Google on Wednesday announced that it has shaken up its Google Fi rate plans. Dubbed “Bill Protection”, it gives heavy data users a break on their monthly bills.
Previously, Google Fi would charge customers a flat $20 per month for unlimited talk and messaging. Data, for its part, is billed at $10 per gigabyte (GB) whether you used all of it or not.
One of the most appealing features is that if you did not go through your data, you will be refunded the same pro-rated amount. For instance, use 2.7GB of data and your bill would be $47.00.
Conversely, if you go over your expected data amount, you’re still billed the $10/GB rate. So, even if you were set up for a 3GB plan and ended up hitting 4.3GB, you’d pay $63.00 and stay on your current setup.
Today’s announcement is geared toward users who routinely use or need at least 6GB of data each month. Rather than billing at $10/GB, the Bill Protection option keeps you locked in at $80. That’s $20 for the calls and messaging and $60 for all the data you can use.
What’s the catch?
Google Fi users under the Bill Protection plan can consume all of the data they want and will still be billed the pro-rated $10/GB amount. For instance, in a month where they may only use 1.7GB, the bill would be $37.00.
On the high end of the spectrum Google says it may slow data speeds if one were to hit 15GB of data in a month. As of today, though, that only affects around one percent (1%) of its user base. If you’re among those heavy users and don’t like slowed speeds, you can opt out of the Bill Protection and go back to the standard plan.
Bill Protection is rolling out immediately to individual subscribers and group plans. Current Fi subscribers will see it appear on the next billing cycle.
App testing is an integral part of an app’s development process. As simple the task seems, it is critical to the success of the app and finding real users can be a daunting task in itself. There is a world of a difference between a developer analyzing their own app and new users testing it. The interface may be simple to you, but not to an ordinary user. The brand colors that you may like may be too intrusive to the user experience. Similarly, the navigation may seem to be too difficult for the end user. This is why it is important to launch an app only after it has been tested with real users. And UserFeel is a proven app usability testing tool that can not only have your app tested by real users; it can also generate valuable reports and videos to simplify the entire task.
Use a Usability Testing App
A good remote usability testing app like UserFeel allows you to record the testers’ screen flow and their actions including navigation. Some of the key features of successful usability testing apps include the following:
Test on Different Devices
You can test your app’s performance on different devices like desktops and mobile devices (including Android and iOS platforms). Your target audience is going to use your app in different devices. You want to ensure that your app renders effectively and efficiently on Android smartphones and tables, all the different generations of iPhones, and on iPads. UserFeel has a user base comprising of testers who are using all these different devices, providing you actual feedback and videos of how your app performs on these different platform.
Highlights Videos
There are rare few usability test apps like UserFeel that can also record highlights videos which can be shared with your development team for evaluation and improvement. The videos can be saved and uploaded anywhere. It takes just minutes to create your videos which can be shared with your development team to learn from the user experience and make adjustments and improvements to your app’s design.
Create & Share Reports
A good testing app can create reports containing metrics such as ratings, System Usability Scale, and time on task. UserFeel does exactly that. Export the data for easy and quick evaluation by your team. It generates easy-to-understand reports that simplify information instead of complicating them.
Quick Results
This usability testing app can generate real-user test results within a period of 24 hours. It has a vast user base of global testers. You can also view through videos how they interact with your app. As an app developer, you are most likely to be on strict schedules and waiting for days or weeks for feedback can delay your projects by significant margins. But when you use UserFeel to test usability, you can get faster results to speed up the development process.
Team Collaboration
This usability testing app goes further and also provides a team-collaboration interface. All your app development projects can be organized into separate projects. All the feedback and videos relevant to a specific project can be accessed by respective team members. They can add their own comments to the feedback/videos and even categorize the problems. This means more efficient management of teamwork and effective resolution of all the issues and bugs.
Test Websites in Any Language
You will need to create apps in different languages to reach different target markets. With UserFeel, you can test you app no matter in which language it is created. The app usability testing service has global panel of testers who speak dozens of languages. However, the benefits don’t just stop there. This app can also provide you with feedback in English or your own language even when your app in another language. This will make it easier for you to understand the feedback.
