwatch world is about to welcome a new actor in a very specific role: the car-connected-smartwatch! And the winner (and only nominee so far) is: The Nissan Nismo smartwatch!The Japanese car manufacturer announced at the Frankfurt Motor Show the future launch of a smartwatch that connects to some of its car models.

The Nissan Nismo smartwatch will display some key data related to the car and its driver: fuel consumption, driving conditions, speed, but also heart rate, social network notifications, etc. The Nissan Nismo smartwatch is actually  great example of how a smartwatch can be used in a specific domain.The combination of data about the car and its driver appears as a smart move by Nissan. It not only embodies a message that is well-spread in the car industry: make one with your car! It also serves the driving experience – as far as you stop looking at your smartwatch while driving…

Technologically Ambitious

The connection to the car computing system will be enabled via Bluetooth. The smartwatch has a lithium battery which is said to last seven days- quite promising compared to the one-day basis of most of today’s smartwatches. Among the many other features, a stress was put on the physical conditions of the driver which can be measured either by an electrocardiogram or electroencephalogram: heart rate, fatigue, concentration, the drivers will never have been so informed about their driving conditions.“Wearable technology is fast becoming the next big thing and we want to take advantage of this innovative technology to make our Nismo Brand more accessible,” a Nissan manager in Europe said. “On track, Nissan uses the latest biometric training technologies to improve the performance of our Nissan Nismo Athletes and it is this technology we want to bring to our fans to enhance their driving experience and Nismo ownership.”

A piece of design

Nissan took advantage of its design talent with a very powerful visual identity. Three colors will be available: black, white and black and red. Nissan said the watch’s packaging will be made from “tyres and rubber from the racetrack”. Discover the Nissan Nismo smartwatch in motion.

iWatch by Apple

Although no official announce has been made yet, information about Apple future wrist device have aired over the last ten years. According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, Apple has filed 79 patent application since 2001 including the word “wrist”. Analysts from Bloomberg reported that one of the Patents includes the development of an incredible Flexible screen.

iOS 7, the connected devices friendly OS

The company announced the release of iOS 7, its new operating system, that is expected to be far more compatible with connected devices, many experts believe that Apple is making the way for its smart watch (expected by the end of the year).

An increased compatibility with this kind of devices enables to expect big from the iWatch: high definition screen (inspired by the retina display), built-in app suite, front camera for FaceTime or Skype (if you are ok with talking to your hand), music control…

How much does the iWatch cost ?

According to most tech experts the iWatch should be released at a retail price between $250 and $350. We bet that Apple strategy will be to cross-sell it to as much iPhone users as possible, which requires an “affordable” price, nothing like the Google Glass $1500.

Is iWatch compatible with Android?

No information aired about the iWatch compatibility but at smartwatchiz.com we believe Apple won’t ignore the increasing Android users market and will enable its smart watch to connect with the iPhone’s competitors.

Cookoo by ConnecteDevice

Cookoo is one of the hottest connected devices in the market: it combines flashy and fashionable design with the basic connected technology making it one of the most probable tech hits for the end of 2013 (competing with the Peeble e-ink smartwatch). It has been developed by ConnecteDevice which raised more than $300,000 in 2012 through Kickstarter. It has been the first watch to connect through Bluetooth 4.0.

Apple addicts first smartwatch

Cookoo have chosen its side: it definitely sides with Apple addicts: its connects exclusively to iOS (sorry for Android users), be it with iPhone, iPad or iTouch. It has explicitly been designed for those who just can’t wait for an hypothetical iWatch and are eager to enhance their Apple products experience thanks to wearable technology.What can I do with my Cookoo?

Although most of the smartwatches currently under development integrate LCD or OLED screens, the Cookoo relies on a different model.  The watch face is composed of 6 pictograms that light up for specific notifications as you  can see on the picture below. The cookoo smartwatch notifies you when anything happens: whenever you receive a call, an SMS, an email, or even a Facebook or  a Twitter notifications. Music lovers and Instagram fans are going to love it: it includes remonte control for music player and camera trigger.

The cookoo enables you to “check in” on Facebook and comes with an “out of range” alert to make sure you always have your iPhone and iPad on your side. One of the key issue when it comes to connected devices remains the battery life. Yet, cookoo’s simple design enables it to run for a year without recharging while so far no one has been claiming for more than a 1 week battery life. This device is also waterproof. By the way, it also tells time.

Galaxy Altius by Samsung

Samsung joined the smartwatch race. Samsung has acknowledged in march 2013 it was working on a smartwatch: code name Galaxy Altius. The Korean brand has been expected to be working on a wrist wearable connected device for quite a time. Following its success in the smart phones market, Samsung should be able to succeed once again if it can manage to release an innovative but affordable product. According to the leaks, it would be an Android only device to fit the in Galaxy range of products developed by the Korean manufacturer. Not much to say for now except that Android users tend to have high expectations regarding the Galaxy Altius.

