This post originally appeared on The Manual as part of The Manual Wind series.
The recent release of the Apple Watch has everyone talking. Is a smart watch necessary? Is it the future of watches? As you can imagine, the most critical comments come from watch enthusiasts, who declare that the Apple Watch is not a watch, rather a wrist device. One thing the Apple Watch and the previously released smart watches have done is lit the bulb at other watch brands. Linking the watch and smartphone is now a point of interest, and brands like Montblanc and Breitling have shown their own interpretations of a connected watch.
Most recent is Brietling’s addition, The Breitling Exospace B55.
The B55 is a black titanium monster meant for the true aviator. At 46mm in diameter, this rugged sport timepiece bears a blue rubber strap to match the blue insignia on the dial representing its connected capabilities. Two LCD backlit screens display a myriad of functions for aviation. Count up/down timers, time logging for trips including take-off and landing time stamps are just two of the functions for a modern pilot in the B55. Other functions include alarms, multiple time zones, multiple chronographs, and of course the time and date. What makes the Exospace B55 special is its link with your smartphone.
Capable of storing and sharing information with a smart phone makes this timepiece a pilots personal black box. Timing information is transferred from wrist to phone creating what might be the most useful pilot timepiece to date. Even setting itself, the watch draws information from the phone as well to increase accuracy. Charging the watch is as simple as plugging it in via USB.
The Breitling B55 can be called a smart watch, but it is certainly not in the same category as the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch and those like it will prove to be just another technological distraction for most. Wearing a fine timepiece shows character, interest and taste. The Breitling B55 is a great example of making watches smarter for purpose wearers, not simply putting another screen in your face. At roughly $8,000, the B55 is a watch made smarter.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.