Smartwatches are everywhere. Gym, office, park, and all around, you’ll see many people with a wrist smartwatch, which monitors their activities without them using the smartphone. If you’re looking for something similar to track your activity, you can easily get one. At least an average one.
But imagine this: you want a smartwatch that not only tracks your activities and displays notifications but also enables you to reply to messages and calls directly from your smartwatch. You won’t easily find a smartwatch with the ability to reply to texts.
While as useful a feature it is, unfortunately, most average smartwatches lack it. After hours of research and comparing features of different smartwatches, we have finally found the best android smartwatch for texting. Not only this smartwatch can send and receive text messages, but it also carries many other premium features.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Active Android Smartwatch
Quality: 4.6
Pricing: 4.4
Rating: 4.7
Samsung’s “Active” version of its latest smartwatches has redefined the concept of traditional, clunky watches. The Galaxy Active Android Smartwatch has a sleek and smart design with premium features that other brands lack. The shell surrounding the display is made of aluminum, which’s lightweight, reflective, and resists tiny scratches.
A 20mm standard bar fixture holds the removable soft-touch silicone band, which can be replaced with straps of different colors. Unlike the “original” Samsung smartwatch, this one has a touch screen and two buttons that can be used to navigate through the interface. The smartwatch tracks up to seven exercise modes and connects with your android and iOS devices for added functionality. You can receive smart notification alerts, track heart rate, monitor sleep, reply to text messages directly, and swim with it. Users who tried the watch said it accurately measured their activities and the smartwatch was handy in responding to texts directly.
Activity tracking – This smartwatch can track 30+ activities (seven activities automatically) and notifies about real-time heart rate data. Whether it’s sleep pattern, swimming, running, or daily steps, Samsung Active smartwatch keeps a record of all.
Smart notification and alerts – Check calls, emails, text messages, and daily goals without checking your smartphone. You can even reply to text messages right from your smartwatch.
Durability and comfort – The sleek casing design and the durable, removable band keep you comfortable throughout the day. Unlike other competitors, this smartwatch has an aluminum shell that’s lightweight and resilient.
Pros:
✔️ Track activities with rich data
✔️ Can reply to texts
✔️ Lightweight design
✔️ Clear and bright display
Cons:
❌ No Samsung bezel control
Best Android Smartwatch for Texting Review
Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is an ideal choice for people looking to make the most out of their active and productive lifestyle. Whether you want to accomplish your daily fitness goals, become less dependent on your smartphone, or stay active, this smartwatch will best serve your purpose. You can track your sleep patterns, heart rate, steps, calories, and swimming laps. The smartwatch also displays smart alerts whenever there’s a call, text, meeting deadline, or social media notification. With three different color options to choose from, Samsung Active Smartwatch supports your fitness and daily routine activities without keeping you tied to your phone.
What Will You Get?
Samsung Galaxy Watch Active offers a lot when it comes to premium features and benefits that many other smartwatches simply don’t have. While the old design was chunky and not smart-looking, the new Active version is quite different. Not only will you get advanced features like GPS, heart rate sensing, and water-resistance technology, but the smartwatch can also be used to reply to write text. However, so many handy features come at a price: the battery life is not as good as its competitors. Below is a quick rundown of the specifications of this smartwatch.
- Robust heart rate sensor
- Weighs only 0.96 ounces
- Store up to 4GB data
- 1.1 – inch circular 360×360 AMOLED display
- Compatible with Android 5.0 and iOS 9.0
- 30+ exercise tracking modes
- Military specification (MIL-STD-810G) tested
- Resists water up to 50 meters
- GPS and Glonass features enabled
- 20mm removable silicone bands
- 40mm aluminum casing
- Rechargeable Lithium polymer battery
- Processor speed and type: 1.15GHz Exynos 9110 chipset
- IP68 certified
In short, this is the best android smartwatch for texting, fitness tracking, and notification alerts.
Design
If you look at Samsung Galaxy smartwatches, especially the older versions, you’ll notice that they don’t really have a smart and sleek design. Most are just made with ruggedness and durability as a priority. However, the “Active” version is no way near its predecessor in terms of style and design. Samsung Watch Active has a versatile design, advanced features, and lightweight casing for users’ comfort. The display is wider and bright as compared to many other smartwatches. There’s no bezel ring on the watch, and you can easily navigate using touch and buttons. The straps are lightweight and made of silicon, which can be easily replaced. The 40mm casing is made of aluminum and can resist minor scratches. Overall, the design is modern and much better than the old ones.
Fitness Tracking
When it comes to fitness tracking, a lot of smartwatches fail to provide accurate data. There are no such fitness trackers that can 100% accurately monitor activities. But compared to others, you can safely say that Galaxy Watch Active is on par with Apple Watch Series 4 tracking accuracy.
You can track seven activities automatically out of the 39 exercise modes. The main ones are:
- Heart rate
- Steps count
- Sleep patterns
- Blood pressure
- GPS location
- Running
- Yoga
- Sit-ups
- Gym and fitness training
- Calories tracking
- Hydration goal
- Stress and breathing management
The best thing about this smartwatch is its ability to track heart rate throughout the day without a pause. This helps you get a complete picture of your heart rate and provides insights on how to manage your health condition.
