What are the coolest features that smartwatches have?

Smartwatches have a lot of features, some of which you’re likely well aware of, and some are a bit more obscure. While smartwatches tend to offer features to promote health and fitness activities, you might be more interested in ‘cool’ features that can help you every day.

Whether you’re a tech enthusiast or still deciding on if a smartwatch is right for you, we’ve picked out five handy features that you should keep in mind when shopping for a smartwatch.

Tap and pay

Provided that you’ve approved certain permissions on your watch, you can store a compatible credit or debit card, reward card, or transit card on your smartwatch, similar to your smartphone. This allows you to ‘tap and pay’ at eligible stores, or tap on and off eligible public transport services. It’s a remarkably convenient feature at the flick of your wrist.

Music and playback controls

Many smartwatches come compatible with music streaming and playback apps, allowing you to either play music from your smartwatch’s speakers, or control the playback of music on your headphones. This is a fairly convenient feature that saves you from needing to pull your phone from your pocket, or tap your earbuds or headphones to change the track, pause or play, or adjust volume. Keep in mind that music playback will require phone data, and streaming apps may require a subscription.

Easy camera controls

Select smartwatches, when paired with compatible smartphones (such as those from the same manufacturer) allow the user to control the phone’s camera from the watch, letting the user see what the phone camera is seeing, and clicking the capture button from their smartwatch, making taking photos when you’re away from your phone a lot easier.

Sleep tracking

Sleep tracking is a common feature in smartwatches, monitoring your resting hours, your movement and so on. It’s a particularly valuable feature, with many smartwatches offering useful insight into your sleep patterns and recommending if you need to adjust your sleep schedule. You might want to consider using a smartwatch to log your sleeping habits if you’re waking up feeling drowsy, or if you’d like to make improvements to your wellbeing overall.

Quick call tools

Smartwatches offer handy convenience by taking some of the features of your phone and making them accessible from the wrist. When you’ve got headphones or earbuds in, you might not want to take your phone out of your pocket to make a call. Many premium smartwatches allow you to conveniently make or accept a call from the watch screen itself. Some models even allow you to set favourite contacts, allowing you to dial them quickly without having to scroll through your contacts app. Keep in mind that you’ll need a phone plan to make phone calls.

What other cool features do smartwatches have?

Smartwatches tend to come with lots of health and fitness features, such as step, heart rate and exercise tracking, which you can learn more about here. While most smartwatches are designed to work in tandem with a smartphone, you don’t often actually need to have a smartphone paired with your smartwatch to use it– provided it’s capable of cellular connectivity and has a compatible SIM, of course.

Keep Optus Number Share in mind

Keen on staying connected, but want to leave your phone at home when exercising? Consider Optus Number Share. Optus Number Share gives you the flexibility to share one mobile number between compatible devices on eligible plans. Enjoy the ease of taking your smartwatch while leaving your phone behind.

Should I buy a smartwatch?

If you’re after additional convenience and cool features to elevate your smartphone’s functionality, a smartwatch is an awesome option. It’s worth considering a smartwatch alongside a smartphone, though you could use a smartwatch completely independent of a phone, provided you have a compatible eSIM plan on the watch.

_{Terms & Conditions}

_{Optus Number Share: Compatible connected wearable devices use Number Share functionality to access the Optus Mobile Network. The wearable device is not the same as a mobile phone and some network functionality is not available on these devices. Call quality may not be of the same standard as a mobile phone and may drop out in certain areas. Requires a compatible wearable device and compatible mobile phone with selected operating systems. Only available if you have or sign up to an eligible mobile phone plan and use your phone to sign up via the app. You phone must have Voice over LTE (VoLTE) functionality which must be enabled on your device. If you cancel your Number Share Bolt-on or your mobile phone plan to which the bolt-on is attached, the number sharing functionality will not be available on your wearable device. Number sharing functionality is only available for use in Australia. Optus Number Share is a month to month option which is normally $5/mth, but is available at no additional cost on the Watch plan when purchased with a compatible wearable device. You will be automatically charged via card on your monthly invoice date. You must maintain your card payment details or your add-on will be cancelled.}