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  1. Hardware
April 22, 2015

Smarten your wrist with these top 5 smartwaches

CBR compiles a list of the five best smartwatches available in the UK.

By Joao Lima

The great workplace wearable revolution is already under way and is only set to foster even more.

75 million wearable devices will be deployed all over offices between 2014 and 2020, to improve productivity, encourage collaboration and make workplaces safer. Smartwatches will be by far the largest portion of this revolution.

Over the next five years, companies will deploy wearables devices in both corporate enterprise environments and in industrial settings.

Aditya Kaul, Tractica’s research director said: "The use of wearables in the enterprise will include devices that are part of the ‘bring your own wearable’ (BYOW) trend, as well as fitness trackers or smart watches provided by employers as part of their corporate wellness programmes."

CBR puts together five of the best smart watches to help you be part of the revolution.

1. Samsung Gear S

samsung

Price: £329
Launched: November 7, 2014

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Samsung Gear S allows you to talk, text and interact with others on the go without ever needing your smartphone.

Connecting with your device via Bluetooth v4.1, the curved watch has a display of 2.0 inches curved super AMOLED – one of the biggest in the market – featuring up to 16 million colours.

It runs on Tizen’s OS with a Dual core 1.0 GHz and includes an internal memory of 4GB and 512MB RAM.

The standard battery capacity is 300 mAh lasting one to two days on typical usage and up to four days if the device is not being used constantly.

The watch is equipped with 3G connectivity and Wi-Fi, working almost as a mobile phone on its own. Users can receive and make calls and reply to texts with an inbuilt keyboard programmed with 69 different languages inputs.

Other perks of the watch include Samsung’s personal fitness assistant: the device tracks heart beat rate via enhanced multi-sensors.

A built-in GPS guides the owner during exercise and the S Health will give constant reports on health status.

Many companies, like CNN, iPass, Deezer or Trip Case have developed apps for the Gear S allowing customers to keep up with the latest news, listen to music on the go or receive live alerts when travelling.

The watch is ranked as IP67, meaning users can dive up to 1 meter of water with it for 30 minutes.

2. Asus ZenWatch

asus

Price: £199
Launched: November 9, 2014

Asus put in the market another curved watch with AMOLED display capable of tracking people’s health and lifestyle.

The watch is capable of both connecting to your Android phone and tablet, and also displays the smartphone’s camera viewfinder remotely.

The watch comes geared with voice and motion controls letting the user reply to texts, instant messages and emails by voice.

The 1.63 inches screen with a 320 x 320 resolution hides a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with 1.2GHz CPU.

It works on Bluetooth 4.0 and comes included of 512MB RAM and 4GB EMMC.

3. Motorola Moto 360

moto

Price: £199
Launched: September 5, 2014

Motorola’s smartest watch available in the UK only runs on Android 4.3 or higher.

It boosts a 1.56 inches 320×290 display protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. LG has rated its watch IP67 for water resistance.

The watch battery is designed to last a day if used heavily but can be charged wirelessly using a charging dock (which LG includes in the package).

A 4GB internal storage and 512MB RAM will let the Android Wear OS coordinate the devices’ applications and keep information extracted during the day stored.

Motorola has also bucked voice controls in. By saying "Ok Google", customers can ask for directions to go work or do a search while using the personal health and fitness tracker.

The watch also enables to reply to texts, set calendar reminders and check the weather by talking to Moto 360.

4. LG G Watch R W110

lg

Price: £187
Launched: October 24, 2014

LG G Watch R W110 features the world’s first full circle P-OLED display enabling users to interact with the watch even on the sunniest days.

The watch features a solution that tells the user about live traffic conditions as they move around and keeps their diary up to pace.

The smartwach was one of the first devices to make full use of the whole 1.3 inches screen.

A Qualcomm Snapdraggon 400 Processor with 1.2GHz CPU keeps the device running on Android Wear OS.

LG has also made its product dust and water resistant (IP67) and included a set of 9-Axis sensors boosting Gyro, Accelerometer, Compass, Barometer and PPG heart rate monitor.

5. Sony SmartWatch 3

sony

Price: £180
Launched: October 23, 2014

Sony’s wearable is another strong competitor in the smartwaches industry.

With its 1.6 inches transflective display, the device bags a range of sensors that can measure ambient light for instance. An accelerometer, compass, gyro and GPS have also been installed.

The watch has standard memory of 4GB eMMC plus 512MB of RAM.

Sony took the water protection a bit more seriously and built an IP68 device which allows users to dive up to 1.5 meter of water for about 30 minutes.

It also runs on Android Wear and features voice controls to reply to messages and do searches.

The company has also installed a health and fitness tracker that keeps the user up to date with its own data on different issues such as heart rate or distances walked with respective amount of calories lost.

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