Hi-Tech Review

Are you wearing a smartwatch? Not likely. Despite the fact that modern wrist computers have been available for over three years, most people have not found them to be as desirable or necessary as the ubiquitous smartphone. They’ve gone from being "the next big thing" to becoming just another thing, and not a thing most people want. That, of course, hasn’t stopped companies from trying to sell them to you. If you are wearing a smartwatch, odds are it’s either an Apple Watch or a Samsung Gear. Google’s been in the smartwatch game since 2014, but its Android Wear platform has yet to break out of the niche and into a mainstream audience, even though it’s been offered on countless watch designs over the years. So last year, Google went back to the wearable drawing board to develop Android Wear 2.0, the biggest update to the platform since its launch. Wear 2.0 has a simplified design, new features, and, perhaps most importantly, more ways it can work independently of y...

Smartwatches on sale, folks, come and get them while they are hot! The stylish Huawei Watch is up to $200 off and can be had for as little as $180 total if you’re okay with the Stainless Steel case with Black Leather band. The Jewel/Pearl variant is $350. Then there’s the Casio WSD-F10 - one of few Android Wear watches with 50m waterproofing (far beyond what IP ratings deliver). The dual-layer display is power efficient and offers high outdoor visibility - this is a an adventure watch through and through. As a bonus promo, you can order a Fossil Q Founder 2.0 through Amazon Alexa for $178.50. If you don’t use Alexa, the  GIFT25  will still drop the price to $200. Huawei Watch Casio WSD-F10 Amazon $200 $400 NewEgg $258 B&H $180 Best Buy $200 $400 Walmart $270

Smartwatches are experiments. For a taste of the future, you've got to live with compromise on your wrist. But for a lot of people, connected watches are best kept simple. Battery life wins out over tons of features, and ease of use over feature bloat. After all, that's what phones are for. Watches are where we check things quickly. The problem is that the Gear S3 still feels like an experiment, when, in its second iteration (the S2 was the first major redesign), it should really start feeling like a more mature, polished product. If you're looking to see where watches will go next, Samsung's exploring the ideas now. Stand-alone cellular LTE connection without a phone? Check. Spotify on-wrist? Check. Use-anywhere wrist payments that are even more versatile than Apple Pay? Yes. The Gear S3 is an insanely feature-rich smartwatch with a big, bold design. But unlike the latest  Apple Watch  and Android's upcoming 2.0 software update, Samsung'...