It’s true that a smartwatch is a watch and fitness tracker combined. Many folks who want both a watch and fitness tracker buy a smartwatch. A smartwatch isn’t for everyone. In fact, there’s a good argument to be made for opting for a mechanical watch and fitness tracker.
Short answer: Yes, you can definitely wear both a mechanical watch and fitness tracker. In fact, when fitness trackers hit the scene, they were never intended to replace the watch but instead intended to complement the watch.
Benefits of wearing a mechanical watch and fitness tracker instead of just a smartwatch?
There are actually a couple key benefits to wearing both a mechanical watch and fitness tracker (over just a smartwatch). Here they are.
Style: Smartwatches are great and all but they don’t make the fashion statement a fine watch does. If you work in a corporate environment or enjoy style, there is nothing quite like a luxury watch to round out your outfit. No smartwatch will do that. In other words, even if you get an Apple Watch, it’s no replacement for a luxury watch.
Fitness trackers don’t need to be charged as often as a smartwatch: I have many smartwatches and most require daily or every other day charging. It’s a hassle. Fitness trackers can go days without charging which makes it much more convenient.
Wear the fitness tracker only when working out: Maybe you just like tracking your workouts in which case you wear the tracker only when working out. That makes the mechanical watch your main watch.
Sentimental watch: Perhaps you have a family heirloom watch or a watch gifted to you that has plenty of meaning and you like wearing it. In this case, it makes a lot of sense to wear it with a fitness tracker.
Benefits of a smartwatch (over a mechanical watch and fitness tracker)
One thing on your wrist: I’m sure anyone could get used to something strapped on both wrists but if you go with a feature-rich smartwatch, you need only the smartwatch and not a separate fitness tracker.
Additional features: Fitness trackers offer very limited features; most are health and fitness-oriented. Smartwatches offer all kinds of cool features such as text notifications, email notifications, the ability to use as a phone, various apps and so much more. I love my Apple Watch for these additional features. I check the weather, heart rate data, text notifications and use as a phone pretty much daily.
No need to go into the app for the data: I get daily health/fitness data on my Apple Watch so that I rarely need to check this data out on the app itself. If you rely on a fitness tracker for health/fitness data, you need to open the app on your phone to check it out. The fitness tracker merely records the data.
FAQ
Should you wear a watch and fitness tracker on the same wrist or different wrists?
I prefer different wrists. I prefer the watch on the left and fitness tracker on the right. It’s a great set up. However, as long as the fitness tracker is tracking fine on the same wrist as your watch, that can work as well.
What about wearing a smartwatch and fitness tracker… is that okay?
Yeah, that’s fine but I don’t really see the need. I suppose if you have a fitness tracker that does exactly what you want it to do and a smartwatch that offers other features you want, it makes sense. For me, the Apple Watch is all I need.
Is it okay to wear a regular watch and a smartwatch?
Yeah, absolutely it’s okay to wear a mechanical watch and smartwatch although it’s a bit overkill. I would definitely wear them on different wrists. If I wore a mechanical watch regularly, I would probably still want my Apple Watch for all the tech features and fitness tracking in which case I’d wear the mechanical watch on my left wrist and Apple Watch on my right wrist.
Is it okay to wear two regular watches?
IMO, it would be weird to wear two regular watches. It’s overkill. It’s totally normal to have two or more regular watches (heck, many people collect watches) but don’t wear two or more regular watches at the same time.
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