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My Apple Watch is such an important part of my life now that I don’t even realize I’m wearing it. The Withings ScanWatch is a very different kind of smartwatch, so I thought it would be interesting to try one.
It is a more sophisticated version of Withings Steel and is already available in Europe, but pending clearance from the FDA to go on sale in the US It is a predominantly analog watch, with a small digital display. And unlike the 1-2 day battery life of the Apple Watch, it claims a battery life of 30 days, with another 20 days in standby mode, where it turns off the digital display while continuing to keep time and measure the time. exercise …
The differences and similarities
Form factor
The main difference between the two devices is, of course, the form factor. The Apple Watch is completely digital. The ScanWatch is a very conventional looking analog watch. I think most people wouldn’t give it a second look. The only thing that stands out when you look closer is a black circle that takes up about 20% of the watch face.
That’s the digital display, but since it’s off by default it again doesn’t immediately scream “smartwatch.” Personally, I think it is simple, elegant and understated. I could definitely live with this on my wrist full time, and I think a lot of those who don’t like screen-based smartwatches would like this. Certainly my girlfriend, who completely rejects the idea of a screen on her wrist, said this was acceptable (although the 42mm version I tried was too big for her, she thinks she would be happy with the 38mm one).
Activity monitoring
With GPS, altimeter, and accelerometer, activity monitoring offers capabilities very similar to the Apple Watch. Offers workouts for 30 different types of exercise. For those outdoors, measure distance, speed, and elevation, along with a map of your trail. By default, it automatically tracks walking, running, swimming, stair climbing, distance, and calories burned.
Health monitoring
The ScanWatch is more capable here than the Apple Watch. It has the same functions of heart rate monitoring, Afib detection and ECG. But it also has a medical grade oximeter to measure oxygen saturation (O2 sats), as well as to detect respiratory disturbances while sleeping.
Notifications
Surprisingly, the ScanWatch can also display the same range of notifications as the Apple Watch, despite the small digital display. I used it with Calendar, Messages, and Phone on (and Mail off). I also turned on my main third-party apps, like CityMapper.
Apple ecosystem
The Apple Watch, of course, has one huge advantage over any third-party smartwatch – it’s part of the Apple ecosystem. More on this below.
Drawbacks
Not being part of the Apple ecosystem is the ScanWatch’s biggest drawback compared to the Apple Watch. Three examples were immediately apparent.
First, my Apple Watch unlocks my Mac as soon as I wake it up; the ScanWatch cannot do that.
Second, my watch is my main method of paying for things. Contactless is ubiquitous in London, and I literally can’t remember the last time I pulled a card out of my wallet. ScanWatch can’t do that either, and that’s huge.
Third, of course, there is no access to Siri. I use Siri a lot to dictate responses to messages, as it is so quick and easy.
The display has a wake-up wake-up feature similar to that of the Apple Watch. This is off by default and not that useful as the only thing it shows in normal use is the date (although we could probably all use a reminder of that in these lockdown days…). But the hands of the clock can block it in part and in any case it is less reliable than Apple’s implementation, so I gave it a try but soon turned it off.
Notifications are another significant difference. Yes, ScanWatch can display them, but the small screen means that the messages must scroll across the screen.
I must say that Withings implements this way better than I expected. I was expecting the notifications to be almost useless on that screen, but the scrolling speed is just right, fast enough to display information in a reasonable time, but still readable. It automatically scrolls them twice as well, so if you didn’t lift your wrist fast enough to see it the first time, you’ll pick up the replay.
Notifications work perfectly well for short things like calendar appointments and CityMapper “Get off at next stop” alerts. However, it is not very practical for texting, it just takes too long to scroll even at the fast speed you use. I tried having it on for things like WhatsApp, and it just wasn’t practical, so I disabled it.
Activity tracking is similar to the Apple Watch in terms of the data collected in the app (which can be linked to Apple’s Health app), but while the rings on the Apple Watch provide a quick view of how you’re doing in In terms of movement, exercise and hours of rest, the ScanWatch can only display one thing at a time.
