The smartwatch market has exploded over the past 5 or so years and makes up a larger percentage of the wearables market. With big tech players like Apple and Samsung entering the market with full-blown minicomputers and excellent operating systems, traditional watch brands now jumping on the bandwagon and branding their own versions, it’s an area that looks set to continue growing.
It’s also an interesting area because of the diversity. With smartphones, they all look quite similar and do pretty much the same thing, albeit with different operating systems. Smartwatches on the other hand vary a lot, with some simply digital versions of regular watches and others all out miniature computers with enormous power for their size. However, it’s the crossover that is the most interesting, with more and more ‘hybrid’ watches being launched each week.
What lies in between the simple digital watch and the wrist-mounted computer is up from grabs at the moment, and there are some interesting ideas floating around. The Garmin Vivo move looks like a nice analogue watch, but the satin bezel is actually one big screen. This means that in one turn it can look completely normal, and in the other be displaying text messages from a friend or your heart rate as you walk along. Often the compromise on digital technology is where these watches are let down, but the way the screen remains hidden in plain view on this watch is a fantastic feature.
Fossil watches also produce an interesting range of both hybrid and all-out smartwatches. The newest line of women’s hybrid pieces combines really wonderful and stylish design with digital features like a pedometer, sleep tracker and customizable buttons, all of which are completely hidden. If you looked at this watch, even closely, you would have no idea it was anything more than an analogue timepiece. This means that in one turn it can look completely normal, and in the other be displaying text messages from a friend or your heart rate as you walk along. Often the compromise on digital technology is where these watches are let down, but the way the screen remains hidden in plain view on this watch is a fantastic feature.
The crossover between analogue design, craftsmanship, and fashion with digital technology is one of the most interesting places within products at the moment, and with the quality and range produced in only a few years it is surely set to yield some ground-breaking results.