New Member
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10 Messages
Standalone smartwatches?
Are there any truly non-Apple standalone smartwatches out there and how would they work on at&t? When 3g shut down my phone stopped working and at&t refused to accept the replacement phone i purchased because it's not on their incredibly restrictive whitelist despite it meeting all the requirements to be. I don't want to get a new smartphone and I can't stand flip phones. Smartphones these days are far too big to even fit in my pocket and there are no whitelist options with physical keyboards anyway, but I still need something to make calls with. A smartwatch would be the best option due to it's conveniently small size even though I would obviously have to give up on texting. The problem is, I have no idea how it would work with my plan and my not having a phone. The support article I found only seems to cover bluetooth smartwatches that are connected to phones. Are there any truly standalone non-apple smartwatches out there I could buy? And could I replace my phone in my plan with one? Right now my phone number is just sitting in limbo. If I could find the a watch and replace my phone with it in my plan would I be able to assign my existing phone number to it? Would I still need a phone for anything? If a phone is required for set up or activation could they just take care of that at the at&t building and so I wouldn't need a phone after? How would this work?
ATTHelp
Community Support
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215.2K Messages
3 months ago
Hello, @JessicaJones! We can help with your question about standalone smartwatches.
The Smartwatch is meant to mirror the features of your phone at your wrist. We currently do not offer any smartwatches that act as a phone themselves. We understand you are not interested in a large phone, and we have several devices that are pocket friendly.
Furthermore, we hope this information is helpful, and please let us know if you have any additional questions.
Thank you for reaching out to the AT&T Community Forums!
Rachel, AT&T Community Specialist
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JessicaJones
New Member
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10 Messages
3 months ago
@ATTHelp Yeah, that's not really helpful and doesn't answer all of my questions. It matters little to me if at&t specifically is selling any smartwatches that can serve as a replacement for a phone, just if they exist and are available anywhere. If they are I can buy one and bring it over to at&t.
And your available phones are in no way pocket friendly. They're too big. For them to fit in my pocket the phone can be no longer than 4 inches, 5 at the absolute most and that's pushing it. Plus, they still don't have the physical keyboard I'm looking for in a phone, either as part of the phone or as an attachment. And I don't want a device that will require me to have a Google account either.
I'd much rather have the community provide answers here.
(edited)
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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20.7K Messages
3 months ago
There are some SmartWatches that can be used as a cellular phone without tethering it to a cell phone. However, you are limited to what it can do beyond making/receiving calls and the battery life is probably only around 8 or 9 hours. Whether AT&T allows them on their network is something that you would have to discuss with them once you find a model/mfr that you want. Google SmartWatches.
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JessicaJones
New Member
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10 Messages
3 months ago
@OttoPylot All I would expect the watch to do is make/receive calls. I'd accept giving up texting on a watch because it's a device clearly unsuited for it. I refuse to give up texting on a phone though because that's one of it's two main purposes, and without that physical keyboard texting would be nigh impossible for me on a touch screen.
I've tried Startpaging and DuckDuckGoing both "Smartwatches" and "Standalone SmartWatches" along with variations on those and I don't get much. Alot of lists where the devices still require a phone. So they're not helpful at all. Search engines as a whole don't work as well as they used to.
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GLIMMERMAN76
ACE - Expert
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23.6K Messages
3 months ago
Watches won't work the way you want it to in this case. They have a small battery.
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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20.7K Messages
3 months ago
@JessicaJones
Top 10 Best Smartwatches that can Make Calls Without Phone
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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107.3K Messages
3 months ago
@JessicaJones
How large is too large for you?
THe only smart watch that will work entirely without a phone are Apple smart watches from the last few generations. But you still have to set them up with an iPhone. And you would still be paying for a phone line on postpaid service.
All of the other smart watches are designed as companion devices to your primary phone. And that includes all of the smartwatches that have been listed above. You can walk away from your phone and they will still work. But they are never truly independent with the exception of the Apple watch with family setup.
If you would prefer a small smartphone, that's more difficult because they've all gotten quite large. With the exception of the Jelly 2 and Palm phone, which work on Verizon and t-mobile. (I still have a palm companion and stand alone).
I returned the Jelly 2. It did not work as well as claimed. The Palm was made for Verizon.
While you can use the keyboard with your fingers, I use speech to text. It does work very well on the palm.
The point of the palm and the jelly is for people who want to disconnect but can't give up all that smartphones offer. Like convenient texting you mentioned
I was rather hoping palm would come out with a second device that was a mid-sized, but watches have taken the spot palm thought it could fill.
And it has a few problems... The speaker in the mic aren't all that great. The few times I used it when I had a call going in or out The caller could not hear me very well even though I could hear them just fine.
I wish there were a small phone that could fill the slot in the market. But the problem always comes back to the same thing, the battery. The palm phone I have has a Mophie case which doubles the battery size. With that I will get through a normal day starting it 7:00 a.m. and going till 9:00 p.m. draining both the phone and the Mophie case battery.
That's with minimal use. One or two phone calls that last more than 2 minutes and the battery is going to drain even more. It's not really meant to be functional.
There are still some small smartphones. They suffer from the exact same complaint, small battery. The iPhone mini, which apple hasn't been able to make popular
The Samsung s22. I have one. But the s22 is also receiving the same complaints, poor battery life. I don't find the battery life to be a problem I've been using it for nearly a year and have no problem getting through the day. But to you it probably will seem like a large phone.
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JessicaJones
New Member
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10 Messages
3 months ago
@formerlyknownas Any phone longer that 5 inches, though preferably no longer than 4 inches. With a physical keyboard or a physical keyboard attachment. Longer than 5 inches and it doesn't fit in my pocket and even 5 inches barely fits.
No Apple, sorry. I can't stand Apple products.
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OttoPylot
ACE - Expert
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20.7K Messages
3 months ago
Sounds like your requirements are just too specific for what is available. If you want a keyboard, and not a keypad, that makes it a bit more difficult. I looked around and can't find anything that meets your specifications.
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formerlyknownas
ACE - Sage
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107.3K Messages
3 months ago
If you need a physical keyboard as in buttons, that really limits your choices. And I don't think there's anything that works on AT&T. There is a unihertz phone (Google them) that still has physical buttons and is not terribly large but it is quite thick. Won't work on AT&T. I believe it will work on Verizon and T-Mobile.
Otherwise there is nothing with a physical keyboard anymore. Virtual keyboard - yes, speech to text - always.
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