The ScanWatch has an analog dial at the 6 o’clock position, which would be a stopwatch on a conventional watch. In the ScanWatch, this is an activity tracker, going from 0% to 100% of your goal. By default, it shows the percentage of your step goal. However, you can measure any training activity with a target, but only while that training is active.
Advantage
However, the ScanWatch has some advantages over the Apple Watch.
The most obvious of them is battery life. Withings claims 30 days. That seems plausible: I was playing with him a lot longer than normal and lasted exactly 21 days. The mere convenience of being able to put it on and forget about it for a few weeks is a much better experience than the need for daily charging of the Apple Watch (two days in a row).
In particular, it makes sleep tracking much more practical. With the Apple Watch, you have to be pretty organized to use it and keep track of your sleep – you need to take it off at night to charge it before bed, which is a hassle, or charge it as soon as you wake up and then put it back on. turn it on just before leaving home or starting work. With the ScanWatch, simply leave it on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Speaking of sleep tracking, the ScanWatch is much better than Apple. We had a very serious mosquito problem one night, which woke me up four times when I was bitten. Apple Watch didn’t show up any of these waking periods; the ScanWatch specifically monitors for sleep interruptions and displays them all.
The ScanWatch also clearly and credibly displays periods of deeper and lighter sleep. The full sleep report shows segments of awake, light and deep sleep; Total length; assesses the depth of sleep; and assign an overall score.
Compared to plus On Apple Watch models, the ability to see the time without lifting your wrist is a minor benefit, but more so for those around you! With relatively few people wearing watches these days, it’s not unusual for a friend to look at my wrist and ask the time. With ScanWatch, they can see it for themselves.
When I want to know the time myself, I find that turning my wrist towards me is 100% reliable on my Apple Watch Series 4 and of course the Series 5 has the screen always on. However, we found that comes at a cost to battery life, so the ScanWatch still has an advantage here.
Finally, many would consider the traditional watch look to be a huge plus. In fact, that would be, for them, the main selling point; More on that in a moment.
ScanWatch pricing and conclusions
When it goes on sale in the US, the Withings ScanWatch will cost $ 279 for the 38mm model and $ 299 for the 42mm I tested. Given that you can buy a Series 3 Apple Watch for $ 199 for 38mm or $ 229 for 42mm, that makes the ScanWatch a relatively expensive purchase for a (mostly) less capable device.
But I think that’s pretty irrelevant – despite the substantial overlap of capabilities, these are different devices that attract different people.
I wore Apple Watch and ScanWatch for three weeks, one on each wrist. I have to say that I liked the ScanWatch much more than I expected. I prefer its appearance to the Apple Watch, and it was the ScanWatch I looked at when I wanted to know the time. I also looked at that to see my step count (or rather a look at the approximate percentage, which is what I really want to know). In fact, I’m going to miss using it.
For me, the lack of Apple Pay makes it a substitute for my Apple Watch. I use my watch to pay for 99% of purchases, and Express Transit makes it particularly convenient for use on public transport services in London.
As much as I am a minimalist who really likes the clean design of the ScanWatch, I am also a bit addicted to information. The Infographic face is the one I use most of the time (with occasional flirtations with Siri’s), and I like having at-a-glance access to things like the weather and my next calendar entry. It’s also a really convenient way to do things like read messages from your mobile device, and while ScanWatch scrolling works much better than expected, it’s still not in the same category as being able to read an entire message at a glance.
But if you are someone who rejects the idea of a screen on your wrist but would still appreciate the capabilities of a smartwatch, I think the ScanWatch could be attractive. It’s certainly the only other smartwatch I’ve seen so far that has intrigued me enough to give it a try. The ability to just use it and forget to charge it for a month will also make it that much more attractive to non-techies.
And even I … if I had Apple Pay, I could choose to use it instead of my Apple Watch Some weather. When dressing up, be it for a fancy night out or to dance tango, I might as well put this on instead. I loved it.
The Withings ScanWatch is now available in the UK and other European countries. It will arrive in the US once it has been certified by the FDA.
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