Compatibility
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is compatible with Samsung and non-Samsung smartphones. These phones should run Android version 5.0 with 1.5GB RAM or above. For iPhone, the smartwatch works with all iOS 9.0 or above versions on iPhone 5 or above device. It can work with most phones having the aforementioned specifications. However, if you’re not sure whether your phone is compatible or not, you can check the Samsung galaxy watch compatible devices list.
To connect your phone, turn the bluetooth on and pair it with your smartwatch. The pairing process is seamless and is fairly easy. Unlike other smartwatches, you don’t have to figure out the connectivity feature the hard way. You can also use Samsung Pay on your galaxy watch, which requires network connection through LTE, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth pairing.
Apps and Features
In terms of apps and features, this smartwatch brings you enough to keep your phone away. Besides many pre-installed apps like Spotify, calendar, music, alarm, weather, gallery, and Samsung Pay, the smartwatch can also download apps from the store.
How you can interact with different apps on the smartwatch depends on what you need. For example, most android and iOS smart watches can receive a text and call notifications. However, not all of them have the feature to return the call or answer the message back, which’s a huge shortcoming since many users want to avoid the phone.
Fortunately, Galaxy Watch Active has the ability to reply to text messages. In that regard, this is the best android smartwatch for texting as other ones lack this useful feature.
Battery Life
In short: the battery life barely lasts two days if you use it to the fullest. So what’s the problem? Well, Samsung Watch Active has only 230mAh battery, which is smaller than its previous versions with 270mAh and 472mAh batteries. If you have ever owned a smartwatch before, you’ll know that this one doesn’t have that five days of battery life, that you may have enjoyed with the previous smartwatches.
If you want the battery to last longer, you may need to save it by disabling and switching off apps and notifications that are draining most of your battery. It means you can still enjoy all the functions of this new smartwatch, but for a little more charging than most other smartwatches. Overall, the battery life is good, contrary to what a few users have reported.
Value
When it comes to budget and how cheap or expensive a smartwatch is, we often ignore some of the main factors that can also determine what to expect. The brand itself, competing products, and features play a vital role in determining the price of a smartwatch.
In the case of Samsung Watch Active, the price is a little above the average, which is worth it. Because considering premium features, text messaging, calls, and other useful apps, the watch could easily go above its base price. In short, the price is excellent for someone who needs the best value for years to come.
Benefits of Best Android Smartwatch for Texting
There are a lot of benefits of using this smartwatch over the others. Below, we will cover some of the great benefits that you will get with the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active.
Texting on the smartwatch – One of the main advantages of using this smartwatch is its texting feature. It means you’ll not only be able to read and receive texts, calls, and notifications, but the smartwatch also lets you reply directly. This is a relatively new function in smartwatches and is not widely available from even reputable brands.
Ease of use – This smartwatch doesn’t come loaded with dozens of apps and irrelevant features that you won’t need. The reason is that Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is designed to be minimalistic yet powerful enough to handle some essential advanced features. This makes the smartwatch comfortable and easy to use. Many users said the Active smartwatch had a navigatable interface and a separate manual for clear instructions.
Productivity – Besides tracking, the productivity aspect of the smartwatch can’t be emulated by a smartphone’s apps. This smartwatch will free-up your time, which you can use for other productive activities. You’ll be able to do most of the things directly from the smartwatch, whether it’s playing your favorite music, sending texts, or listening to podcasts, just by storing the data right there and play the music (or podcast) wirelessly.
Fitness goals – Most people set fitness goals, but not all of them achieve their goals. Among the many problems these people face, one of them is not having a clear picture of their fitness level and the required activities to push further. This smartwatch will solve your problem by making it possible to show you data-rich fitness activities and what’s required to move onto the next level. The smartwatch will nudge you if you’re sitting too much and not doing any exercise. Fitness enthusiasts who used this smartwatch said that they were motivated to get going.
How Does it Compare?
Motorola Moto 360 2nd Gen
While the name may remind you of phones that were once popular, there’s much more to it. The company has started to roll out smartwatches that are lightweight, durable, and carry many great features at a reasonable price.
Moto 360 2nd Gen has a classic round design with a thin, minimalistic bezel and various smart watch faces. Track your heart rate, calories, and steps without relying on your phone. You can create and reply to texts and emails using an accurate voice control feature. Unlike Samsung Galaxy Watch Active, the casing of this smartwatch is made of metal. There are a ton of other useful apps and features that come handy when working or doing some important tasks.
The battery life of this smartwatch lasts less than three days. So be sure to charge your smartwatch well before you start to track activities of extended durations.
Should You Buy Samsung Galaxy Android Smartwatch for Texting?
Given the fact that the Samsung brand has been around for quite some time now and is only getting better, it’s no wonder that their smartwatches are competing against the likes of Apple and Fitbit. Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is a great deal for someone who’s looking to accurately monitor their fitness activities, reply back to messages, and become productive.