So follow these tips to have your app tested by real users. Use a combination of these different methods or focus on using a remote usability testing app that can provide you detailed reports.
It today’s tech-driven world, movie makers have found a new medium to market blockbusters – mobile gaming. For the past few years, Hollywood has been readily embracing the new fad of creating official games based on popular titles in an attempt to lure in even more fans.
The Android platform has certainly seen its fair share of movie tie-ins and in this article, we’ve made a selection of top Android games that have been inspired by movies. And if you’re a fan of the Fantasy/Sci-Fi genres, you’re certainly going to love this list.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Inspired by The Lord of the Rings universe and keeping the Tolkien essence intact, Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a free-to-play real-time RPG in which you play Talion (the same character from the previous Shadow of Mordor) – a courageous warrior who hopes to defeat the the evil hordes of Sauron.
Talion sets out to gather an army and soon recruits iconic characters such as Gimli, Arwen or Boromir. What’s more, fan-favorite Uruk Ratbag from the Shadow of War makes a welcome comeback in this new chapter, to the delight of many players.
Combat scenes are very number-heavy, but appear to contain some gameplay mechanics borrowed from the console and PC games, and that’s very good news for mobile players.
Mobile spinoffs haven’t had a great reputation among hard-core gamers, as they often feel watered-down knockoffs of the console experience, however, Shadow of War is definitely worth a try. If anything, you’ll appreciate the graphics.
The story in the Hobbit takes place 60 years before The Lord of the Rings adventure and stars beloved characters such as Gandalf, Bilbo, Legolas, and Thorin.
These heroes have made it into the mobile game as well and they will need your help to succeed in their quest of driving Goblin hordes out of Middle-Earth.
So, join thousands of players worldwide, to forge diplomatic alliances, train vast armies, conquer enemies and upgrade buildings and weapons to strengthen your position.
Use your mobile to enter the magnificent world of Game of Thrones where houses clash, dragons rule the sky and the army of the dread threatens to wipe the existence of all living beings.
The Android game lets you build your house, raise your army and define your political strategy. Become Lord of Westeros, but don’t forget that winter is here and your enemy’s army will not wait to clash swords.
The legend of King Arthur is one of the most powerful and fascinating stories of all times. It has been told and re-told in many forms in books, songs, movies and now there’s even an official mobile game you can play.
Based on King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, the game has you playing as King Arthur, a novice ruler who gradually learns how harness the power of his mighty sword Excalibur in an attempt to hold off Vortigern’s assault.
Fight to the death to save your kingdom and gain glory!
Enjoyed Rogue One: A Star Wars Story? Then you’ll probably love playing Star Wars: Force Arena. This is a game brimming of potential that blends popular mobile gaming trends like collectible cards, tower defense, and mobile online battle arena (MOBA) into an addictive strategy game.
Star Wars: Force Arena really brings out the “war” aspect of Star Wars. But before heading off into battle, players will have to build their first battle deck around a Legendary card – heroes from the original Star Wars trilogy and new characters from Rogue One are available for you to choose from.
Fighting up through PvP ranks unlocks more cards and makes the strategy even more complex, while the flow of constant missions ensures there’s always a goal you need to work towards.
Based on the popular film franchise, Jurassic Park, the Android game is quite reminiscent of Theme Park – you know the classic strategy game in which you were tasked to build your own amusement park.
Jurassic Park gives you a similar mission: build a dinosaur park. So get busy acquiring new dino species in the park, feeding them and developing tourist activities and attractions, to keep the park going strong.
Pirates of Caribbean movies have been extremely popular across the globe and now you can step in Jack Sparrow’s boots and command your very own pirate ship as you plunder the sea in order to become the one and only pirate captain of the Caribbean. All from your mobile phone.
Team up with beloved characters like Jack Sparrow, Will Turner or Captain Barbossa and experience new and exciting sea adventures along side them.
More and more businesses and professionals are using apps as part of their overall strategy for promotional or functional reasons. You can create apps to promote your brand or to allow your users to access your services or even to directly sell your products. It is no longer required to hire the services of an app development agency to have your own app. You can now make your own app – something that is as good as a professionally-designed app.
