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Smartwatches are one of the newest gadget form factors to enter our lives.
You’re probablymaking some common mistakes.
Let’s fix that.
Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek
While this can be very handy, it can easily become too distracting.
You don’t have to live like that, though.
You are in control of how annoying you allow your smartwatch to be.
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Just because you have a smartwatch doesn’t mean it has to mirror every single notification from your phone.
Use your smartwatch as a place for only important notifications to go.Start turning off annoying notifications as they appear.
You’ll feel a lot better.
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek Hannah Stryker / Review Geek Hannah Stryker / LifeSavvy
How often are you actually looking at the display?
You’re just wasting battery life by keeping the display on all the time.
While certainly not perfect, the feature generally works well.
Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek Joe Fedewa / Review Geek Joe Fedewa / LifeSavvy
If battery life is any sort of concern, you shoulddisable the always-on display.
It’s important to check that you’re wearing a size that looks good on your wrist.
Most smartwatches come in at least two sizes to choose from.
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek Hannah Stryker / Review Geek Hannah Stryker / LifeSavvy
TheApple Watch Series 8, for example, comes in 41mm and 45mm.
TheGalaxy Watch 5is available in 40mm and 44mm.
Just because smartwatches are tech gadgets doesn’t mean they aren’t fashion accessories.
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You shouldn’t feel restricted to whatever band came with your watch.
This is especially true if you have an Apple Watch.
Over onthe Wear OS side, there’s still a lot to choose from.
Tim Brookes / How-To Geek
This is thanks to many watches using the standard connector that regular non-watches use.
The Galaxy Watch 5, for example, is compatible with any20mmor22mmwatch band.
Make it look like your own!
The Apple Watch, Wear OS watches, and many others supportmobile payment functionality.
AndSamsung Payis another option if you have a Samsung Galaxy Wear OS watch.
All of these services work essentially the same.
Boom, you’ve purchased something without pulling out your wallet or phone.
That’s why many smartwatches include physical buttons that can be customized to do different things.
You should take some time to customize them.
you’re able to at leastchange what the Dock shows when pressing the Side Button.
Wear OS devices offer much more functionality with their buttons.
see to it to peek in the tweaks to see what your watch can do.
Related:What Does the Side Button on Apple Watch Do?
Don’t make the mistake ofbuying a smartwatchwhen you needa fitness tracker.
In general,a fitness tracker will have better fitness-centric sensorsand functionality.
That’s the gear’s sole purpose, so accuracy is a critical part of the experience.
Companies that make smartwatches often throw in fitness features as an afterthought.
That doesn’t necessarily mean a smartwatch is a terrible fitness unit.
The Apple Watch, for example,is actually quite good.
But if you’re really serious about fitness-focused features, you probably want aGarminor aFitbit.