These days, it seems like a smartwatch can do everything your phone can. If that’s true, then why carry a phone around at all? Well, while it’s true that a Galaxy Watch has most of the same features as a smartphone, there are some reasons it’s not quite to the point of replacing one entirely.
Smartwatches Are Designed as Extensions of Phones, Not Replacements
When talking about one device usurping another, we have to talk about the intended purpose of each device. The simple fact of the matter is that smartwatches, including the Galaxy Watch, are not intended to serve as complete replacements for a smartphone. They are accessories intended to function alongside smartphones as an extension of their capabilities. They’re not made with the total replacement of your phone in mind.
Nothing makes this more evident than the way most smartwatches function: in order to do most of their nifty things, like sending and receiving calls and texts or accessing the internet, most smartwatches connect to your phone via Bluetooth or WiFi. With no phone to connect to, most smartwatches, including most Galaxy Watches, won’t be able to do much. For this reason alone, most watches aren’t going to replace your smartphone.
That said, there are a few that might come close to doing so.
Smartwatches With SIM card Compatibility Can Almost Replace Your Phone
While most smartwatches are designed to pair up with a smartphone in order to access most of their functions, there are some smartwatches out there capable of supporting their own SIM card or e-SIM. In doing so, they can make calls and texts even if they aren’t paired up with your smartphone, though in many cases, they’ll need to either be added to your phone plan or get a plan of their own to access these features.
As you can imagine, getting a smartwatch with this feature is more expensive than getting one without, but nevertheless, you can do it. For instance, the Galaxy Watch LTE version is a watch with standalone cellular connectivity, meaning you could leave your phone behind completely and still make calls or texts with it. It could also access apps without pairing up to your phone either.
In this case, the Galaxy Watch LTE version could probably come pretty close to replacing your smartphone entirely. Calls, texts, apps, health tracking, GPS, and most of the important stuff will be available to you. Even so, there’s a pretty strong argument for why a smartwatch still isn’t going to replace your phone completely, and it’s mostly just down to convenience.
The Things A Smartwatch Can’t Do
While a Galaxy Watch is a very capable machine, there are still plenty of things it can’t do or things it just can’t do very well. For example, let’s talk about texting. Yes, you can send or receive texts with a Galaxy Watch LTE version, even without a phone. But just imagine how much of a hassle it would be to try and type out texts on that tiny screen if you needed to say more than “lol”.
Sure, maybe you could use voice transcription to send your texts instead, but you’re not always going to be in a situation where you’ll be comfortable doing that. Maybe you’re in a movie theater or a quiet restaurant or sitting next to a stranger on a train. Never mind the fact that having the watch on your wrist means you’ll only have one hand to type with on that small screen.
There are other areas where a Galaxy Watch might fall short compared to a smartphone, too. Some apps you can use on your smartphone may not have a version compatible with a smartwatch. On top of that, most smartwatches don’t have battery life comparable to a full-fledged smartphone, especially if you are trying to use them all day long in the same capacity as your smartphone. Getting through a full workday on one charge might not be feasible.
Granted, if you buy the Galaxy Watch LTE version, which is intended to take on more of the responsibilities usually left up to a smartphone, it’ll have more battery power to give than some of the other models. Even so, shorter battery life is something you’ll have to deal with if you want a smartwatch to replace your smartphone completely.
A Smartwatch Can Take Over For Your Phone in Some Capacity
So far, I’ve pretty much said that a smartwatch can’t replace your phone entirely. I’m not going to rescind that statement: no matter what kind of lifestyle you live, you will probably still want to own a smartphone regardless of what type of smartwatch you have. That said, a Galaxy Watch with cellular functionality can definitely replace your smartphone in some limited capacity. In relatively short periods of time, it can probably cover your needs.
For instance, if you’re going on a morning run, or out to the pool or beach to swim, or anywhere else where keeping your phone physically on you is a hassle, the Galaxy Watch LTE version could probably cover all of your needs well enough. But if you wanted to have your smartwatch take over for your phone across an entire day, taking over literally all of your phone’s duties in that time, well, not so much.
Technically, you could probably do it, provided you were alright with the shortcomings of such a setup and had a reliable way to charge your Galaxy Watch no matter where you were or what you were doing. But strictly speaking, I just don’t recommend it. There are too many areas in which a smartphone is just more convenient or more capable. Maybe one day, smartwatches can surpass phones in those areas, but today is not that day.
None of this is to say that a smartwatch isn’t worth getting at all. They are definitely still very useful, and the Galaxy Watches are some of the best out there. You just shouldn’t expect them to replace your smartphone in all aspects of your life completely. Smartwatches are far more useful and convenient when they are paired with a smartphone, even if they have the cellular functionality to work without one.
But hey, if you can make it work, don’t let me stop you. As long as it works for you, that’s all that matters.