Bobile provides you easy-to-use tools to make your own app. Whether you want to integrate functions like marketing, mobile shopping, customer service or anything else relevant to your business, this platform provides you the right tools to create a unique app with all the required functionalities and features.
It is important to note that Bobile always follows Apple guidelines and its apps were not affected by Apple’s 4.2.6 guidelines, as its apps offer a unique users’ experience and are hosted and submitted individually.
Choose a Unique Theme
Your app should tell the story of your business before even introducing your users to the purpose they are here. Bobile offers unique themes to start with your app development process. You can customize the app’s looks to match your brand image. The best case scenario requires that someone who uses your app feels the same as on your website.
This platform offers over 200 professionally-designed templates. It is not just the graphics, the navigation and layouts are also unique.
Key Features of Bobile
You can create your own custom app using this platform without the need for any kind of coding. The main features of the app are as following:
Create Your Mobile Shop: More people shop on their mobile devices than ever before. If you have a physical store or an online store, you can use this app builder to make your own app for selling your products. Accept different currencies and payment methods, create unlimited categories and products, add shopping cart, pay zero commissions or fees for your sales, avail marketing tools, and much more.
Enable Booking: If you are offering services, you can create an app that allows your target audience and clients to book your services on their mobile devices. Let them fix appointments or book your services without the need to make a phone call. Your clients will be able to book your service even when you are not available to take phone calls. The additional benefits include easier management and tracking of appointments and reducing no-shows with reminders.
Offer Better Customer Service through Live Chat: Imagine your customers being able to contact you and find solutions to their queries and concerns instantly using an app. With Bobile, you can make your own app to facilitate and simplify the customer service experience. Add the live chat feature to your app and deliver instant support to your customers and prospects. This app builder allows adding unlimited users, conduct real-time chats, and even maintain chat history.
Reengage with Push Messages: Using push messages can do much more than getting your customers to reengage with your app. This app builder also offers a push message tool for creating and scheduling push messages. The messages can include reminders, new promotions, and incentives. Create custom messages to offer a more personalized experience to your customers. Schedule your messages or send instantly, send push notifications based on vicinity, reach out on holidays, and promote coupons or products/services.
Loyalty Programs: It is much easier to generate business from existing customers than from new ones. Acquiring new customers is also extremely costly. Bobile not only allows you to make your own app, it also allows you to create loyalty programs and reward your customers. Let them earn points and redeem them to buy more. Boost customer loyalty to generate more revenues from them. Create custom reward programs based on your customers’ interests.
This app builder further allows you to create coupons and offer custom deals to your customers. Offer special discounts and offers to encourage them to buy more. Draw new customers and up-sell relevant items. Coupons can prove to be valuable tools in selling hard-to-sell products. You can also create VIP Club and offer incentives to your customers to stay loyal. Gather customer information and create groups based on their interests and purchases. And all this can be done using a simple app builder interface. You don’t need to have any previous app development experience to make your own app with this program.
At this year’s CES, we learned about a disruption to our annual smartphone release expectations. LG, which is usually one of the first out the gate with a new G-series flagship, has put the brakes on the way that its mobile division does things. This is rather unheard of from a major smartphone player. Being a fan of LG phones, part of me is disappointed that we won’t know what the manufacturer is up for a while, but more of me is intrigued about what it will end up meaning.
I’m sure that other Android enthusiasts no longer feel nearly the same excitement we used to at new smartphone releases. I adored the era when new releases brought on leaps in display resolution, camera quality, processing speed, and battery capacity. But for the most part, all of these things have gotten as good as they need to. Every smartphone update now is very iterative, with minor tweaks to what’s come before. Take the Galaxy S8 for example. The only thing really different from the S7 was the decreased bezel. And judging from the Galaxy S9 leaks, there’s going to be even less different.
And this doesn’t just apply to Samsung. The same thing goes for Apple (iPhone 7 -> iPhone 8), Sony (Xperia Z5 -> Xperia XZ1), Motorola (Z Force -> Z2 Force), OnePlus (OnePlus 3 -> OnePlus 5), etc. LG doesn’t necessarily fall in the same camp, because of the experimental (and failed) G5 that was reworked to the much different G6. But that’s really it playing catch-up.
