What Android watch to get?

[xendula]

All I need is discreet notifications and ideally the ability to respond to messages, since I'm going to an Android Phone I will likely be using WhatsApp since me and my wife are often in different countries so we need a messaging option that uses data rather than sms.

Get an AW watch, then. Unless something changed since I sold my Gear S in December, there is no Tizen whatsap app support. There is an app called Gear Notifications or something similar that was a work-around to this, but on my current watch, I can read and answer whatsap messages and calls. My watch was taken off the market, but may get re-released soon: the LG Watch Urbane 2 LTE. It comes unlocked and works overseas, so if you travel a lot, you could have a sim card of whatever country you are in inside, and keep your US sim in your phone.

This all goes way beyond your expectations from a smartwatch as listed above, but it's some food for thought. I would NEVER go back to Tizen. Since you have a 360 now, you may just want to wait a little for whatever comes to market soon. The Sony SW4 is also rumored to include LTE.

ETA: BTW, I also have Google Hangouts and Skype on my watch, great additions to Whatsap, and they also were not available on my Gear S/Tizen.

 

[Chris5626]

Get an AW watch, then. Unless something changed since I sold my Gear S in December, there is no Tizen whatsap app support. There is an app called Gear Notifications or something similar that was a work-around to this, but on my current watch, I can read and answer whatsap messages and calls. My watch was taken off the market, but may get re-released soon: the LG Watch Urbane 2 LTE. It comes unlocked and works overseas, so if you travel a lot, you could have a sim card of whatever country you are in inside, and keep your US sim in your phone.

This all goes way beyond your expectations from a smartwatch as listed above, but it's some food for thought. I would NEVER go back to Tizen. Since you have a 360 now, you may just want to wait a little for whatever comes to market soon. The Sony SW4 is also rumored to include LTE.

ETA: BTW, I also have Google Hangouts and Skype on my watch, great additions to Whatsap, and they also were not available on my Gear S/Tizen.

Thanks very much for your advice it is greatly appreciated. Could I ask, with Whatsapp, Google Hangouts and Skype are you able to send messages from the watch itself (when paired with a phone?) one of the things I liked with my Apple Watch was that I could send messages that were either emoijis, canned responses or I could dictate a message. Can this be done on any of these apps?

 

[xendula]

Thanks very much for your advice it is greatly appreciated. Could I ask, with Whatsapp, Google Hangouts and Skype are you able to send messages from the watch itself (when paired with a phone?) one of the things I liked with my Apple Watch was that I could send messages that were either emoijis, canned responses or I could dictate a message. Can this be done on any of these apps?

I forgot, there is also the native messenger app, which allows you to initiate text messages via voice recognition, which is really good, but you can also send prefab answers and emojis.
Hangouts options: I can answer texts and conversations, but can't figure out how to initiate a text to a new number. I can do voice reply (which really is voice recognition), emojis, canned responses.
Whatsap: I can read messages including view images sent, I can reply via voice recognition (just tested this) I can answer calls but not initiate. As opposed to the other apps mentioned in this post, I don't have a whatsap icon on the watch itself, so I can't start up the program from my watch.
Skype: I can read messages, not reply. Not sure about chat and voice, because I hardly ever use Skype any more. I think i remember being able to answer calls and talk on the watch, but would have to test it.

Keep in mind that all Android Wear watches with the newest software and speakers/microphones can do the same, and that there are many other apps out there that i have not tried, that may fit the bill here.