Non-Android smartwatches that can show Android notifications?

[cdl]

I understand that both Pebble and Garmin make smartwatches which do not have a touchscreen, but which can show Android notifications. The lack of touchscreen is probably even an advantage for me, because I am mostly interested in using a smartwatch to read notifications, not to write replies, and smartwatches with no touchscreen tend to have much longer battery lives.

My question is: are there others? The Garmin are nice but very expensive; the Pebble Time Steel seems very functional, and is much cheaper, but is kind of fugly!

PS of course I am not considering the Apple ones; I find them uglier, too expensive, and with the same short battery life of Android smartwatches, ie lots of disadvantages but no advantage.

 

[Clementine_3]

Martian Notifier. As the name indicates it just notifies you. It's big and could be classified as fugly but it works. I just have mine set for texts and calls, it's biggest function is to keep my phone unlocked (smart lock). Cheap, ugly and works...yup, I love it.

 

[the lucky William]

Interesting. I never have a thought that smartwatch without a touchscreen. And also how it works, how to read the notifications, how to change the watchface, etc. Also if this watch could unlock the phone, ummm, really useful feature.

 

[mikedt]

I wouldn't buy a Pebble now, Fitbit killed it. Most of the cheapo smart-watches have notifications via their supporting phone apps, but can't really recommend anything here, they're all quite grim and crummy.

 

[the lucky William]

Looking forward to the first Fitbit 'Pebble like' smartwatch.

 

[Clementine_3]

Interesting. I never have a thought that smartwatch without a touchscreen. And also how it works, how to read the notifications, how to change the watchface, etc. Also if this watch could unlock the phone, ummm, really useful feature.

Any of them will keep the phone unlocked
.
The Notifier is like a regular watch, it has actual hands. You don't change the face. The notifications just run along the bottom, they scroll. You can only read them, no interacting with them.

It's super super basic.

 

[Gamer333]

You can find many smartwaches which gives you notifications for as low as 20$ like U-8 watches. But their battery life is awful. I had one and it couldn't last for even 6 hours.
If you only want to get notified about SMS or call I would suggest you Xioami Mi Band, it's cheap, lasts longer than 30 days(currently have it, actually lasted 45 days+) and have notification function. But since it hasn't any screen it will only vibrate when you get any notification

 

[cdl]

I was thinking more of something like the Garmin watches, which can control phone calls and display emails, whatsapp messages etc (although without the emoticons).

 

[the lucky William]

Garmin bracelets or watches? I would go for the watch, so that I can change the watchface.
Control phone calls and display messages, lots of watches support this feature. Search the mtk2502 watch, you can find a thousand....

 

[cdl]

Sorry, I suppose I was unclear. I am familiar with Garmin watches; I was wondering if there exist other similar products by other brands, ie watches which display notifications, and ideally have no touchscreen but a longer battery life.

 

[the lucky William]

Forget what I have said. @Clementine_3 His suggestion just met your requirement.

 

[Unforgiven]

Forget what I have said. @Clementine_3 His suggestion just met your requirement.

^^^I know a couple people that have that.
https://www.martianwatches.com/

 

[Hadron]

Why choose a watch without an Android system when you have an Android operating system on your phone?

Because you prefer something else? Because you don't need all of the functionality of Wear OS (as Google now calls it), and would rather have longer battery life?

Non-android smart watches cover a wide range of devices. Samsung's Galaxy Watches are full-blown smartwatches but run the Tizen OS (and I wonder how many owners don't even realise?). Companies like Fitbit and Garmin also make non-Wear smartwatches, which depending on your needs may suit you better than a Wear OS watch. Or there are hybrid smartwatches with conventional analogue faces but able to display notifications (e.g. from Garmin or Withings), which is what the original poster (in 2017) wanted. There are some that don't display notifications, just alert you when one has been received. Then there are fitness bands which are less obtrusive than a watch but still able to display notifications, dismiss them or even send limited pre-determined acknowledgements. And for each of these there is someone who will say it suits them better than a Wear OS watch. One size does not fit all.

Personally I do have a use for wearable notifications, but opted for a fitness band on the other wrist to my conventional watch. Why didn't I just replace both with a smartwatch? There are two reasons: firstly, I simply prefer a real watch. I like having a nicely-designed dial, analogue hands ticking or sweeping around it, seeing some craft there as well as an instantly readable time display. To me a Wear OS watch remains a piece of consumer electronics: it's functional, but it's a different class of object. The second reason is that I expect any watch I buy to last for decades, and a good one to outlast me, while smartwatches are intended to be "disposable", to be replaced after a few years, and replacing the first with the second did not sit well with me.

I'm not saying your choice is wrong, but you asked why anyone would not make the same choice as you so there is my answer.