Sure, LG’s decision to delay its next major smartphone release appears to be mostly driven by the inability of its flagship phones to secure financial success, but I can’t help but read the company’s statement on the matter as a deeper implication. In a report by The Investor, LG’s CEO, Jo Seong-jin, said,
“We will unveil new smartphones when it is needed. But we will not launch it just because other rivals do.”
This statement from LG really resonates with me and how I feel about smartphone releases as of late. It’s something that needed to be said. It feels like most smartphone manufacturers are just throwing a new smartphone out there because it’s the time to rather than doing so with merit. Or even worse, because another is doing it. There’s no more reason for a strict, annual release schedule in smartphones. Manufacturers should take whatever time they need to release something worthy of a release.
However, the reality is that money drives everything. As long as we keep buying in droves each year, companies won’t think twice about their ways. LG’s mobile division has been losing out year-over-year, hence, why it is calling a time out. Also according to the report: “The internal speculation is that the company hasn’t been able to find a strong selling point for the G7 smartphone,” which suggests that the G7 was shaping up to be another typical iterative update. And we can certainly understand LG’s reservations – if the formula didn’t work before then why would now be any different.
LG’s most recent flagship, V30, shown. Both it and the G6 were well-made smartphones but middling in sales.
I love new smartphones as much as the next Android addict, but I can’t help reflect on that in actuality, my Note 8 brought me minimal value from the S7 Edge and Note 7 (before I had to return it). I also had the Pixel 2 XL and LG V30 and felt the same way with regard to their predecessors. It would be hard to swallow at first, but I would prefer companies to extend their development times in order to incorporate more changes and/or new technologies. Then when a new smartphone does drop, it will be sincerely exciting again, like in the good ‘ol days.
Do you agree? We’d like to hear your thoughts in the comments section below!
The Android lock screen has come a long way since Android began and the experience differs vastly between devices. One of the best features of Android is the ability to customize almost every element, one of which is the lock screen. There are, therefore, a number of lock screen apps that can be used to replace the stock lock screen available directly from the Google Play Store.
With so many apps contained in the Play Store, we’ve done the hard work and picked out 5 of the best.
DashClock Widget
So technically this one isn’t strictly an entire lock screen replacement but the functionality provides an overlay that could transform your lock screen. It’s actually a widget but provides a list of basic stats such as the weather, time, and notifications. You’ll probably be thinking that this is very similar to what many OEM stock lock screens offer and you’re right – many features have been inspired by apps such as this. It’s free and is worth checking out to give a nice clean look to your lock screen.
No doubt you’ve heard of GO Locker because, with over 50 million downloads, it is one of the most popular lock screen replacements. There’s a free and paid version that unlocks more themes and you have the option to set a lock pattern.
This is Microsoft’s entry into the lock screen space and offers a clean professional look. You’ll get a list view of notifications and the ability to customize it to show the weather forecasts and launch apps. The unique thing about Next Lock Screen is it effectively brings an entire home screen one step back onto your lock screen.
HTC has even made it on our list with its lock screen offering that allows you to easily check what’s important to you at a glance. What I like about this app is that it provides exactly what you want to see including notifications, weather, time, and media playbacks in a clean way. Content will also be passed over from BlinkFeed directly on the lock screen, which is a nice touch.
While most of the other lock screen offerings have provided an entire experience with notifications and information, Smart Lock Screen apps is fairly simple. The app provides a PIN lock screen with a number of themes and animations. You can even use pictures instead of numbers, which is a nice touch.
While these are just some of the many available lock screen apps, these are some of the best designed and well-rounded apps we’ve across. The list is not exhaustive so if you have a lock screen app that you constantly find yourself gravitating towards, please drop us a comment and let us know what you think.
Just to give you some fair warning, dear Android Guys, this is going to be something of a rant, design-wise. I have many nits to pick with Syllable’s D9X, and a good number of them are likely petty and/or highly subjective. You’ve been warned!
