Should I wear my smartwatch everyday

Why I stopped wearing my smartwatch and why I havent looked back

I fell in love with smartwatches when I got my hands on the first-generation Moto 360, a beautifully designed, gorgeous smartwatch running Googles first OS for smartwatches. Since then, Ive tried on and reviewed more than a dozen fitness wearables, including the Apple Watch SE and Amazfit GTR and GTS series. And with time, Ive grown to absolutely dislike the product segment.

I gave up on smartwatches a few months ago, and heres why Im not going back any time soon (unless its for review purposes).

Data, data, and more data

I used to wear my smartwatch to sleep. And my daily routine after waking up was to check how many hours of deep sleep I got. The habit sucked me first into the smartwatch and then into the app. Id barely be awake, and instantly Id be bombarded with data light sleep, deep sleep, REM, and whatnot.

And once that was done, I became accustomed to checking out more fitness data like the number of steps I walked the day before and how many calories I took in. In the first 20 minutes of the day, I was already sucked into a screen.

As if thats not enough, every time I lifted my wrist to look at the time, I was again face-to-face with information overload.Lift your wrist to check the time? Heres how many miles youve walked today. Ended the day without walking much? Oh, here is a feel-bad notification about how you missed your goal. Working on closing those activity rings? Heres a badge for you.

Wearing a smartwatch is a vomit of data in your face. And most of the time, you dont know what to do with that data.

Smartwatches might be helping some people stay fit or get in shape, but no amount of closing my rings or sharing fitness data with friends motivates me to exercise more. In fact, I became more irritated every time I saw one of my friends close their rings while I was sitting there gulping a big bite of pizza.

I dont want to be always available to a gadget

Smartwatches were developed to be available to you when you need them and not vice versa. I noticed that the opposite was happening to me.

In a meeting and get a notification? Here, let me swipe right to dismiss it. Out with friends and get a ping on your wrist? Its your boss, and he wants that assignment done tomorrow. Having dinner with family and get a spam call? Easy. Tap the red icon to end it.

There are two patterns here. Number one, not every notification is time-sensitive. In fact, Ill go on to say that most of the notifications that you receive on your smartwatch arent time-sensitive. Notifications can wait. You mostly look at them on your wrist and swipe them away. Number two, these notifications are getting in the way of living your life in the present moment.

When Im having dinner with my mom and dad, I dont want my wrist to buzz. Let me have my meal in peace. Let me hang out with my friends without the need to constantly be connected to the virtual world after working hours. Let me be attentive in the meeting without being taken away from the conversation every few minutes.

It might sound cliche, but Id very much like people to be present in what theyre doing in the moment without being distracted by a little gadget buzzing on their wrist. For me, one out of 10 notifications might be time-sensitive and need my attention. In a bid to not miss that one notification, I was subjecting myself to nine useless notifications that distracted me from what I was doing in real life.

You can always wear a smartwatch and turn off the notifications. But did you really buy a smartwatch to do that? A fitness band would have sufficed.

Living a stress-free life

With such inconveniences, it was natural for me to get frustrated and give up on the form factor. I switched to the good old G-Shocks and Tissots of the world. I no longer have to wait a split second when I raise my wrist to see the time. When I want to check the date, Im only looking at the information I need, and not the data the watch wants to feed me.

Now, my watch works for me and thats how its supposed to be. In the data-hungry world where we want to track every calorie intake and every step we take, sometimes its wise to take a step back and look at your choices. Are you always available for your smartwatch, or is it always available for you? If its the former, you know its time to give yourself a break from all the metrics and take out your dumb watch just as I did.

There is something liberating about not being a slave to the data. Im no longer in a rush to close the rings. I dont need to track every calorie I take in. I dont care about the amount of deep sleep Im getting. But at the same time, Im living a healthier life because the stress of data on my wrist is no longer competing to take up space in my mind. Im living a happier life, and I have the lack of a smartwatch on my wrist to thank.

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How to Save Your Smartwatchs Battery Life

• Airplane mode: Turns off connectivity, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LTE, and GPS/GNSS. You can turn these back on individually, or toggle Airplane mode off again to turn everything back on.
• Theater mode: Turns off your screen temporarily and holds notifications and incoming calls.
• Do Not Disturb: Turns off all notifications and incoming calls, but you can usually set exceptions for repeat callers, specific contacts, and alarms.
• Bedtime mode: Usually mirrors Do Not Disturb in turning off all notifications and incoming calls, with exceptions for repeat callers, specific contacts, and alarms. WithSleep mode on an Apple Watch, the screen will also dim and show a simplified watch face.

Change Display Settings

The screen is the biggest drain on your smartwatch battery, but there are a few things you can do to reduce how much power it uses.

Apple Watch

• Go toSettings>Display & Brightness, and you can reduce the brightness, turnAlways Ondisplay off, toggleWake on Wrist Raise off, and choose a shorterWake Duration.
• You can also save a modest amount of battery life by choosing a watch face that has a black background and minimal complications or animations. You can long press on your current watch face to cycle through options, edit them, and select them, but it is easier to browse options on your iPhone in theWatchapp on theFace Gallerytab.

Google Wear OS Watches

• Go toSettings>Display, and you can changeBrightness, toggleAlways-on screen andSunlight Boost off, and choose a shorterScreen timeout. You can also go toSettings>Gesturesto toggleTilt-to-wake off.
• You can also save some battery life by choosing a watch face with a black background and minimal complications or animations. You can long press on your current watch face to swipe through options, edit them, and select them. You can browse watch faces in the Wear OS app on your phone.

