Smart Watch: Is it really Worth, Safe & Useful for you? | Aren’t free fitness apps enough?
Hurray! We’re done & dusted with the first 2 quarters of 2019 already. And your mind has been rummaging through the new year health resolutions you’ve made & been hoping to stick to them. So, if you’ve chalked out a list of gadgets that may up your fitness plans (without the gym, of course!), I’m pretty sure the smart watch or fitness band hasn’t escaped your thoughts.

But then you have this swarm of doubts about buying a smart watch. Just like I did until quite recently. So I understand.
- “They’re so expensive. I’d go broke towards the month’s end if I buy this. Nay! It’s not worth buying a smart watch if I still don’t get the time to workout with it & continue being a lazy bum.”
- “Body mechanism sensing, IoT & all that. Don’t smart wearable devices work on radiations & can potentially be more harmful for my health?”
Well, I get it. I thought the same. 🙂

I had the same doubts until I finally bought the Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro Smart band recently.
Well, honestly, I’m pretty much an irony. 🙂
My corporate job was about training new recruits to code, design & work all about software frameworks. However, it didn’t make me more tech-savvy than my non-technical friends & peers. Moreover, I always advocate technology that’s safe for our use in the long run. I’m somebody who switches off all my WiFi connection & devices before going to bed every night & sticks to this 9AM to 10PM bracket when using my Internet. Yeah! Even if my work gyrates around it. 🙂
Among our Smart home devices, it’s just our TV, that we use with the Google Chromecast to stream our favorite Netflix movies & YouTube videos from the smartphone as we don’t watch much of mainstream television programmes which ooze of boredom, cringe & monotony for me & my husband. 🙂 Oops, I just digressed! 😛
Now, coming to the bigger questions:
Is a Smart Watch / Fitness Watch:
- Worth Buying?
- Really Useful?
- Safe to use (because of the ‘radiations’)?
1. Yes, a Smart Watch IS worth buying & useful too.
If you’re REALLY serious about your FITNESS, well, it’s a YES!

So, although a lot of my seriousness & commitment for fitness stemmed from using apps like Pedometer earlier, this smart watch has given me an altogether different dimension towards not relying on my burnt-calories tracking on approximated values (that happens when you use only a phone app like the ones mentioned above to manually input the values).
I feel more motivated towards my daily goals of steps walked & calories burnt during any kind of workout that I do; whether it’s Suryanamaskara, strength training, burpees , walking or anything random. This fitness band puts before me a quite accurate number that tells me whether I’ve been getting better or am consistent by the day. The number of steps is very important for me as I recently took to walking seriously in order to tone my thighs
Frankly, I find weight loss easier than weight maintenance. Very often, after achieving weight loss, we tend to become complacent & let ourselves go astray on exercise. I must admit, I also had such moments of complacency after I just started blogging when I began sitting at my desk for longer times. I delayed a few personal deadlines & there’s no denial that even my exercise time suffered a bit.
This Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro Smart watch helps me keep a tab on my activity when there’s no other human watching on, has relevant alarms & alerts me that I should be working out more. Because ultimately, what matters during weight loss & maintenance is MOTIVATION. THAT, is what I get from this fitness watch & I totally feel it’s worth the money. I went for it as it’s water-proof (most of the smart watches are, BTW!), has huge space for music (4GB) that keeps me cheerful while I workout & can detect the activity I’m doing. And the best part is it can be sync-ed with my favorite app – MyFitnessPal. It has a great battery life too.
However, I had purchased this more than a year ago.
Comparing Samsung’s Gear Fit 2 Pro with FITBIT’s Versa OneSize smart watch
Also, I recently gifted an aunt in her late 40’s the relatively new Fitbit Versa Health & Fitness Onesize Smartwatch after thoroughly researching all its features. It’s been about a week she’s been using it & she’s very much happy using it during her walks & monitoring her activity while doing medium-paced Yogasanas.
To be honest, if I were to purchase a smart watch this year, I would clearly go for the above Fitbit one because it’s got almost all the important features that Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro has but at a significantly LOWER PRICE. In fact, this version of FITBIT watches is revolutionary in terms of its features Vs Price comparison.
If you compare both Samsung’s GEAR FIT 2 PRO & FITBIT VERSA ONE SIZE, barring a few points, the latter emerges a clear winner keeping the price in mind. So, here’s a bit of comparison I made myself between both the brands:
SAMSUNG GEAR FIT 2 PRO | FITBIT VERSA ONESIZE (UNISEX) |
1. AMOLED screen 2. 1.5 inch screen with a more regular kind of dial 3. Compatible with Android & iOS only 4. Yields up to 5 Days battery life with notifications switched off 5. Quite accurate step counting along with other activities 6. Costs up to 26,000 INR | 1. LCD screen 2. 1.32 inch screen which looks more impressive 3. Compatible with Android 4.3, iOS & Windows 4. Yields up to 4 Days battery life with normal usage 5. Step counting & activity tracking isn’t as accurate as Samsung’s Gear Fit 6. Costs within 16,000 INR |

