In theory, an always-on display can help a smartwatch look and feel more like a traditional watch. Personally, I’ve always felt smartwatches look better when that screen turns off. I don’t get the hype. To my eyes, an always-on display is a battery life hit for almost no benefit.
Smartwatches rarely pass for regular watches
An analog watch only has one job, and that’s to tell time. It’s so good at that job, it does it regardless of whether anyone is looking or if it’s being worn. You can stick that watch in a drawer, and it will keep on doing its thing. This is one of the reasons Iditched my Pixel Watch for a regular watch in the past. My colleague, David Delony, hasopted for a digital watch over a smartwatch more recently. But while telling time may be a basic watch’s only job, that isn’t the exclusive reason we wear them. More often, we wear them because they’re pretty.
Early smartwatches were anything but attractive. Rather than being a timepiece you could pair with a suit, they were an even larger, geekier version of a tricked-out digital watch that an engineer might wear. They improved over time, but while I loved the round screen on the original Moto 360, no one would confuse it for a traditional watch. That story hasn’t changed with the modern Apple Watch and Pixel Watch. Even the Galaxy Watch Classic, which most resembles a traditional timepiece, isn’t fooling anyone (fortunately, there areother reasons to consider a Galaxy Watch Classic than appearance alone).
Flashy screens are a distraction (and not in a good way)
Even if a screen glowing on your wrist were to pass for a traditional watch, it would look like one with the backlight on—hardly a fashion statement. In reality, smartwatch screens just look like screens. An always-on display looks, well, like a display that’s always on. That’s a look, sure, but it’s not one that does anyone any favors.
We have enough screens in our lives, and rarely do any of them come off as works of art (and I say this as a Samsung Frame TV owner). An always-on display doesn’t pass for a regular watch, and it doesn’t look particularly attractive. It just calls attention to the fact that we have a screen on our wrist.
There’s minimal practical benefit
An always-on display is one where you never have to wait for the screen to wake up before seeing the time. On paper, I understand the appeal. In practice, not so much. Modern smartwatches wake up quickly and no longer require an exaggerated gesture in order to appear. It’s rare that I look at my wrist and find myself feeling like I wish I could see the time more quickly. After all, most of us are accustomed to pulling out a phone to find that information. By comparison, pressing a button to manually wake up a smartwatch display feels like a treat.
Most of the time when we aren’t actively looking at our watch, the display is angled away from us. Our wrists are down by our sides, angled out toward the world. In situations where I can actually see the screen while it’s off, like when typing at a keyboard, I can generally see the time on the screen I’m working at anyway. Eliminating the slight delay it takes to see the time just isn’t worth the cost.
Always-on displays are a battery drain
What’s the cost? It’s battery life. Screens are one of the biggest hits on a battery, and a screen that’s mostly off uses far less energy than one that’s always on.
I currently wear a 40mm Galaxy Watch 8, which isn’t a particularly large watch (so it doesn’t have a particularly large battery). On top of that, I have the LTE model. That introduces even more strain on my battery. There are fewer smartwatches with worse battery life, but as an Android user who wants LTE, the Pixel Watch is the only other option. Yet with the always-on display turned off, I easily make it through a day. That’s a tiny sacrifice I’m willing to make, especially when it doesn’t feel like a sacrifice at all.
Smartwatches should be their own thing
Smartwatches don’t need to pretend to be traditional watches anymore. If anything, wearing a smartwatch has become the new norm. I see more people wearing an Apple Watch or a Fitbit than a traditional timepiece, especially outside formal settings. People know what smartwatches are. They’re not nerdy anymore.
I’d much rather have a smatchwatch with an attractive physical design than a compelling watchface. The Pixel Watch is an eye-catching accessory that no one would mistake for a conventional watch (though the original band isn't doing it many favors).
While I was skeptical of thecircle-on-top-of-a-squircle design of the Galaxy Watch 8, I actually really like it in person. When paired with a nice watchband, I think it, like the Pixel Watch, looks great on my wrist with the screen off. If anything, these watches look better that way.
Apple Watch Series 11
- Brand
- Apple
- Heart Rate Monitor
- Yes
The Apple Watch Series 11 offers the ability to sense high blood pressure and a sleep score similar to many health app competitors.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 8
- Brand
- Samsung
- Operating System
- Wear OS
Now thinner and more comfortable, the Galaxy Watch 8 adds new health-tracking features like sleep apnea detection and antioxidant readings.
I don’t view turning off the always-on display as a compromise needed to get through the day. Rather, I see it as an improved experience. My watch looks better, to my eye, when there aren’t always pixels pulling my attention away from the design of the watch itself. And if I get better battery life as a result—even better.