The D9X Bluetooth headset have a truly unique design, in that it features a removable battery in each earpiece that can essentially be hot-swapped on the fly in seconds. These little 80mAh “tabs” – for lack of a better word – can be stored and charged in a 400mAh case (four batteries are included in the retail unit) and the whole setup itself can then be stored in a hard-sided carrying case or felt bag (also included).
Frankly, the whole thing is just a bundle of madness. Every time you want to use the D9X, you have to remove the two earpieces and charging case from the carrying case (which, yes, means you have to have a case to hold the case), then remove and insert a battery for each earpiece (making the whole process quite difficult unless you have a flat surface on which to assemble it).
Carrying Case
The carrying case is too large for a pocket – it’s meant to be attached to a bag via carabiner – and since the charging case hold the batteries but not the earpieces, that means you either have to stick the earpieces in your pocket separate from the charging case, or put all three pieces in the felt bag and put that in your pocket. It’s all very inefficient.
That said, though, the carrying case itself is surprisingly well-made. It’s got a high-quality zipper that never snags or catches, a soft-but-sturdy outer shell, and a precision-molded interior padding that holds each piece loosely in place. There’s a Syllable logo on the cover – the only splash of color on the entire package – but the logo itself is so unidentifiable you’d be hard-pressed to name the brand if you saw it.
Charging Case
If there’s a true highlight to the design of the D9X, it’s the way the charging case feels. The black aluminum chassis feels great in-hand, and the clear plastic lid clicks open satisfactorily. While the two charging slots for the batteries feature a magnetic connection, the two storage slots do not – which means the extra batteries have a tendency to pop out willy-nilly. I wish the case had a spot for the earpieces themselves – as mentioned above it makes transportation something of a challenge – but overall the charging case is a highlight of the D9X.
Earpieces
As impressive as the charging case is for the D9X, the build of the earpieces is that disappointing. The chassis is made of a gross gloss plastic, which clashes awfully the second you connect a battery – made of that same classy black aluminum as the charging case – to the earpiece. The single button design of the earpieces means you can’t do a whole lot with them, but on the other hand I much prefer it to the multi-button design of some other Bluetooth earbuds.
Attaching a battery automatically powers on the D9X, and removing the battery obviously powers it off. The batteries secure easily enough, though the connection is mostly magnetic – and as such, a slight bump will knock it clean off. Wearing the D9X is comfy – the various sizes of Silicon buds and earhooks make for a custom fit, and finding the right combination of sizes makes for a custom-fit that holds well even when working out. The earhooks are especially nifty, slipping on right over the buds and fitting on a small bulge between the chassis and bud. Of all the Bluetooth earbuds I’ve tried, I think these fit the best.
Performance
Generally speaking, when it comes to Bluetooth earbuds of the truly wireless variety – especially sub-$100 ones – you pay the price for portability and price. Depth of sound is often lacking, volume rarely tops out at something that’ll blow brain matter out your nostrils, music often has a tinny (not to be confused with tiny) quality, and mic performance often makes you sound like you’re talking from far, far away – which, yes, is often the case, but it shouldn’t sound like it. Truly wireless earbuds are a relatively new technology, and it’ll likely be a long while before its performance catches us up with the tried-and true technology of its wired companions.
And the D9X is no exception. In addition to the dubious design decisions details above (my oh my, that alliteration), Syllable’s earbuds suffer from finnicky connection and lackluster maximum volume. Surprisingly, though both the clarity and depth of sound in the odd little buds is great – for a sub-$100 headset, that is.
My personal experience with the D9X got off to a rocky start. The two earbuds took more than a minute to “find” one-another, and an additional 30 seconds to pair up with my phone. Subsequent connections were much more convenient, but that initial pairing process was pretty rough. The maximum volume output of the D9X is noticeably lower than others of its kin; in my quiet room with just the clackety-clack of my mechanical keyboard filling the silence, that volume level was just perfectly adequate. But outside, or in a busy workplace – let alone a crowded bus – it’s severely lacking.
As a result, and with most products like it, the D9X performs well in some aspects and rather flawed in others. It’s far from perfect – but at $79.99, can you even reasonably expect anything close?
