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Smart watch - any benefit to pilots?

Peter wrote:

I would absolutely hate that.

With wireless charging it wouldn’t be that bad. I always remove my watch and put it on a table by the bed when I sleep, so I could just as well have a wireless charger on the table.

Last Edited by Airborne_Again at 07 Apr 11:59
ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

ToniK wrote:

It’s just one more small daily routine. Take it off when you go to bed, put it back in the morning. Not a big deal.

Yeah. Who sleeps with a watch anyway? I don’t.

LFPT, LFPN

The only time my watch comes off is when I am doing the Annual on the plane, or when I am working inside some electrical cabinet where it might short circuit something

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

What is interesting to me is that people are willing to put up with the daily charging. I would absolutely hate that.

Standard routine for the phone already. Or does yours last more than 24 hours? Mine will last about 2 days but I put it on the charger anyhow over night so I have the full capacity in the morning. Will see how the smartwatch I just ordered works. (I decided on the spur to get it, 70$ including postage is not that much of a risk and it is a full blown android device with phone and all…) and will report. Obviously it has to last 24 hours with regular use.

Frankly, that is less of a hassle then to discover that my treasured aviation time piece will set me back €600 every time I have to change the battery. I’ve bitten into that sour apple now but after that, it will go for sale. That one battery cost me more than all my other watches I own combined!

Peter wrote:

The only time my watch comes off is when I am doing the Annual on the plane, or when I am working inside some electrical cabinet where it might short circuit something

I take it is is watertight then… mine would probably not survive the shower and I’d be very uncomfortable wearing any of the ones I use while sleeping. Actually, recently I’ve more than once left the house without a watch, after all I have my phone which can tell me the time as well.

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

Mooney_Driver wrote:

Frankly, that is less of a hassle then to discover that my treasured aviation time piece will set me back €600 every time I have to change the battery. I’ve bitten into that sour apple now but after that, it will go for sale. That one battery cost me more than all my other watches I own combined!

Breitling? OTOH a Breitling shouldn’t have an issue with a shower (although some are rated for just 5 bars).

I treat watches pretty much as jewellery and I don’t have just one piece so a watch usually goes off with clothes. And I don’t take one into a bed. However, I sometimes just drop off. Having to charge it then in the morning is not ideal. When it comes to watches that need regular recharging, I very much prefer ones that can do it while I’m wearing them.

The Apple Watch charges last for more than 1 day. In most cases almost 2 days. So, taking off the watch when going to bed and placing it next to you to charge is a no-brainer and you don’t have to worry about draining the battery during the day.

Your smart phone often sits inside a pocket or a bag, so you might not notice an alert. On the Apple Watch, the watch will vibrate and alert you. Of course it is not an essential toy, but I have found it quite convenient in
(a) alerting me of e.g. SAM or FPL acceptance messages while my iPhone was in my bag or pocket and
(b) giving me FPL data such as the route without having to take my phone out of my bag or pocket (no: I don’t write out or print on paper the IFR route);
(3) giving me instant updates on the weather on the watch face;
(4) Allowing me to keep track of time: takeoff, landing, off-block and on-block times by pushing a button on the watch
(5) Sending occasionally a flightplan delay message or in rare cases an arrival message and getting feedback through push messages that the delay or arrival message was accepted.

See: http://www.aeroplus.nl/managing-flightplans-from-your-apple-watch

Last Edited by AeroPlus at 09 Apr 07:07
EDLE, Netherlands

How do these watches connect online?

If 3G then it needs to have a contract SIM. What is the contract cost, and is there really a room for a SIM?
If WIFI then your phone needs to be providing a wifi hotspot the whole time (impacting it’s battery life)
If bluetooth then as above, though it does draw less power.

Are any of them waterproof?

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter, most of these watches are merely remote interfaces for a mobile phone or tablet, and have no WAN connectivity of their own, only PAN. On the other hand, the ones running full-fledged Android (as opposed to Android Wear), like the one I alredy referred to, do indeed have a SIM slot (and a microSDHC slot, too):

As to water protection, I wouldn’t hold my breath for anything beyond IP43.

Last Edited by Ultranomad at 09 Apr 08:43
LKBU (near Prague), Czech Republic

AeroPlus wrote:

The Apple Watch charges last for more than 1 day. In most cases almost 2 days. So, taking off the watch when going to bed and placing it next to you to charge is a no-brainer and you don’t have to worry about draining the battery during the day.

Your smart phone often sits inside a pocket or a bag, so you might not notice an alert. On the Apple Watch, the watch will vibrate and alert you. Of course it is not an essential toy, but I have found it quite convenient in
(a) alerting me of e.g. SAM or FPL acceptance messages while my iPhone was in my bag or pocket and
(b) giving me FPL data such as the route without having to take my phone out of my bag or pocket (no: I don’t write out or print on paper the IFR route);
(3) giving me instant updates on the weather on the watch face;
(4) Allowing me to keep track of time: takeoff, landing, off-block and on-block times by pushing a button on the watch
(5) Sending occasionally a flightplan delay message or in rare cases an arrival message and getting feedback through push messages that the delay or arrival message was accepted.

I have the Garmin D2 Bravo watch, have had quite a few Samsung watches including the Gear S which had it’s own SIM card so feel I am in a position to judge them. Of all the smart watches I’ve owned, the D2 Bravo is the one which impresses me the most – the battery charge will hold for a week at a time, it will notify you when incoming calls or messages arrive (irrespective of whether email, sms, whatsapp) and allows you a preview of these messages – however not a full overview – for that, you will need to have the phone out. However it’s quite useful when “she who must be obeyed” sends a message asking you to come home earlier, the mother in law is there" and you can preview this without the sender knowing you’ve read it so can quite innocently say “oh, if I’d known earlier you were coming, I would have been home sooner…..” and deny all knowledge of the WhatsApp / SMS ;-) (yes, done this, works well ;-))

Concerning flight logging, the Bravo D2 starts logging either when you manually start it or when the GPS recognises that you’ve exceeded a certain ground speed / rate of climb. It then plots the course / heading / speed / altitude / rate of climb / descent until you land and allows you to review the data / export it as a .gpx file to import into (e.g.) Google Earth. On the ground, you can call up the METARS for any desired airfield (also in the air if you have a data connection) or the nearest . You can select an airfield and it will present you the course to this location and can also indicate the nearest airfield to you and will take you there. During the setup you can specify what sort of airfield (surface, length) it should display, to ensure you don’t head toward a 450m grass strip when a 1km hard surface is available maybe 3 km further.

It will play music, has a built in altimeter (obviously no good for pressurised aircraft) compass and temperature sensor, can also be used to switch on Garmin Virb cameras. Additionally you can have the phone send impulses every, say, 30 minutes when airborne such that you can check o2 levels, change tanks etc…

Overall I’d say it’s just a gimmick most of the time with the occasional bursts of genuine usage but what nails it is the fact that I don’t have to charge it every 24 hours…

EDL*, Germany

The Apple Watch connects through bluetooth and uses the internet connection of the iPhone. I have had several smart watches like the Pebble smart watch. No experience with the Garmin D2 Bravo watch, but am very happy with the Apple Watch. Much happier than with the Pebble.

EDLE, Netherlands
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