I’m Watch, The Italian Smartwatch

Italian do it better? Is is true regarding smartwatches? Presented last April at the Basel fair, the I’m watch has the vision to bring to the table even more cutting edge technology than its predecessors. The inspiration of this smartwatch is nothing less than the innovative Android operating system and its ambition is to offer to the customer the same kind of deep and meaningful experience as the smartphones.

To do so, the Italian team of I’m watch has developed a customized Android System, named Droid 2, for their connected device. They came up with a full range of native apps to help you stay connected to your your websites and networks.

The smartwatch frontier, between luxury & technology

On top of that, the designers consider their smartwatch as a product and the crossroads between technology and luxury. They are eager to break the geeky image of connected devices. Inspired by most recent smart phones, the I’m watch is one of the first smartwatches to include a TFT color display  (the same as the iPod Nano). The I’m Watch pushes all your notifications to your wrist: text messages, mails, Facebook and Twitter notification. Thanks to the native apps, you can display your calendar, your photos, or play your music. Features include the access to the i’music service: an unlimited streaming service.

The i’market enables customers to personalize their smartwatch experience: dozens of apps are already downloadable.Finally, the smartwatch comes with an access to the i’mcloud, a platform to store your watch’s data and control it from the cloud. The I’m watch connects to Android, iOS and Blackberry via Bluetooth 4.0.

Kreyos Meteor – The Next Generation

The guys developing the Kreyos Meteor have a motto: Look at any of the current smartwatches out there, and tell me something it lacks: I’ll bet Kreyos does it or has it. Most of the Meteor features have been announced on June 24, as well as the $100,000 indiegogo campaign. The goal was reached in few days and the developers announced they were up-scaling the project with an $300 000 campaign and then a $600 000 one, and finally to 1 million in late July 2013. You can still contribute to the campaign and save $40 on your smartwatch!

What makes the Kreyos so different from the other available smartwatches? As most its competitors, the Kreyos pushes all your notifications from incoming call to Facebook or Twitter messages. It also includes several sport functions such as a pedometer and a 3 axis accelerometer to track your running or cycling workout. Several accessories such as a belt clip or a kind of “necklace” will help you to adapt the Meteor to your favorite sport. By the way, it is waterproof.On top of that the Kreyos team is currently developing a sleep monitoring program that will combine with the silent alarm. We bet this function will be increasingly popular on the smartwatches to come.

Just like your old iPod nano this smartwatch enables you to change songs with a flick of your wrist, a feature you are most likely to appreciate during your workout. On top of that, the Meteor can connect to most of your current sensors (heartbeat monitors, blood pressure sensors…). It aims at becoming your new health dashboard as you can see on the following picture:Talk to your wrist!

Although most developers bet people won’t dare to talk to their watch, the guys from Kreyos believe lots of us are former Captain Kirk fans. Voice command apps seems to be one of the key ideas of this watch. It will mostly rely on the built on function from the smart phones such as iPhone’s Siri. The Meteor can also been used as a “communicator” just as an head set. Are you ready to talk to your watch?

To which smart phone can I connect my Kreyos Meteor?

The Kreyos Meteor will connect to any current smart phone including Windows 8. As it is Android and iOS compatible, you will be able to connect it to your iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Sony Xperia or Google Nexus (and more).

SmartWatch 2 by Sony

Sony unveiled the heir of its SmartWatch in late june 2013. The 3rd generation watch inherits from the Japanese brand expertise in the connected device field and its customers feedback since it launched its first Bluetooth watch in 2007. Sony was the first to market a smartwatch in 2012 and owns the brand name SmartWatch.

What makes the Sony SmartWatch 2 smarter

Lets’s start with was makes this device different from its predecessor and competitors. Sony introduced the use of NFC (Near Field Communication) which can be seen has an upgrade of Bluetooth connectivity. As the current smart phones it uses the last version of Android.As its predecessors its displays all your messages and notifications (incoming call ID, SMS, mails or calendar notifications).

The touch screen enables you to access your favorite social networks from your wrist and can act as a remote control for your music. We bet you will enjoy controlling your presentations directly from your watch thanks to the Presentation Pal app.Battery life is the sinews of the connected devices competition and Sony announced an upgraded with a 3 to 4 days of extensive use, which is significantly better that what to expect for smartphones.We expect the SmartWatch 2 to connect with Android devices but we won’t be surprise if it is also compatible with iOS.

