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Comment by skywhopper | Hacker News Reader

Myself, I don't use my watch when I sleep, so I don't mind charging it then.

But for a smartwatch you could actually be using it while you sleep. For example, using it sleep tracking, or for waking you via vibration (as not to disturb your partner), or even just allowing your phone to detect that you're asleep so it can turn on do-not-disturb.

Do you really need to wear a watch to bed for that? Why not something less obtrusive and comfortable, like a sweat band around your ankle? BTLE is cheap, i'd rather wear two devices with focused purposes than a clunky watch with an oversized battery.

Pebble is great for that. They went for e-paper-like screen and buttons instead of backlit screens and touch, and you can easily pull 5+ days of battery life while having it work as an actual watch (i.e. screen always on = time always visible).

Myself, I don't mind multiple devices but not each with a single feature. I would also like them displaying things through the watch, and not just the phone.

I personally wouldn't like the feeling of wearing a watch to sleep, so I wouldn't use a smartwatch for sleep tracking.

I use my Apple Watch as a simple nightstand and alarm clock. It works well.

I love the fact that (while I'm doing a similar thing with my phone, and would also describe it as "a basic..."), the phone/watch is probably a million times more complex than any previous nightstand / alarm clock around.

> For example, using it sleep tracking, or for waking you via vibration (as not to disturb your partner)

Yes, the pebble is great for that.

> or even just allowing your phone to detect that you're asleep so it can turn on do-not-disturb.

Wouldn't it just be able to detect that if you plug it in at night?

Yes i started using Pebble last month. I like it. I had to charge once per week, charges within an hour and its not a smartphone juice drainer (i use BlackBerry Z10). Though number of applications and support is good in Android/iOS for obvious reasons.

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