Smartwatches, not just for gadget lovers!

When you talk about smart watches, most people think of brands like Apple or Huawei. Nice gadgets, but relatively expensive and very technical. Fortunately, there is now a lot more choice on the smartwatch market. The "regular" watch brands are increasingly including smartwatches in their collection.

What we until recently saw as smartwatches all looked very slick and sophisticated, but lacked a bit of the "watch feeling"; as if you were walking around with a mini-phone on your wrist.

But the new generations of smartwatches increasingly look like regular watches. This way you not only own a piece of advanced technology, but also a beautifully designed accessory from a famous (watch) brand!

There are currently 4 common types of smartwatch available:

1 Touchscreen Smartwatch

The touchscreen smartwatch is the most advanced type of smartwatch. The dial has been replaced by a display that shows the time as a normal watch. You can usually choose from different colors and styles of display. In addition to reading the time, you can find all the usual smartwatch functions on this type of watch: notifications of incoming calls and messages, control of music or (smartphone) camera and lots more.

Nowadays there are even completely waterproof sports watches with GPS and apps that can be operated via the touchscreen. And the technology continues every day.

Great examples of touchscreen smartwatches can be found with brands such as Samsung, Garmin and Michael Kors.

2 Hybrid smartwatch 

The hybrid is in fact a normal quartz watch with hands to which smartwatch functionalities such as notifications, calendar reminders and pedometer have been added, the results of which can be read via an app on your phone. The connection to your phone is usually via Bluetooth. 

Sometimes a hybrid smartwatch has a small digital window in the dial on which notifications come in.

You can find great hybrid smartwatches with brands such as Skagen, Fossil, Lotus and Garmin

3 Activity trackers 

An Activity tracker - also called wearable - is not a watch but a bracelet that keeps track of all movements (heartbeat and sleep rhythm) day and night. By synchronizing the band with an app on your smartphone you can keep track of all kinds of data. Of course, some activity trackers indicate the time just like a watch. Others look like a piece of jewelry and only reveal their information after linking with the smartphone.

Calypso for example offers affordable activity trackers.

4 Bluetooth Connected watches

More and more regular watches contain digital functionalities that can be synced with your smartphone. The watch itself is not 'smart', but by uploading the collected data on your phone it is possible to use and analyze these data just as you would with a smartwatch. Some Bluetooth connected watches also allow for syncing time, date and location with your watch.

You can find a lot of Bluetooth connected watches in our Casio collection

Are smartwatches expensive? 

Smartwatches have the image of being a lot more expensive than regular watches. That is unjustified, because a simple hybrid smart watch is already available from circa € 99. 

On the other hand, luxury watch brands are now entering the smartwatch market with watches costing thousands of euros. But those watch brands are always a lot more expensive anyway. 

You can choose any smartwatch that fits within your budget by using the search filters on our smartwatch page.

When to choose a smartwatch over a regular watch?

For people who see watches as jewelry or a nice piece of classical technology, a smartwatch might be less suitable. But if you like to be online all day long and / or love modern gadgets, then a smartwatch is the watch for you. And now that there are so many different smartwatches for sale, you can always find one in your style or price range!