Battery/Charging
In terms of battery life per individual charge, the D9X is pretty strong. Each 80mAh tab is good for 2 hours of playback – not bad at all in the Bluetooth earbud arena. But when you take into account the two sets of included batteries and 400mAh in the charging case, you wind up with almost 10 hours of playback – excellent for Bluetooth earbuds. If there’s one aspect of performance where Syllable’s earbuds truly excel, it’s battery life. It has its design flaws and its performance isn’t top-tier, but if battery life is your niche, the D9X is your Huckleberry. Beyond the battery mechanics themselves – which I whined about ad nauseam above – the only knock I have on the D9X in terms of battery is the Micro-USB port on the charging case. It’s time to join us in the USB-C era, Syllable (though to be fair, few Bluetooth manufacturers have yet to jump aboard that bandwagon).
In case you missed the headlines, the Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra is the successor of last year’s Xperia XA1 Ultra and the first Sony phone to take advantage of a dual selfie camera setup. What else is new? Keep reading below to find out.
On the outside
While most phone manufacturers have rushed to adhere to the bezel-less 18:9 trend, Sony has maintained the classic design approach in 2018. Case in point, the new Xperia XA2 Ultra is not drastically different from its predecessor, although, the upper and lower bezels have been trimmed down a little bit. That’s not to say there are no differences between the two.
A notable distinction is that the Xperia XA2 Ultra has a functioning fingerprint scanner! It’s very good news for US customers, although keep in mind that scanner is not embedded in the power button on the side anymore, but lives on the back of the phone now.
Sony has also upped things up a notch when it comes to building quality. Last year’s model was offered with a plastic back and aluminum frame, but the Xperia XA2 Ultra has a much higher quality feel due to the metal construction and other design flourishes such as chamfered edges.
Last but not least, the Xperia XA2 Ultra retains the 6-inch IPS LCD display with fullHD resolution of its predecessor.
On the inside
Sony has abandoned the land of MediaTek chipsets, so this year, the Xperia XA2 Ultra takes advantage of a Snapdragon 630 processor instead. It’s an octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 arrangement with a 2.2GHz clock peak, backed up by 4GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of built-in storage. A microSD card slot for memory expansion up to 256GB is also included.
As for the previous-generation Xperia XA1 Ultra, the phone was offered with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage (microSD card also available).
Last year’s model relies on a 2,700 mAh battery, but this year Sony decided to upgrade things in this department, so the Xperia XA2 Ultra relies on a much larger 3,580 mAh juice box.
The new Xperia XA2 Ultra will ship out with Android 8.0 Oreo as default OS, which unfortunately is pretty rare for smartphones launching these days. The Xperia XA1 Ultra still runs Android 7.0 Nougat, although an update to Oreo is in the cards.
Cameras
Perhaps the biggest difference between the two models is that the newer now sports a dual camera setup on the front.
For selfie-shooting purposes, users will be able to take advantage of the services of a 16-megapixel (f/2.0, OIS, AF) sensor paired with an 8-megapixel one (f/2.4).
In contrast, the previous model includes a sole 16-megapixel snapper with f/2.0, OIS, autofocus and LED flash.
As for the main cameras, the Xperia XA2 Ultra relies on a 23-megapixel sensor (f/2.0) with hybrid autofocus and support for 4K video recording and 120fps slow-motion shooting.
The rear camera on the Xperia XA1 Ulta is similar but without the slow-motion feature.
Pricing
The Xperia XA1 Ultra is currently available for purchase in the US from Amazon and Best Buy for $349.99 a pop. Get it in Black, White, Gold or Pink.
The Xperia XA2 Ultra, on the other hand, just went up for pre-order at Best Buy. Customers can buy one in Silver, Black, Blue or Gold for $450.
Most probably haven’t ever used the Google Arts & Culture app in the past but you’ll have a good reason to check it out now. Have you ever wondered if you look like a famous artist or painting?
A new feature will allow you to take a selfie and Google will match you with a lookalike from the art world. It may just give you that prompt to check out the art world to see if you have an undiscovered doppelganger.
