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I fought switching to a smart watch. I like my analog self winding watch a lot.<\/p>\nThere are a couple of reasons I don\u2019t wear it.<\/p>\n
I fought switching to a smart watch. I like my analog self winding watch a lot.<\/p>\n
I like the simplicity, not having to charge it, and knowing that when I kick off, my Brother will probably be wearing it at my memorial service and it will serve him well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That being said, I finally caved on the smart watch thing, because I became concerned about getting mugged for my watch, after several incidents with people who couldn\u2019t keep their eyes or hands to themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once I made the switch, I liked a lot of the features that my Apple Watch put on my wrist. Now, I\u2019m used to the health data being collected and while I have turned off a lot of the intrusive, and incessant messages, I feel like I\u2019m missing something when that data isn\u2019t being collected.<\/p>\n
Damn you Apple!<\/p>\n
![\"Apple](\"https:\/\/bone-in-the-throat.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Apple-Watch-Ultra-lifestyle-endurance-220907-1108200464.jpg\" "\\"Apple-Watch-Ultra-lifestyle-endurance-220907-1108200464.jpg\\"")
However, after Apple\u2019s nothing event last year regarding the Apple Watch Ultra (Really? A color change, for $799,) and the loss of Blood O2 due to their patent dispute with Massimo, I started reconsidering the smart watch entirely. (Apparently, I\u2019m not alone. Apple Watch sales have declined for 2 consecutive years.)<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve hung onto my Apple Watch Ultra series 1 because the Ultra 2 didn\u2019t really move the bar, and Blood O2 was turned off. My Ultra includes the blood O2 monitoring because I purchased it before the Apple \/ Massimo spat.<\/p>\n
The color change last year was a nothing burger. This year\u2019s watch should technically be Generation 4 of the Apple Ultra. They\u2019ll probably call it the 3.<\/p>\n
From a practical perspective, I\u2019m running a 3 year old smart watch. It will be 4 come September and the battery is starting to show signs of wear.<\/p>\n
So, I find myself at a crossroads. Replacement of my smart watch will become necessary in the next year or two at the outside.<\/p>\n
If Apple doesn\u2019t significantly improve the Apple Ultra, I\u2019m thinking maybe I\u2019ll find an alternative.<\/p>\n
For half the cost of an Ultra, I could go with an Oura 4th generation ring. 7 day battery life, no dings boops or notifications, in fact, no communication features at all.<\/p>\n
So that might be a plus! Then I could go back to wearing a simple analog watch again, and still have all the health features.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/bone-in-the-throat.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/98A255.jpg\" "\\"98A255.jpg\\"")
Alternatively, going without the health features might not be a bad thing either.<\/p>\n
I find that I\u2019m looking at simple \u201creal\u201d watches more often. There are a couple of Luminox models that are beautiful. There\u2019s the Omega I\u2019ve been jonesing over for years. Then there are a couple of Bulova watches that are really nice.<\/p>\n
Maybe I\u2019m done with the fad of smart watches. Maybe I\u2019m really just heading toward more simplicity in my life. Wearing a ring embedded with sensors is a way for me to have my cake and eat it too.<\/p>\n
My Ultra, has pressure sensors, and can be used as a dive computer. The problem with that is, you have to pay for a subscription to Oceanic to use it. I haven\u2019t enabled that function for a couple of reasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1) I\u2019ve had a go around with Oceanic. I had a number of dives that I\u2019d entered on their site. In theory, Those dive records were supposed to be maintained as long as I had just a basic account. Oceanic was purchased by another company and these records were flushed.<\/p>\n
2) I\u2019d be willing to purchase their software as a One Time charge, as long as I could upload or download the data from their site, (see point 1). It looks like I can download from their site but that\u2019s pointless if I can\u2019t upload my existing data. I don\u2019t want to have to maintain 2 independent record keeping systems.<\/p>\n
I think the Mares or Suunto wrist computers are a better solution for diving computers. Both of them, talk directly to the dive log software I already own, without subscription BS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are a couple of reasons I don\u2019t wear it. I fought switching to a smart watch. I like my analog self winding watch a lot. I like the simplicity, not having to charge it, and knowing that when I kick off, my Brother will probably be wearing it at my memorial service and it … <\/p>\n