Looking for a budget friendly alternative to an Apple Watch? With Wear OS by Google the “Android” smartwatch platform is now more cross-platform. The Ticwatch S is a solid contender. Let’s take a look at the differences between the Ticwatch S and the Apple Watch 3.
Check them out!
Ticwatch S: http://jer.fyi/ticwatchs
Apple Watch 3: http://jer.fyi/applewatch3sport
Video Transcript:
Hey what’s up, it’s Jerad with State of Tech and in this video we are comparing the Apple Watch Series 3, this is the LTE version, versus the Ticwatch S. Now, these are totally different devices. One is an Apple device. This one runs Google, Wear OS by Google. But I wanted to compare these two because a lot of people are always asking me what I think about the Apple Watch, and then they complain about the price. And so I think this video is gonna be a fantastic response to all of those people who want a smartwatch that has a lot of really good features but they don’t wanna spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars.
So with that said, the Apple Watch 3 is pretty expensive. This watch here in this particular model with LTE and the black steel case is gonna run you about 650 bucks. And then if you get an extra band or something like that, you’re taking on close to another 100 dollars. Things just get expensive really fast. The Ticwatch S out of the box with everything you need is 199, and it comes with the watch and a charger and all that stuff. So for 200 bucks, you get this fantastic watch.
Now, if you’re wondering, but Jerad, that’s an Android watch, like, why are you comparing these two? Well, Google changed the name of Android Wear which was the operating system that used to run on these watches, and they’re calling it Wear OS by Google. Now, the reason they’re doing that is because they’re positioning their watches as more of a cross-platform experience. Now, you can use this watch on an iPhone just as easily and with all the features that you would use it on an Android device. So there’s only one thing missing, and I’ll talk about that when I get there.
So with that said, this watch becomes a great contender. Because if you’re wanting something that you can use on your iPhone that’s gonna give you the ability to answer phone calls, you know, decline phone calls, see your notifications and your messages and all that stuff, and also activity track. Like, this watch is gonna get you there. And for 200 dollars.
So in my opinion, this watch kinda looks better than the Apple Watch. I mean, the Apple Watch has that kind of classic Apple Watch look. In my opinion, the Apple Watch has always looked like an old iPod. You know how the old iPods were very chrome and shiny and were kinda shaped like this. The Apple Watch resembles, in my opinion, an old iPod. Which, whatever, it’s fine. But the Ticwatch here actually resembles more of a traditional style watch.
Now, this is a bit sportier looking. The Ticwatch S is sporty. It comes in a couple of different colors as well. It has very bright numbering going along the bezel of the watch face here. It has a 1.4 inch display, very bright. Has an always on display, which you can also disable. So as you can see here, when we wake both displays, they’re both pretty bright and easy to see.
The Ticwatch and both watches kinda go into a standby mode. But the Ticwatch has kinda of an active display. You can turn that off, in my opinion, I have turned it off. It saved me about 12 percent battery life throughout the day, so in my opinion I think it’s worth turning off if you are more an active user.
The Ticwatch has GPS integrated, actually has a GPS antenna going into the watchband, so it does a really good job at actually being really accurate when it’s tracking your activity. The Apple Watch, the regular edition that doesn’t have LTE does have GPS in it. So whether you have a LTE version or not, the GPS tracking is gonna make sure that when you go on a run, you go on a bike ride, that it’s accurately tracking your route. And that’s nice because then that’s stored in your phone.
So one of the things that, you know, when I start talking to people about the Ticwatch or about other watches, is your ability for your fitness tracking and everything, your step count and all that stuff, to sync with the Health app in the iPhone. Now, because you would install the Ticwatch app, so there’s an app that goes along with the Ticwatch. And all of your data goes to that app, and then that app actually writes that data or copies that data over to your Health app.
And so all of that tracking and stuff actually still works. Which, that didn’t used to happen in the past. You used to lose a lot of functionality when you went with a watch like this as opposed to using an Apple watch. Not so much anymore.
Also, with the Wear OS app installed, you can track and send all of that data to Google Fit. And so if you are a person like me who’s constantly jumping between iPhones and Android phones and going back and forth, like, having your data tracked and stored in Google Fit as well means that your data’s consistent everywhere. I think that’s great, having your data basically be cross platform as well. This watch essentially can sink your data to Google Fit and to the Health app inside your iPhone, which is great in my opinion.
So where these watches really start to differ, let’s talk about a few of those things. Now, this watch has NFC that you can use for Apple Pay, of course. So this watch has Apple Pay. This watch allows you to tap to make payments, this watch does now. Essentially, unless you’re using it with an Android phone with Google Pay, but since it doesn’t have NFC that’s not gonna work anyways. It does, like I said, have GPS. But it doesn’t have NFC. Both of these watches have GPS, only one of them has NFC for payments.
The other shortcoming that the Ticwatch has as of now is the inability to respond to text messages when you are on an iPhone, when you’re connected to an iPhone. And that’s because Apple has locked down their Messages app to really only working with Apple devices. So you can’t respond to your text messages.
