Tech Obsession | Huawei Smart Watch Review

Thank you Amazon Prime Day! Thanks to this event, I was able to pick up a Huawei Watch Stainless Steel with Stainless Steel Mesh Band watch on July 12th.  Regular price is $399.99, I picked it up for $199.99 plus tax.  Of course I have Amazon Prime, so this beauty was in my hands 2 days later.  I’ve been eyeing this watch for a very long time. Debeating with myself if I wanted to go with the more expensive Huawei or a Moto360 Gen 2, and I’m so glad that I went with Huawei. I went back and forth on if I wanted mesh or leather; would it be to masculine, too heavy, etc. When it comes down to it, it's truly unisex and I just adore my watch.

Opening the box was a experience. The packaging feels high end and the watch feels well protected, Clearly Huawei wants to reinforce that you've purchased a luxury item. Right out of the box I turned the watch on and began the syncing process. It was a very easy and intuitive process. The watch's operating system is Android Wear, and I found that it works seamlessly with my Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus. The great thing about this watch is that if you're of the Apple camp ...well you're not left out. This watch will work for you as well.

I'm posting this after 30 days of owning the watch because I wanted a significant amount of time with the watch to really put it to the test and see if I like it weeks after the purchase.  I do, I really do love it and let me tell you why in three points.

First the design. It’s a show stopper. I’ve been asked about my watch many times since I’ve been wearing it daily for the last month. Then when I turn my wrist and it lights up, the reaction from n both men and women is “Wow, that’s a smart watch?! It doesn’t look like it.” Followed by “What brand is it?” It’s truly stunning.  It is a little large, but if you’re accustom to wearing larger chunky watches like myself, then this won’t feel heavy, or too large.  If you have really tiny wrists or hands, this may be a bit much for you, but if you (as a woman), have average size hands, then this will look stunning on you. It looks equally good on men. My husband tried it on and he rocked it too. I abruptly made him remove it!

Second is how smooth the user interface is. It took about a few hours to get used to the swiping up for one thing, down for another and left or right depending on what you want to get done. The screens move fluidly and don’t seem to lag at all. There are some great features like theater mode (perfect when you don't want your bright watch face drawing attention while trying to watch a movie. The ability to set your notifications from sound to vibration, even the type of vibrations.  It's also very cool that I can accept a call on my watch and use the speaker to talk! I don't even have to pull my phone out of my purse to answer the phone or make a call. Plus the there are lots of free apps in the Google Play Store that let you be even more productive on the watch. Like checking your messages, replying using voice, and more!

Third, I like that the band is so easy to remove and change out with other aftermarket bands. I love jewelry and like to accessorize, so it's nice to have options.  You can get lots of looks at a pretty inexpensive price. Just search Amazon and you'll see the vast amount of watch bands at the click of your mouse!

My one and only issue with this watch is the charger...Seriously Huawei...this charger needs a revamp.  While it is magnetic, the pins never line up perfectly on the first attempt. Sometimes not on the second or third attempt either. But once you get the hang of it, it's not terrible, but it can be greatly improved. I'd prefer if I could place it on my wireless chargers instead of using pins to attached it.

Besides my issue with the charger, if I could add one thing as a “wish list” for the next version, that would be the ability to use the watch independently of the phone being synced, and possibly use LTE on the watch itself.

If you're in the market for a smart watch, get this one. You won't regret it.

6 Reasons Why I'm Breaking Up With Sprint

As the title of this post says, I'm breaking up with my long term mobile carrier, Sprint. Let me tell you why.  I've had several issues with Sprint in the past with both their level of cell phone service and customer service. My most recent experience was the last straw.

If you're into cell phones, then you know that the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Plus was released last weekend. I signed into my Sprint account and requested a notification of my status for upgrade. I received a text message saying that as of August 1st I was eligible for upgrade. That was great news, so my husband and I went to Best Buy to purchase the phone and update my contract. I get to the store, pick the phone, start the process and while they're looking at my account they say I don't see where you're available for a contract upgrade. Things by roll downhill from there. We end up leaving the store and I called Sprint's customer service. I reach their customer service and they tell me which options are available. When I described the text message and pointed out that there was no mention of limitations on a upgrade, they acted totally oblivious.  The first customer service rep attempted to bypass the system and give me a contract update. That's was good, and would have solved my problem, but the guy couldn't do it so he sent me to a supervisor. The supervisor was very much unapologetic about the rules she would not attempt to bend in anyway shape or form to satisfied me as a customer. In the end I ended up telling the supervisor that I wanted to know how much it is to buy out my contract and I'll take my business elsewhere.  What did she say to that? Nothing. Dead silence. Well thank you very much for all of your non-help and for showing me the door after 15 plus years of loyalty.  To add insult to injury, after waiting on hold for 20 minutes the manager returned to the phone to tell me that to pay out of the little less than 3 months remaining on my contract costs $100! $100?! That is madness.

You would think that three months of a contract wouldn't be worth losing a customer of so many years. Looking at it from the money standpoint, Sprint has made TONS of money off of me. In my particular case, it would have been worth it to waive the last three months for me to sign up for two more years and buy a phone.  Thier management isn't very smart.  Right now there are several really cool Samsung deals going on with the purchase of a new phone at Best Buy so obviously I'm wanted in on the freebies. Who wouldn't?

This is not my first bad experience with Sprint customer service. In the past I tried to change my plan and have been given bad information as to what the plan includes, so this is another example of them not knowing they're own plans and/or policies.  When it's all said and done, I'll be taking my money elsewhere. Let me give you six brief reasons why.

1. Sprint sends deceptive emails and text messages about the ability to upgrade your phone. When really it's just an offer to lease or FlexPay only. No contract renewal option. Leasing and FlexPay is a way more expensive way to go. Why not be honest in the message and say clearly state "Currently eligible for a FlexPay or lease upgrade. You're eligible for a contract renewal on X date".  Simple, to the point, and most of all...not deceptive.