Samsung Galaxy Watch (Wear OS Models)

• Swipe down from the top and tap theBrightnessicon to reduce brightness. Go toSettings>Display to switchAlways On Display off and reduceScreen timeout.
• Changing to a simple watch face with a dark background can also save some battery life. Long press on your current watch face and swipe or rotate the bezel to browse options. It might be easier to open theGalaxy Wearable app on your phone and browse on theWatch faces tab.

Reduce Notifications

A steady stream of notifications will drain your smartwatch battery, so its worth culling any that you dont feel you need. Heres how.

Apple Watch

• Open theWatchapp on your connected iPhone and selectNotificationson theMy Watch tab. You can tweak some settings at the top. Scroll down to find individual apps and decide what, if any, notifications you want them to send to your Apple Watch.

Google Wear OS Watches

• Open theWear OS app, go toSettings>Notifications, and you can choose toBlock app notifications. You might find more options in your watch manufacturers companion app (if there is a separate one).

Samsung Galaxy Watch (Wear OS Models)

• Open theGalaxy Wearable app, tapWatch settings, and then tapNotifications, and you can decide what notifications you want to receive.

Cut Connectivity

You can always use Airplane mode to quickly cut all connectivity, but you can also cut things individually. Most smartwatches connect to smartphones using Bluetooth LE (Low Energy), which is the least power-hungry option.

Apple Watch

• Swipe up from the bottom of the screen, and you can tap to turn offWi-Fi andMobile Data. You can also go toSettingsto turnBluetoothoff.

Google Wear OS Watches

• Go toSettings>Connectivity,and you can turnWi-Fi,Mobile Data, andBluetooth off.

Samsung Galaxy Watch

• Go toSettings>Connections,and you can turnWi-Fi,Mobile Data, andBluetooth off.

Turn Off Voice

If you dont use voice commands with your smartwatch, you can save some battery life by telling it not to listen for voice assistant wake words. Heres how.

Apple Watch

• Go toSettings>Siriand toggle offListen for Hey Siri andRaise to Speak.

Google Wear OS Watches or Samsung Galaxy Watches

• Go toSettings>Google>Assistantand turn offHey Google.

Samsung Galaxy Watch

• OpenBixby, go toSettingsand turnVoice wake-up off.

Reduce Sounds and Vibrations

Smartwatches make various sounds and vibrations, and they are often superfluous. Turn them off or reduce the volume, and you can save a little battery life.

Apple Watch

• Go toSettings>Sounds & Haptics, and you can toggle off sounds and vibrations or reduce the volume.

Google Wear OS Watches or Samsung Galaxy Watch

• OpenSettings>Sound and vibration, and you can turn off various sounds and vibrations and reduce volume levels.

Limit Background App Refresh

By default, many of your apps are working behind the scenes to update data, but this can drain your smartwatch battery, and you likely dont need every app to be constantly updating (it will pull data when you open it anyway). Heres how to limit background app refresh.

Apple Watch

• Open theWatchapp on your connected iPhone, and tapGeneral>Background App Refresh to toggle it off completely or toggle off individual apps.

Google Wear OS Watches

• This is managed automatically on Wear OS watches, but you can limit app permissions by going toSettings>Apps and notifications >App permissions (just be careful, as some apps will not work properly if you limit their permissions).

Check Battery Usage

Working out what is draining your smartwatch battery makes it easier to fix. Check battery usage, and you can learn what changes might be effective. Unfortunately, theres no way to see this information on an Apple Watch, but you can check battery health inSettings>Battery>Battery Health.

Google Wear OS Watches

• Open the Wear OS app or your smartwatch companion app on your phone, and go toSettings>Advanced settings > Watch battery to see which apps are draining your battery.

Uninstall Apps

Any apps you dont use should be uninstalled to ensure they dont impact battery life.

Apple Watch

• Press theDigital Crown to bring up the app screen, tap and hold anywhere, and chooseEdit Apps. Tap theX andDelete App to get rid of any apps you dont want.

Google Wear OS Watches

• Press thePowerbutton, scroll down, and tapPlay Store, thenMy apps. Tap any app you want to delete, scroll to the bottom, and tapUninstall.

Samsung Galaxy Watch (Wear OS Models)

• Go to theAppsscreen, tap and hold on the app you want to get rid of, then tapUninstall,thenOK,or theDeleteicon, then tap thecheckmark to confirm.

Turn Off Other Features

There are likely to be several other features and functions on your smartwatch that can be deactivated to save battery life, so take a look at your device's settings. On the Apple Watch, for example, you can go toSettings>Activityto turn off reminders, orWorkoutto switch toLow Power Mode during workouts and toggle onFewer GPS and Heart Rate Readings. Dig around in the settings and turn off anything you dont need or want to use.

Get a Charger and Portable Battery Pack

If youre not keen on turning off features, you can always up your charging game. An extra charger on your bedside, desk at work, or even in your pocket or bag could make the difference. Unfortunately, most smartwatches require proprietary chargers, but there are several options for Apple Watch owners, like the OtterBox 2-in-1 Power Bank with Apple Watch Charger ($50) and the Satechi Quatro Wireless Power Bank ($100).

You can find more options in our Best Apple Watch Accessories,Best Wireless Chargers,Best Portable Chargers, andBest Apple 3-in-1 Chargers guides.