2. Are smart watches safe to use?
I’ll get there straight.
If you sync your smart watch with your phone for the fitness functionality, it’s TOTALLY SAFE. In fact, all smart watches from reputed brands come with this feature. However, I wouldn’t really say much about those smart bands which come with a SIM & thus work on 3G signals. You could skip the idea of purchasing that type of a smart watch/ fitness tracker.
I personally use this band ONLY to track my fitness activity progress & keep a day-to-day record. Since I anyway, keep myself away from any distractions from social media or email as notifications when I’m working out, I do not use the other features of social media on it. And that keeps me pretty much sane & organized.
DISCLAIMER – This post contains affiliate links to fitness products that I have bought myself. This means if you make a purchase through these, I earn a tiny commission at no extra cost to you. If you do, I’m all thanks! 🙂 I have put forward my personal & honest reviews about them, and never recommend products that I myself never familiarized with. For more information, read my full disclosure.
Well, it’s the era of smart lights, smart cameras & IoT. And there’s always something technology will have for fitness enthusiasts like us. Won’t it?
Do you use a smart watch too or are planning to buy one? Let me know about it. 🙂
Until then I wish you a very HEALTHY & HAPPY FOREVER! 😀
I agree with you. I love my smart watch but I ONLY use it to track my activity. I am never even going to buy one with other functionality and invite distraction.
I invested in an Apple Watch in July last year after my Fitbit Blaze gave up on me in April. I needed the accountability for my fitness and I love it. I tossed up between getting another updated Fitbit but went with Apple in the end because the price difference wasn’t that much and I have most of the other apple products. I use it mainly while working out but it’s also useful for notifications etc. Since it syncs to my phone, it’s on DND the same time as my phone.
I have a couple of fitness bands but I don’t use them very often. I prefer using Google Fit on my phone for tracking my daily fitness.
I once downloaded the Bon happetee app that helped me track my food intake and found that even though it helped in weight loss, it also made me more obsessive about keeping track of my food and actually detracted me from the enjoyment of eating. Of course, a smartwatch is a good idea but I don’t really like to keep such close tabs on all my physical activity. Besides, what do I do with my other watches?
I have gone lazy on my walk and Yoga this month due to this extreme chilly weather. But, this post has fuelled a new motivation in me to relive my fitness goals and stick to them, whatever be the season. Thank you, Ashvini!
My fitness band is my conscience!! It helps me keep track of how (in)active I’ve been and keeps me moving. Without it, I’d be an unhealthy couch potato.
I have seen that Samsung smartwatch, and it is pretty cool. It is great if it can help you keep motivated exercising!
My brother got an apple watch some time ago, and he was basically only wearing it for a month or two before shelving it. Personally, I suspect that smartwatches still need some extra functionality or something like that before they become mainstream. Smartphones also had a long period before they became “smart” haha.
Great tips and a nice write-up. Smartwatches no doubt are very beneficial and have come to stay. Reports already put shipment volume at 108 million which represent about 15%. This is a clear indication that more people find buying a smartwatch a worthwhile investment.