Thinking of getting bangle.js 2

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  • I’m looking to get a smartwatch and have been considering the bangle.js 2. Other watches on that list include the mi band 7 and the Huawei band 7. I am looking for feedback from users to see the bangle.js2 compares to my other options.

    What I’m looking for in order of priority:
    1) wake me up without waking my wife up. We will have very soon, so sleep so I really don’t want to wake my wife up with that.
    2) long battery life. I think that having an always on watch face would be useful for me. How much, I don’t know yet.
    3) waterproof enough that I can wash dishes and walk outside without needing to take it off. Basically so I don’t have to baby it.
    4) works with iPhone.

    Nice to haves:
    -heart rate tracking equivalent to the Huawei or Mi Band 7. See videos by The Quantified Scientist on YouTube.
    So not amazing accuracy but something broadly useful. I’ll find it motivating for a few weeks or so which is useful.

    • Privacy. I’m aware that my other requirements mean I have to consider some of the companies with sketchier records on privacy. However, it is a preference.

    Me as a user: I’ve dabbled in a bit of coding (not JavaScript) but will be busy with baby. My intention will be to use existing programs.

    So, what do people think?

    Edited: removed faulty hyperlink

  • 1) If you put the Bangle with the side on a table and use the full vibration strength it will wake everyone in the current room and in the next. If you wear it the vibration is barely noticeable. But when you want to wear the watch while sleeping consider replacing the strap: https://forum.espruino.com/conversations­/378429/

    2) For my daily use (for days without gps obviously) the battery is at ~50% after a week, so I charge weekly. When it only displays the clock and does not vibrate etc you should get a month or so.

    3) So far the Bangle survives all my hand & dish washing attacks and northern Europe rain. But you should not dive it into water, see for example https://forum.espruino.com/conversations­/378470/
    Covering the Barometer hole should improve the water resistance.

    4) no idea

    Privacy: See http://www.espruino.com/Privacy - should be a strong point of this watch

    User only: The watch should work without any programming. If you have a feature request or a bug you can always open an issue on https://github.com/espruino/BangleApps/i­ssues
    Bugs are usually fixed fast. Your feature requests are best implemented by yourself, so it definitively helps if you can distinguish an if condition from a for loop in javascript. Also there is no test infrastructure, so each update can introduce bugs, for example it does not hurt to test the alarm app after an update of alarm or scheduler and you rely on it.

  • I'm biased, so I won't weigh in on other stuff, but:

    3) Water resistance

    As said above, it should be more than good enough for general hand washing and some rain. But I wouldn't shower with it and definitely don't go swimming or take it in the bath.

    Basically, it's fine with occasional splashes of water, but you should avoid intentionally getting it under water.

    4) works with iPhone

    Yes - it works with an iPhone to display incoming messages without any app required on the iPhone.

    Some gotchas though:

    • To load apps, you need to disconnect the iPhone and either use a laptop/desktop, or install the $2 WebBLE app
    • There's no internet access from the Bangle via the iPhone

  • To load apps, you need to disconnect the iPhone and either use a laptop/desktop, or install the $2 WebBLE app

    I will add:
    to install apps from an iPhone to B.js, you can install a free app Connect Browser https://apps.apple.com/us/app/connect-br­owser/id1543475842
    with which you can also use https://www.espruino.com/ide/

    And before install apps from an iPhone to B.js you need to disconnect the watch from bluetooth iPhone settings and connect to ConnectBrowser app EACH TIME.

  • you can install a free app Connect Browser https://apps.apple.com/us/app/connect-br­owser/id1543475842

    Very interesting - thanks! I wasn't aware of that at all

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Thinking of getting bangle.js 2

Posted by Avatar for user150985 @user150985

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