Digital watches — with calculators and unit converters — have been around for a very long time. However, it was only in the 2010s that tech companies started releasing watches with smartphone-like abilities. These watches are capable of performing so many functions, including health tracking, timers, stopwatch, music, GPS, and lots more.
Are you a tech lover who is interested in getting a smartwatch but you’re not sure how to maintain it? Or maybe you already own one and you want to know how to take care of a smartwatch and get the best out of it? Well, you’ve come to the right place.
There is a big difference between a smartwatch and a regular watch. So how do you take care of a smartwatch? How do you preserve the battery? Can your watch get wet? Read on for the answers!
How Do You Clean Your Smartwatch?
Smartwatches often get dirty, much like everything you wear every day. To understand and appreciate how to take care of your smartwatch, you must know how to clean it. This process is actually fairly simple and you’ll get the hang of it in no time.
What Cleaning Equipment Should You Use?
It is imperative that you know the right equipment that can efficiently clean your smartwatch. For instance, if you own an Apple watch, you must know the material the wristband is made of. Once you know this, you can just pick the appropriate cleaning equipment. However, depending on the kind of smartwatch you own and the band material, you will need different supplies to clean your watch.
Some watch cleaning equipment you might need include:
- Mild liquid soap
- Water
- Distilled white vinegar
- Diluted microfiber cloth
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Clean cotton sock
- Cotton swabs
- Toothbrush
- Straight pin
How Do You Clean the Watch Face / Screen?
The best thing to do before doing any cleaning is to turn off the smartwatch and clean the screen with a damp microfiber cloth. Yet, it is important to note that you can clean the screen without turning it off if you do not wet the cloth. Just think of it this way: when any moisture is involved, it’s better to turn off your watch.
Why microfiber? There are small particles that can be difficult to clean and using a paper towel might scratch a display. Microfiber cloth that is designed particularly for cleaning touchscreens. They are available at various stores at a cheap price. In fact, some devices come with a cleaning cloth. Never use chemicals, including Windex and window cleaning solutions, to clean electronics.
How Do You Clean the Band / Watch Strap?
You probably wouldn’t wear the same shirt everyday without throwing it in the wash at one time or another. The same applies for our other wearables. Just like a dirty shirt, a smartwatch strap can become dirty or smell bad when it is not properly cleaned.
When you clean your watch, you maintain the watch’s original luster and rinse away any form of corrosive deposits that might harm it over time. How often you clean your smartwatch strap depends on how often you wear it. For instance, if you engage in any daily activity that results in sweating, you might need to clean your watch once every two weeks.
You can prevent any damage by removing the straps and rinsing the case in soapy water. Brush off any dirt or dust from the small nook with a gentle brush. A toothbrush can also be used for this.
How Do You Maintain a Smartwatch?
Maintaining a smartwatch is a simple routine dedication. It must be properly maintained so your smart watch can live to the very end of its projected lifespan.
Smartwatch Charging
Most electronic devices, including smartwatches, make use of Lithium-Ion batteries — strong rechargeable batteries. You should be careful whenever you are charging your smartwatch. Good smartwatches have about 300 to 500 charging cycles before their power starts deteriorating.
As a result, it becomes imperative to avoid overcharging your smartwatch. Besides this, it is best you ensure that you don’t disturb its charging. There are some that charge wirelessly, while the others charge through USB cords. The latter is designed in such a way that its magnetic tips are attracted to and sticks to the charging ports on the watch.
How Do You Repair a Broken Part?
Just like every other gadget, broken smartwatches can be repaired. However, this depends largely on how damaged it is. If it is slightly damaged, then repairing it should not be difficult. For instance, if something happens to the glass watch face, it can likely be repaired. It is worth noting that toothpaste cannot permanently fix a cracked smartwatch face. Yet, if it is a minor scratch, then toothpaste can hide it.
There are certain instances when direct sunlight and harmful chemicals can make the straps wear off or break. How do you fix it? You can use Velcro to do that. Cut the Velcro by using scissors based on the width of the band. Then, glue the Velcro to the timepiece. After this, use a small quantity of a bonding agent on the Velcro. Then, glue the Velcro to the timepiece. A vice is used to join both sides of the velcro on the timekeeper and band. Then you leave it to stick together.
Furthermore, if your battery is not charging, then ensure that the cable is perfectly connected to the watch. You can also check if the charger is fully functional. Once you have confirmed these, you can then decide if you wish to replace them or not.
Waterproof and Water Resistance
Many smartwatches are water-resistant when submerged in water. However, this only applies when the watch is submerged for a few minutes or less. Therefore, it is unwise to stay underwater with the watch strapped on for a long period. This means you can’t take it swimming, surfing or scuba diving. Not all smartwatches are resistant to saltwater. Most have sensitive inner mechanics that saltwater can cause damage to.
Precautions to Take When Using a Smartwatch
Having a smartwatch comes with so many perks. Yet, there are several instances when carelessness and ignorance of users sparked the beginning of their smartwatch deterioration. To avoid this, there are several precautions that are simple, yet important to keep your smartwatch safe. Let’s get into them.
