Men's Watches

Smartwatches, GPS sport watches and the phone they need:

pairing comes before features. An Apple Watch works only with an iPhone, so where most phones run Android it suits fewer buyers than its fame suggests. A Samsung Galaxy Watch pairs with Android phones, though some of its health features need a Samsung handset, and Google’s Pixel Watch is Android only. Garmin, COROS and Polar sport watches work with either phone and trade apps and screen polish for battery life: they go weeks between charges, where an Apple or Samsung watch wants its charger most nights. Xiaomi and Amazfit fitness watches do the basics and last long on a charge, with few apps. For a long run or a ride, pair a sport watch with wraparound frames from men’s sunglasses.

Solar, dress and dive watches without a screen:

a watch that only tells the time is a different purchase. Solar quartz, sold as Citizen Eco-Drive and Casio Tough Solar, charges from any light and saves the battery changes of an ordinary quartz watch, as long as it lives on a wrist rather than in a drawer. A dress watch is thin and plain on a leather strap so it slides under a shirt cuff, which matters if you wear cufflinks with a double cuff. A dive watch is chunky, on steel or rubber, with a rotating bezel. Case size is the choice people get wrong most often: compare the diameter with a watch you already own, because a big sports case that looks right in photos can overhang a slim wrist.

Garmin, Apple and the budget fitness watches:

a Xiaomi or Amazfit fitness watch is around ₡40,000 to ₡55,000 new, while an Apple Watch, a Galaxy Watch or a Garmin running watch starts near ₡120,000 and the better mid-range models sit above ₡200,000. Smartwatches lose value faster than anything else worn on the wrist, for two reasons: a new generation arrives every year, and the battery inside wears a little with every charge and cannot be swapped at home. A steel or solar Citizen or Seiko ages far more slowly.

A used Apple Watch, Galaxy Watch or Garmin before you pay:

ask the seller to unpair it from their phone while you watch. An Apple Watch still tied to its owner’s Apple account is held by Activation Lock and nobody else can set it up, and erasing it from the watch alone does not lift the lock: unpairing from the owner’s iPhone does. On an Apple Watch, Settings, Battery, Battery Health shows how much capacity is left against new. A watch sold as an Apple Watch that pairs with an Android phone through a generic fitness app is a copy. On a Garmin, look at the charging contacts on the back: sweat corrodes them, and one that will not charge on its cable is a repair job. Tilt any screen against the light, since aluminium Apple Watches use softer glass than the steel and titanium ones. On a solar watch that keeps stopping even after days on a sunny windowsill, the rechargeable cell is worn out. On a bracelet watch, ask what is left of the bracelet: links come out to fit the first owner, and without them it may not close round a bigger wrist.

A smartwatch with its charger, or a steel watch with its spare links:

unpair and erase a smartwatch from your own phone before you list it, and photograph the battery health screen. Say which phones it works with; that one line saves every Android owner a wasted message about an Apple Watch. Include the charger: each brand uses its own, and a missing one costs you money. Give the band size, or the wrist the bracelet fits, and keep the removed links in a small bag with the watch. A buyer coming from Cartago or Guápiles for a smartwatch should bring his phone, so the watch can be paired and checked on the spot before he leaves.