If you are a tech enthusiast, you must already know that smartwatches these days are capable of so much. From relaying emails to your wrist to detecting exercises and controlling the music on your phone, you can do a lot. But that’s not all. One more interesting thing that you can do is play music directly from your smartwatch, all thanks to onboard storage. And this is in addition to most watches’ ability to stream music.
Yep, you read that right! With onboard music storage, you’ll be able to use your watch as a mini music player while doing your exercises and morning runs. All you need to do is pair quality gym earphones to the watch, and that’s about it.
This arrangement gives you the liberty to leave your phone at home. In short, you’ll have fewer distractions. Sounds interesting, right?
In this post, we have lined some of the best smartwatches with onboard music storage. Let’s get started.
1. Garmin Vivoactive 3
If you are looking into a smartwatch which also balances fitness and smartness, the Garmin Vivoactive 3 is the first contender for it. This one focuses primarily on fitness, and has neatly bundled smart features into it. So, not only can you view your phone’s notification on your phone, but you can also see your sleep notification on it and make payment via your watch. More importantly, you can store about 500 of your most-liked songs into it.
That’s more than enough to last you about a month. And when needed, you can always chuck out the ones you don’t like, and add a few new songs. Aside from that, you can always stream songs from services like iHeartRadio and Deezer.
The Garmin Vivoactive 3 is a beautiful watch. It has a circular design that looks trendy and stylish, unlike most of Garmin’s older watches.
The strap is comfortable enough to wear during your runs and sleep. And the best thing is that you can always switch it for a colorful option, should you want it.
This watch has a pretty impressive battery life of around seven days of normal usage. And well, like most watches, you can select from several watch faces as well as some third-party apps and widgets.
The reception of this watch has been quite great, with many users loving it for its durability, looks, and not to forget, the accurateness of the tracking.
2. Fitbit Versa 2
Another affordable smartwatch with onboard music storage is the Fitbit Versa 2. With a square dial, this one resembles the Apple Watch. This time Fitbit has introduced a couple of new features such as the OLED display, which also means that you get Always-on Display with this watch. Secondly, you also get Alexa integration with the Versa 2. And when it comes to tracking, we all know the legacy of Fitbit.
The smartwatch tracks your exercises as well as your sleep and delivers pretty accurate results. And because of the Always-on Display, you will be able to see the steps as well as your current heart rate. But then again, what shows on the Always-on Display also depends on the watch face.
When it comes to music, you can subscribe to Spotify (premium) and choose to download offline songs. If we talk numbers, the Versa 2 lets you upload about 300 songs.
The only issue is that the transfer process is a tad limiting. The Versa 2 doesn’t have Wi-Fi due to which you can’t transfer the songs directly to the watch. Instead, you will need the Fitbit desktop app for that.
Coming to the battery life, the Versa 2 has a battery life of around 8 days. But with the Always-on Display on, the battery life takes a drastic plunge and just lasts about 2.5 days.
3. Samsung Galaxy Active 2
If you want to spend a little more on your smartwatch, you can have a look at the Samsung Galaxy Active 2. The Active 2 bundles several interesting features such as a digital rotating bezel, third-party app support, cool widgets, and a bevy of fun watch faces. More importantly, it features a slim and sleek form factor, which makes it easy to wear with both formal and casual outfits. It’s beautiful and greatly balances the looks of both analog and smartwatches.
The Active 2 leans more towards fitness, meaning you get built-in automated exercise tracking, manual tracking as well as the number of floors you’ve climbed. That is in addition to heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking.
Tizen OS on the Active 2 delivers a smooth experience. Either swipe to navigate through the menus or use the slick rotating bezel. I have been using the smartwatch for about 6 months, and except the battery life, I am quite satisfied with it.
When it comes to songs, the 4GB of onboard storage is enough to hold a major chunk of your favorite songs. Since it comes with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, you can transfer the songs directly from your phone to the smartwatch, via the Galaxy Wearable app. Once done, just whip out your earphones, pair them, and you will be sorted. Yep, it’s that simple.
If you prefer a more rugged watch, you can check out the Samsung Galaxy Watch.
4. Garmin Venu
Similar to the Versa 2, you get a couple of extra features in the form of Wi-Fi and GPS. Do note that you won’t find Alexa in this watch. And well, when it comes to tracking your exercise and sleep, it does so with great finesse.
The Fitbit Versa 2 can track all the major exercise and cardio routines such as swimming, running, and walking, among others. However, what sets it apart is that it can track your respiration. Yep, this cool watch can track the amount of liquid intake and sweat loss. Interesting, right?
Similar to the above watches, it too can store around 300 songs, and last around five days on battery before needing a recharge. Again, like most watches, switching on the Always-on Display will have a significant impact on battery life.
5. Apple Watch Series 5
If you are an iPhone user and have the budget to spare, you can consider buying the popular Apple Series 5 smartwatches. With a solid OLED display, excellent haptics, ECG, and a horde of interesting features, it’s designed for both fitness-oriented and multitasking people. Always-on Display is now a ubiquitous feature in most smartphones, and this is the first Apple smartwatch to sport one.
One of the most interesting features of the Apple Watch Series 5 is that the watch automatically installs the apps that are already on your phone. And with automatic heart rate monitoring, magnetometer to aid in navigation, among others.
And well, when it comes to the looks, it surely stands apart with its sleek form factor, amazing display, and the Always-on display is the cherry on top.
The Apple Watch lets you sync offline songs to the watch, and it does via Bluetooth. The process is simple and is easily done via the Apple Watch app. What’s more, if you’re a fan of Apple Podcasts, you can also sync the said content to your phone.
The fitness enthusiast in you must already know that this Apple Watch Series 5 has an excellent run when it comes to health. From ECG, sleep tracking to health tracking, every tracking is pretty solid.
The only point of concern is battery life, which barely lasts more than a day.
Enjoy Your Jogs With Music
These were some of the best smartwatches with onboard music storage. And apart from music, you can also store offline podcasts to it. The only thing which you have to make sure is to keep refreshing the content regularly so that you do not get tired of it quickly.
At the same time, it’s worth mentioning that playing music on your watches will have a significant effect on battery life. So if you plan to play it regularly, do have the charging cable with you at all times.
Last updated on 02 February, 2022
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