The 8 Best Smartwatches For Business
Thinking about a smartwatch for business? Here are the best timepieces for your workday
The smartwatch industry has been on a bit of a rollercoaster journey over the last few years, as consumers have struggled to make up their minds about the wearable devices.
Back in October 2014, Juniper Research predicted that a smartwatch boom was on the horizon, saying that 100 million would be sold by 2019. Since then, traditional watchmakers such as Tag Heuer and Swatch have joined the likes of Apple, Samsung and LG in creating their own smartwatches and flooded the market with options.
However, the smartwatch market dropped by 32 percent in the second quarter of 2016 as 3.5 million devices were shipped. This was followed by another drop in Q3 2016, when just 2.7 million units were sold, nearly a 52 percent decrease from the year before.
One area that vendors haven’t been able to crack yet is the B2B sector, despite smartwatches offering a host of benefits to businesses and employees, such as task management, real-time updates, travel applications and note taking in the move.
So, we’ve picked a few of our favourites for use in the office.
Apple Watch Series 2
As you would expect, Apple is currently leading the way when it comes to smartwatch sales and its recently-released Apple Watch 2 is a definite upgrade on its predecessor.
A dual core processor boosts the watches power and capabilities when performing daily tasks and the 1,000-nit display – twice as bright as the original Watch and the brightest display Apple has ever put on its hardware – makes it easy to use in all conditions, whether out in the field or the office.
The main slight sticking point could be the price. Costing £369.00, the Apple Watch 2 certainly comes in at the premium end of the market, but the performance power combined with a sleek design makes it a great choice for any business.
Samsung Gear S3
Being Apple’s biggest competitor, Samsung had to up its game with the Gear S3 and it’s fair to say that it has been successful, with a bold new design and improved features giving the Apple Watch 2 a run for its money.
A larger screen, water resistance and 4G connectivity all make it easier to use when on the move, so emails and messages can be tended to whatever your location. Calls can also be made or answered straight from the watch thanks to the built-in speaker and the larger 380mAh battery should give you a few days of battery life, slightly better than the Apple Watch 2.
So, the £349 Gear S3 is a definite upgrade from its predecessor and, with over 10,000 apps to choose from, it should be able to cover all your business needs.
Motorola Moto 360
The original Moto 360 has been one of the most popular Android Wear smartwatches on the market for some time, but it’s big brother has taken things a step further.
This display on the second generation watch has a significantly higher pixel density than its predecessor, a 1.2GHz quad-core CPU for faster and more responsive performance and built-in Wi-Fi connectivity.
There are some areas it does fall down in when compared to Samsung and Apple’s offerings – namely battery life – but would certainly work as a cheaper option (£240) for any business looking to feel its way into the smartwatch arena.