You can of course see them on the display, but you can’t actually respond to them yet. That’s something that may come in the future, we don’t really know. But I wasn’t able to yet respond to text messages using the watch on an iPhone. Of course, when I connected this watch to an Android phone, I was able to do that just fine.
Another good thing about this watch being connected to an iPhone is that you can use Google Assistant with it. You don’t have to use Siri. Siri over here on the Apple Watch is just not that good. Siri is not that good anywhere. And with all the cool things that Google is doing with Google Assistant this year, it’s definitely much more valuable to have Google Assistant on your wrist than Siri. So that’s definitely something that is gonna continue to improve as the Ticwatch continues to get updates with all of the cool things that Google is doing.
Of course, the Apple Watch is also more customizable. You can get a lot of different watchbands and stuff for the Apple Watch. But because the Ticwatch uses part of the watchband for the GPS antenna, you’re probably not going to want to try changing out the watchbands. I have not tried yet. There are little screws you could take out and take the watchbands off, but I do believe that you would lose most, if not all, of the GPS functionality out of the watch if you did that.
In my opinion, this watchband feels really good. It actually feels better and seems to hold up better than the standard sport Apple Watchband. So if you’re a standard sport, like kind of black or, you know, just solid color, you like that neoprene or whatever that type of material is, I think you’re gonna like the band that’s on the Ticwatch anyways.
If you’re looking at thickness, both of these watches are close to around the same thickness. On the crown side or button side of the Ticwatch, it kind of raises up a little bit, as you can see here. And so there’s a little bit of a raise there which might make it a little bit taller than the Apple Watch. But nonetheless, it’s not that big of a deal.
I love the fact that the display is round. That’s much more of a natural watch feel to me. Of course, the Apple Watch has more of like, a square display. And there is rumors that there’s round Apple Watches coming out in the fall. Who knows what that’s gonna bring. But that might be something of interest, too.
But with the Ticwatch, in my opinion you’re just getting so much more. The Apple Watch I have been able to go about two full days on a charge even when using the watch to respond to text messages, answer calls, stream a little bit of music to my earbuds. But the Ticwatch, on the other hand, I have not been able to get more than one day’s use out of it.
By the end of the day, the Ticwatch usually has about 20 or so percent battery life left, and I know that that would barely get me through the night if I was to wear it at night time. The Apple Watch seems to track your heart rate a bit more often than the Ticwatch. I’ve found that the Ticwatch, you kinda have to go in and activate the heart rate monitor in order for it to be tracking, where the Apple Watch tracks on occasion throughout the day. The Apple Watch doesn’t track as consistently as something like the Fitbit Versa, but it definitely tracks more often than the Ticwatch.
So you know, if you’re comparing apples to apples or whatnot, lack of a better term there of course, because this is an Apple Watch. The Ticwatch gives you a lot more value for your money, in my opinion. Even though you’re gonna have to charge it more often and it is missing a few features that the Apple Watch would bring, because the Apple Watch is on the native platform that Apple has created.
200 dollars versus the cheapest, I believe, you can get an Apple Watch 3 for is 350 dollars, and then you know, it’s the aluminum body watch which is more susceptible to denting and dinging and stuff like that. In my opinion, you kinda need to go with a steel Apple Watch if you want something that’s durable to take a little bit of a beating.
With the Ticwatch it’s definitely not as sturdy feeling of a watch, because it’s not a steel case that’s around it. But this watch I believe would take a little bit more of a beating. You can bang into things and it’s not going to break, because the glass doesn’t wrap all the way around the edges. The Ticwatch I think is gonna be a little bit more suited for a rugged lifestyle than the Apple Watch.
So all of that said, I think that both watches provide value. I just think you’re gonna get more value for your money out of a Ticwatch. So I’ve got links down in the description below for you to check out both for the Apple Watch and the Ticwatch. I think that if you are considering a smart watch and you just don’t want that Apple tax, that high Apple price tag that’s gonna come with an Apple watch, I would give the Ticwatch a chance.
You can definitely buy it on Amazon, check it out, see what it’s all about. You just need to install the Wear OS app on your iPhone as well as the app for the Ticwatch itself, which I’ll put a link down in the description below for you.
But with that said, I mean, I gotta turn it over to you guys. What do you think? Have you ever had a Wear OS, or an Android smartwatch? Or maybe something other than an Apple Watch? Have you had an Apple Watch before? What were the things that you found didn’t provide value? Like, why would you be comparing the two of these?
If you’re me, it really comes down to dollar price tag and value that you’re getting for that money. Of course, there is value in the Apple Watch just because it’s an Apple Watch and it’s native. But the Ticwatch just gives you so much for so much less. It’s really hard to consider a watch at this price tag when there’s something like the Ticwatch S out there.
So let me know your thoughts down in the comments section below. Like I said, links are in the description below to these watches so you could price compare, spec compare and all that stuff. I’ve got photos on our Instagram, so make sure to check out State of Tech on Instagram. And subscribe to our channel here so you could be notified when we put out other videos.
If you wanna see full reviews on either of these watches, I’ve linked to those as well to full review of the Apple Watch and full review of the Ticwatch S. Make sure to check those out and I hope to see you back here soon on State of Tech. Thanks a lot.