1. Avoid swimming with your smartwatch
There are times that you might be tempted — if you are a surfer or a swimmer — to enter the water without taking off your smartwatch. We already affirmed that staying underwater for too long with your watch on can damage it. As for saltwater, it’s best to avoid it altogether. Take off your smartwatch whenever you want to go swimming in deep waters.
2. Take off your smartwatch before you sleep
If you sleep without taking off your smartwatch, you might endanger it. You might inadvertently damage the straps of your watch or even break or crack your watch screen when you toss and turn. That’s why if you want to keep your smart watch in peak condition, take off your smartwatch when you go to sleep.
However, we do understand that some people use their smartwatch for sleep tracking. In that case, be mindful of how you move in your sleep, and cover any hard furniture corners or exposed metal headboards.
3. Don’t tamper with your charging smartwatch
Oftentimes, we get tempted to tamper with our devices anytime we charge them. This is the same for smartwatches as well. Using your watch while charging it will definitely reduce its battery life.
4. Protect the sensor at all costs
The sensor of a smartwatch is its most important component since it is responsible for measuring your health metrics and other important data. If the sensor is tampered with, some of the functions that the watch is capable of offering will be compromised. You should ensure that you clean off sweat that might be on the sensor face to protect its sensitivity.
Looking For a Good Smartwatch?
If you’re thinking about buying a smartwatch, we’d like to help! The best smartwatches should be able to perform many actions in almost the same way a smartphone would. This includes several features like music-playing, weather forecast, stopwatch, timer, flashlight, and so on.
Here are two of the best smartwatches in Malaysia to kickstart your shopping journey.
Best Affordable Smartwatch – Honor Magic Watch
The Honor Magic Watch 2 is a smartwatch that was designed by Huawei, which was uniquely designed for anyone interested in fitness and health. This product is an upgrade to the Honor Watch Magic. It comes with new and amazing features, including a stress-monitoring feature, personalized watch faces, a durable battery life, exercise pace tracking, and much more. This upgrade secures Honor’s place as one of the go-to brands for luxury wearables.
The Honor Magic Watch 2 satisfies the fitness needs of even the most critical health and fitness devotee. There are certain features from another top-quality product from the Huawei company, the Huawei Watch GT 2, that have been implemented into the design of this smartwatch.
Features
- Display: 1.2-inch and 1.39-inch screen sizes for the 42mm and 46mm versions respectively. They are AMOLED displays that reach about 800 NITS in brightness
- Strap: This comes in 3 different forms: fluoroelastomer, leather brown and a rose gold Milanese loop
- Modes: It has 15 professional workout modes, which consist of 8 outdoor and 7 indoor
- Sensor: Its sensors comprise accelerator, heart rate, gyro, barometer, and compass
- Weight: The 42mm version weighs 29g while the 46mm version weighs 41g
- Dimension: The 42mm and 46mm versions come in a variety of screen sizes. The 42mm version has a dimension of 41.8mm x 41.8mm x 9.3mm and the 46mm version has a dimension of 45.9mm x 45.9mm x 10.7mm
| Pros | Cons |
| Water-resistant | Lifestyle features are limited |
| Wifi connectivity | Not very suitable for those who rarely exercise |
| Great battery life |
Best Luxury Smartwatch – Apple Watch Series 6
This luxury model is highly durable and efficient. You should check out the amazing features that have been included in the smartwatch. When you compare this product with Series 5, there is not much difference except the case color and the band. Its resolution or display size has not changed so much.
The Apple Watch Series 6 is a 40mm model equipped with a 1.57-inch display and 394 by 324 pixels, while the 44mm model has a 1.73-inch display and 448 by 368 pixels. It includes certain features like fall detection and emergency SOS. For calling emergency services, you can press and hold the side button. As soon as this is done, a message will be sent to your emergency contacts.
Features
- Design: Retina LTPO OLED, 1000 nits (peak)448 x 368 pixels (~326 PPI density)Sapphire crystal glass
- Strap: No Clasp Buckets in a wide range
- Screen Size: 1.78 inches, 10.0 cm2 (~60.0% screen-to-body ratio)
- Modes: Airplane Mode, Turn on Theatre Mode, and Theatre Mode
- Sensor: Accelerometer, Barometer, SpO2, always-on altimeter, heart rate, VO2max, compass
- Dimension: 44 x 38 x 10.4 mm (1.73 x 1.50 x 0.41 in)
- Battery: Li-Ion 303.8 mAh (1.17 Wh)
- Weigh: 47.1 g
| Pros | Cons |
| Accurate activity tracking | Expensive |
| Improved wrist-down screen brightness | Comes with only slight battery-life enhancement |
| Fast new processor |
Conclusion
A great device comes with great responsibility! After investing in a smartwatch, whether it was a luxury smartwatch or an affordable smartwatch, you likely want it to last for a while. So, follow the steps for cleaning your smart watch and bookmark our smart watch maintenance tips.
Be gentle with your smartwatch and you’ll be amazed at how long it can remain your loyal sidekick. If you have your own tips on how to take care of a smartwatch, leave a comment below!
Meta title: How to Take Care of a Smartwatch – Cleaning and Maintenance
Meta description: Learn how to take care of your smartwatch. Tips on cleaning your smart watch and smart watch maintenance. How to clean watch face and preserve battery life.