To use the feature is simple. Just take a selfie picture and upload it to the app. Google will then match your picture to a painting selected from the art world that it considers looks like you, and it’s actually pretty accurate. Some of the results may vary depending on the quality of the uploaded picture and may differ given any expression, but overall it’s rather impressive.
The feature has caught the eye of the tech world that have an appreciation for the technology behind the facial recognition, but also across the social media and celebrity world including Kumail Nanjiani.
Google says that the feature is only available to select locations only, which in reality means it only currently works in the U.S. However, a VPN will easily see you around that restriction until Google decides to roll it out to a wider audience.
You can download the app here to give it a try for yourself.
CES 2018 came and went and now it’s time to take a look back at some of the most exciting products that got showcased during the event in Las Vegas.
In this article we’re going to focus on smartwatches and related and below you’ll be able to check out some of the best new tech in this category.
Garmin Forerunner 645
Price: $449
Garmin has updated its running watch collection with the Forerunner 645, which addresses one of the biggest complaints of last year’s Vivotrack 3 – not being able to store music on board. Well, the newcomer can store up up to 500 songs which can be transferred from your computer or downloaded as offline playlists from select music services like iHeartRadio, but not Spotify.
The Forerunner 645 also includes a GPS, heart rate monitor and offers access to Garmin’s advanced host of fitness features.
Skagen Falster
Price: starting at $275
The Falster is Skagen’s first foray into Android Wear territory. The minimalist, but gorgeous looking watch comes with a circular OLED touchscreen and a 42mm stainless steel case.
Like the majority of products in this category, it offers activity tracking, music control, notifications and the Google Assistant virtual companion. However, it does not sport NFC, GPS or a heart rate monitor.
Kate Spade New York Scallop
Price: starting at $295
Kate Spade – another brand part of the Fossil Group – has unveiled its first touchscreen Android Wear smartwatch during CES 2018 called the New York Scallop.
While overall the watch doesn’t look very different from the majority of intelligent timepieces currently on the market, the New York Scallop does boast a few unique Kate Spade details including the scalloped edge along the watchface and spade engraved on the watch’s crown.
Kate Spade’s new smartwatch is mostly intended at users who want a fashionable smartwatch, so it doesn’t have NFC, GPS or a heart rate sensor.
Matrix PowerWatch X
Price: $249
The Matrix Power Watch X is an experimental smartwatch which deserves a mention in our top. Unlike the majority of smartwatches which can offer up to 24-hours of battery life at best, the Matrix Power Watch X will never run out of juice because it uses the wearer’s body heat to charge itself.
Apart from showing the time, as any watch should, the PowerWatch X’s functionality is pretty limited at this point, so don’t expect to be able to installs apps on it. At the moment, the device can count steps and display notifications from your smartphone. It’s also water-resistant up to 200 meters.
Suunto 3 Fitness
Price: starting €199 (approx. $242)
Finnish company, Suunto came to CES 2018 to unveil the 3 Fitness sports watch which blends activity tracker capabilities with full smartwatch features.
The Suunto 3 Fitness makes use of a built-in heart rate monitor to determine your fitness level and couples it with your overall exercise history to develop a seven-day training plan. The cool feature here is the adaptive training mode. So if you happen to miss a day of workout or end up overexercising, the training plan will adapt accordingly.
Casio G-Shock Rangerman
Price: $800
For adventure types in need of a rugged wearable, the Casio G-Shock Rangerman might be the right smartwatch.
The Rangerman is perfect for those who go on hikes in the wild for days and even weeks because it can be recharged with four hours of sunlight. The well-built smartwatch also includes a barometer, altimeter, compass and thermometer and is mud and cold resistant.
The wrist-bound device doesn’t come cheap, but at least you know you’ll be able to take it anywhere with you.
One of the most appealing features is that if you did not go through your data, you will be refunded the same pro-rated amount. For instance, use 2.7GB of data and your bill would be $47.00.
On the high end of the spectrum Google says it may slow data speeds if one were to hit 15GB of data in a month. As of today, though, that only affects around one percent (1%) of its user base. If you’re among those heavy users and don’t like slowed speeds, you can opt out of the Bill Protection and go back to the standard plan.