An upgraded design

Sony upgraded its screen to a 1.6 inch color LCD display which promises a comfortable reading even for social networks messages. As the watch is supposed to adapt to any lifestyle, it is now dust proof and waterproof.

On top of that, the SmartWatch 2 comes with a redesigned wristband made of plastic and aluminium which is said to weigh less than 30 g.

Sony remains one step ahead of the competition

Not only the Japanese constructors is a long-time runner on the connected device market, its also has an impressive hand of apps. The ability to encourage developers to come up with innovative apps will be one of the key success factors for the watch manufacturers. Sony was quick to understand and released a dedicated platform for developers in early June 2013.

Strata & Frame smart watch by Metawatch

Meet the American smartwatch brand MetaWatch! MetaWatch is all about hand freedom as you can see in their marketing comics here. The first collection is composed of two main models, Strata (on the left) and Frame (on the right) that come in several colors and editions. Both models are 100% digital watches with the same LCD display.

What can I do with my MetaWatch?

The black and white LCD screen can display any notification (SMS, email, Facebook, Calendar…), the name and number of an Incoming Call and enables you to read your messages on your wrist. A key feature is obviously the large number of widgets that will provide up to date information, be it about the weather or the stock market. Both Strata and Frame model come with a silent alarm. You might know that it is one of our favorite smartwatch features. Read our post on silent alarms to discover how it can improve your sleep quality and productivity. Finally, the announced battery life of 5 to 7 days which is above the market average.

MetaWatch, the sporty smartwatch?

We like the Strata’s sporty look with its polyurethane strap and its polycarbonate core. Yet, the two models are made for sports with a set of apps that enables you to track your workout thanks to the accelerometer. The smartwatches come with a cycling and a running app but you can download additional ones. Both watches are water resistant, and you will be able to take a swim with your Strata which received a 5 ATM certification (3 ATM for the Frame).

To which smart phone can I connect my MetaWatch?

MetaWatch developed its connected devices to make it compatible with Android (2.3 and more, which corresponds to nearly all current Android smart phones) and iOS. Connectivity relies on Bluetooth 4.0.

VEA Buddy by F-Project

VEA Buddy, the 1st French smartwatchA new smartwatch is ready for pre-order. The VEA Buddy has been developed by the French team of F-project. Funded through indiegogo, it raised more than $100,000. This smartwatch comes with the promise of a full compatibility for the whole range of smart phones and advocates for a hand free lifestyle.

What can your VEA Buddy do?

The VEA Buddy includes most of the up to date smartwatch features: its silent alarm will keep you informed discretely of all your notifications (SMS, mails, Calendar, Facebook or Twitter) and displays the name and number of incoming calls. Your VEA Buddy enables you to display most of your messages and read them on your wrist.We like the GPS navigation system, that can be pretty handy, especially if you need to look for your way while driving your bike. The team also included the possibility to display your picture on the color 2-inches Qualcomm screen. Features also include a camera trigger and a music player remote.

On top of that, the VEA Buddy has another key feature: its battery is said to last at least 10 days in normal use. We will definitely confirm this feature as soon as we manage to get one for review.

To which smart phone can I connect my VEA Buddy?

VEA Buddy is announced to be compatible with all major smart phone OS: iOS, Android and Windows 8. It will connect through Bluetooth 4.0.

What about the VEA Buddy’s look?

The developing team came up with an innovative design combining a very thin 8mm screen with a metal case and an elastomer wrist band which is the work of Caiman Design. We believe this design will fit most lifestyles, including the sportiest. By the way, this smartwatch is shock proof and 3 ATM water resistance certified.

What is a connected device?

A connected device is something that communicates with other devices through Bluetooth or Wifi. Smartwatches need to connect to smart phones in order to get the information from them. Then, the connected watches do not actually connect directly to the wireless networks, you do not need any communication plan for them (no additional cost on your phone bill, that is finally good news). They connect through the smart phone 3G/4G.

Do I need a smart phone to use a smartwatch?

Although it is possible to use a smartwatch as a pure timepiece, if you want to enjoy its full power, you have to pair it with another connected object. Then do I need a smart phone to use a smartwatch? Our most sincere answer is yes, to take the most of your smartwatch, you have to connect it to a smart phone, be it an iPhone, a Galaxy or a Nexus (even your company’s blackberry can do).

To which phone can you connect a smartwatch?

Most recent smart phone are compatible with smartwatches. We encourage you to consult the watch reviews on our website to check the effective compatibility. We have identified watches compatible with iOS, Android (2.3 and more), Windows phone and even Blackberry.

Is my iPhone compatible with a smartwatch?

iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 are compatible with most of smartwatches presented on this website.