2. Sprint's customer service is the worst. If you talked to 3 different agents you'll hear three different stories or three different sets of information. They do not know what they're talking about and they are all confused.

3. Sprint customer service managers are the worst as well. They don't really have the ability to help the customer, and in my case one manager was willing to see a customer of 15+ years leave over three months remaining on a contract. It's sad.

4. Sprint does not care about customer loyalty. No matter how long you've been with Sprint they will not help you and your situation. Being a long time customer, and good standing ie. never paying late, always buying a new phone every two years, spending a lot of money with Sprint and the fact that they would not let me renew a contract three months early without paying a hundred dollars is insane.

5. The Sprint international data service is a joke. When I went to Canada and Italy this summer I had the worst time with a connection.  Not only wouldn't my phone work half the time, the data was virtually nonexistent.

6. I want the ability to talk on the phone and search the internet at the same time. Sprint is behind in the technology!

Who will I now give my hard earned money to? I'm seriously looking into T-Mobile. They prices are competitive to Sprint and they get extra points because several people have recommended them to me. Before I make final decision, I want to hear what you all have to say.  I understand that no wireless carrier is 100%, but if you have one that you like - please share what company it is and why you like them.

Updated on 9-3-2015: On Sunday, August 30th I shared this blog post on Twitter with the CEO of both Sprint (@marceloclaure) and T-Mobile (@JohnLegere) and within minutes of that Tweet being posted, Sprint reached out to me and said they wanted to make it right. When the manager called me she said “We don't want you to break up with us.”. Yes, she said that.  I replied, “Okay – what can you do?”. I got a phone call from one of their Analyst only a few moments after I hung up from that call.  When it was all said and done, they did make it right. I was able to get the phone I wanted, credits for the Samsung incentive and freebie that I missed out on, and a two year contract renewed a few months early without penalty. I guess they do care about customer loyalty…or rather social media. Regardless, I got what I wanted and Sprint stepped up and made it right. My phone arrived yesterday and I activated it immediately.  I now have my beautiful phone and I’m a satisfied customer again.  So needless to say…I’m with Sprint for two more years. What do you think of that?

Live Lavishly,
~Tamara

Tech Obsession | Fitbit Charge & Fitbit One

First let me start off with the fact that I've had the Fitbit One for a year now and I've enjoyed it very much.  While the Fitbit One is good and has good features, I wanted to upgrade a little bit, so I had a choice to make. I went back and forth for a while on if I should go with the Charge HR or the Charge. I weighed the features versus the costs and decided to go with the Charge.

Photo credit: fitbit.com

I've been wearing the Charge everyday for a month now and I'm really liking it. I like the ease of use and the ability to quickly tap a button on the unit to see all of my stats. I'm enjoying that I can wear it all day and night and not even notice it. It's light weight and comfortable. Style-wise, while I like the sleek look of it, I wish that it had the same closure as the Charge HR version. I'd prefer to take it on and off like a watch instead of clipping it closed.

I found one flaw that bothers immensely, and it happens every 6-7 days. What happens in that time frame? It's time to charge the unit. I've found that every time that I charge the unit, once I disconnect it from the cord, it no longer syncs with the Fitbit app. This happens every time.  I did some Googling and found that when this happens you have to basically restart the watch. So, now every time I charge it, I hold the button down to restart it right before I remove it from the charger and then it's fine.  But if I ever forget to do so, hours later I realize that it's not syncing and that's no fun.

Speaking of the Fitbit app.  I'm using it on my LG G2, which is an Android device running Lollipop 5.0.2 and in general it works great (minus the syncing issue). The many updates to the app have improved the user experience little by little. With each update I believe the experience will get even better and more user friendly.  At this point in time, the one feature that stands out to me as missing is the ability to interact with the groups that you've joined on fitbit.com. 

Included in the most recent update they fixed another issue that I was having. Prior to the update we could only connect one Fitbit model.  Now we can link up more than one Fitbit at a time. This is wonderful because now I can switch back and forth with the One and Charge depending on what I want to wear that day.

Photo credit: fitbit.com

I bet you're wondering- how does what you wear matter?  I happen to think that the Charge is sporty looking. As one who dresses business casual for work everyday, I likes to wear chunky watches and cute bracelets, and the Charge doesn't exactly match. Not to mention it's just plain weird to wear two watches. The app feature that I just mentioned has alleviated my issues because I can now switch back and forth without any issues. No more having to swap out the model on the app every time.  It's quick and easy.

As I've mentioned the Fitbit One in this review, let me tell you about it.  I like it. It does what it's supposed to do, it's reliable, and it's easy to conceal. I usually wear mines in the middle of my bra in the front so that it's well hidden plus I never have to worry about the clip sliding from my pants or skirts. I don't like that I have to take the unit out of the clip and put it into a uncomfortable and very wide fabric wrist band to track my sleep at night.  The velcro closure on the wristband is annoying, it seems to come apart after a while and no longer stay closed, not to mention the mesh part of the band is so slippery that the One has slipped out of it during the night on more than a few occasions.

When it comes down to one versus the other, I couldn't choose. Both have their strong points and while neither model is perfect, I enjoy them both for different reasons. I'd recommend either of these to anyone that wants a activity tracker. The decision on the model just depends on what your specific needs are.

In the market for a Fitbit? Check out their website for in depth comparisons.  Last but not least, pick up yours on Amazon. I've found that the prices are most competitive there. I looked at pricing from several other online stores, plus Costco, and Amazon came out cheaper.

What about you? Do you have a Fitbit? If so, please share what model you have and what you like best about it.

Live Lavishly,
~Tamara