Sure Travel Journey Vol 5.2 Autumn 2019 | Page 62

TOUCH DOWN // AUTUMN 2019
HIGH (tech)
Flyers
Fitbit Versa
BY CRAIG WILSON
| Smartwatch
© GIE/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Apple
Watch
Series 4
Samsung
Galaxy Watch
| Smartwatch
| Smartwatch
If you’re
an iPhone
owner and
want the best
accompanying
smartwatch
and fitness tracker money can buy, the
Apple Watch Series 4 should be your first
port of call. The asking price is steep,
but the catalogue of features runs deep.
Accelerometers in the device detect if
you’ve had a fall and will automatically
contact emergency services if it’s a serious
one; forthcoming on-wrist ECG support
makes it the most accurate tracker of your
ticker out there; and exercise-tracking
smarts have been improved from its
predecessor. It’ll also store Apple Music
or podcasts, so you can leave your phone
behind when exercising. Plus, if you already
own a selection of bands from a previous
watch, they’ll all work with the fourth
iteration of Apple’s wearable.
RRP from R8 000
T R AV E L
T E C H
62 // MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE
Substantially cheaper than the
Apple Watch and able to endure
for more than four days between
visits to the charger, Fitbit’s
Versa is an excellent choice for
those who are more interested in
health monitoring than they are
in receiving WhatsApp messages
to their wrists. The only notable
fitness feature omission from
the Versa is the lack of on-device
GPS, but it can glean the
necessary data if you tuck your
phone into a pocket. You do get
industry-leading heart rate and
sleep tracking, an intuitive and
detailed app, storage for up to
300 songs alongside support for
the Deezer streaming service
and the best female health and
menstrual cycle tracking out
there, all at a comparatively
affordable price.
RRP from R5 000
While Samsung’s
wearables are
powered by their
own device-agnostic
operating system
called Tizen (which
means they’ll work
with Apple or Android smartphones),
they’re slicker when paired with an Android
device … like, say, a Samsung. A rotating
dial surrounding the touch display is used
to navigate menus, and you can track an
enormous range of physical
activities. There’s also built-in
DID YOU KNOW?
GPS and offline Spotify
The first wireless heart rate monitors were
bulky contraptions (think massive chest straps)
support, while Bluetooth for
that used conventional EKG technology – or
wireless earphones means
Electrocardiography – to measure the electrical
going for a run without
signals that control the expansion and contraction
your phone is a pleasure.
of the heart chambers.
The Galaxy Watch is still a
Most smartwatches nowadays use PPG, or
tough sell for Apple users,
Photoplethysmography. This technology uses
but if you’re a card-carrying
optics to measure your heart rate. Sensors record
changes in blood flow by shining a light from an LED
member of team Android
through the skin, which then measures how this light
– even if it’s Huawei or
scatters off the blood vessels. This info is fed into an
another non-Samsung
algorithm that works out heart rate, fitness metrics
device – the Galaxy Watch
and whatever else your fancy smartwatch is capable
is a superb choice.
of (blood oxygen saturation, anyone?)
RRP from R5 000