We have surely reached an age when more and more people are choosing to disconnect, to switch off, to ignore their feeds or even to remove their social media profiles altogether.
While I've never been a massive consumer of any particular online network, (I don't even have a SnapChat account) the thing I've always loved about my smartwatch is its ability to show me my notifications the instant they come to hand, in an unobtrusive way. That way I could immediately decide to respond or not. In other words, is this message worth actually getting my phone out of my pocket for?
But lately I've realised there's not much difference between a regular raise of the wrist and those people who are just permanently nose to screen.
The fact is, the vast majority of messages, texts and especially emails are not that important and could probably be swiped away without being read as soon as they're received.
In other words, how smart does my watch actually need to be? If it tracks my exercise and my sleep, do i really need it to tell me the Rock has just added another "Cheat Day" story on Insta?...
Withings calls the Move ECG a smartwatch, but it's not like any smartwatch I've ever worn - and I've worn a fair few.
To begin with, it's an analogue-only display. That's because it's not a display at all; it's an analogue watch. What's more, it's an analogue watch with only one button.
Confused? Yes, at first I was a bit too.
Things become a lot more straight-forward once you download the companion app, Health Mate. It walks you through the setup process step by step, helping you create your profile, connecting your phone to the Move ECG via bluetooth and of course, setting the correct time. This last bit is particularly fun, as you get to watch the hands mysteriously move by themselves to the right place. Get used to that sensation, it's going to happen again.
The other weird thing about this watch is that it doesn't even have that many hands; only three in fact - hours, minutes and a step goal indicator. Well, to start with anyway - we'll came back to that soon too.
I actually really appreciated the all-out simplicity of this minimal design; the stainless steel hands are easy to see, even in very dim light. It's on the small side - perhaps a bit too small for my burly (fat) wrist, but its durable construction of stainless steel and high-quality plastic seems robust. The 18mm silicon strap is comfortable enough to sleep with, while a little boring to look at. However, its quick-release mechanism means it's easy enough to swap out with something more styley.
In short, the Move ECG won't make any bold fashion statements, but there's certainly nothing weird-looking or space-aged about it. It looks like a very simple, every day watch.
Ah, but looks can be deceiving.
Obviously, there's the ECG thing. This little watch can perform a medical grade electrocardiogram whenever you need one and it couldn't be easier. A single push of the single button activates the ECG - then you simply hold the stainless steel bezel with your opposite hand and watch the activity indicator count down the thirty seconds it takes to get an accurate reading. This could literally prove to be a life-saver if you and your doctor are worried about episodes of irregular heartbeat. (AFib) The Health Mate app can easily create a PDF you can share with your health professionals.
This is not to be confused with the usual kind of heart-rate monitor you'll find on most other activity trackers. It's literally an accurate, medical tool, which is amazing - except, it's not on all the time, so you won't get any heartrate data from your workouts, which is a shame.
It's a shame because all the other aspects of the Move ECG's exercise monitoring are excellent. Using the app, you can set your step target then track your daily progress via the little yellow hand. But more significantly, the watch will automatically track a wide range of workouts, including wet ones; it's waterproof up to fifty metres.
With a long button press, you can also start tracking a workout manually, which means magic ghost hands time again, as the display becomes a stopwatch, showing how many seconds and minutes you've been working out. Paired with your phone's GPS, your walk, run or ride will be displayed on the app as soon as it's complete. All your workout stats can then be synced with a variety of other fitness apps, like Samsung Health, Strava and Google Fit.
Strangely, when you manually fire off a workout, the Move ECG also automatically records one as well, making it look like you did two workouts at the same time. It's easy enough to delete one or the other but it's a bit strange that you have to.
In saying that, the data recorded is accurate and impressive; duration, distance, speed, elevation, calories etc. Everything you get from a conventional smartwatch or fitness tracker, but from an absolutely ordinary-looking watch.
The Move ECG, being light and relatively small, is certainly comfortable enough to wear to bed, which is handy for two reasons. You can set silent, vibrating alarms - either at specific times or choose the "Smart Wake-Up" option. This lets you choose a time range for your alarm to wake you at the most optimum point of your sleep cycle, hopefully leaving you feeling more refreshed.
Perhaps the Move ECG's most significant feature of all is battery life. No digital display means a heck of a lot of battery - think in terms of years rather than days. You know, like a normal watch.
And that's the true beauty of this device, it's smart enough without intruding on your day with a wrist vibration every two minutes. If you need to track your exercise, your sleep, or most importantly, perform your own clinically validated ECG's on demand, you can now do it without receiving Tweets and work emails at the same time.
Click here for more information on the Withings Move ECG.
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