How much are you willing to pay for a smartwatch?

This week, wearable technology became huge with Google’s announcement of Android Wear, the operating system that will run wearables; however, for now, lights are on the smartwatch. Along with that, Motorola unveiled the Moto 360 and LG silently did so too with the G Watch.

nexus smartwatch concept

Smartwatches have been slowly gaining traction for a few months now; Razer jumped in with the Nabu wristband, Samsung caught our attentions with the Gear Fit, Pebble has already sold 400,000 smartwatches and there’s a lot more. So far, in the Philippines, we’re not yet getting a good idea of the smartwatch’s market potential; some of the popular ones found locally are the first Galaxy Gear and the Sony Smartwatch – both of which are devices people are still hesitant to buy. Then there’s the Cherry Mobile G1 watchphone that caught a lot of Filipino’s eyes because of its functions and price, but that’s not really a smartwatch.

When you are presented with a beautiful device that wraps around your wrist, acts as an extension of your smartphone, gets your notifications and gives you the information that you need without looking weird (plus a few new features, waterproofing or whatnot), how much would you pay for it? Pebble’s smartwatches are selling for $149PHP 8,744INR 12,628EUR 142CNY 1,084 to $249PHP 14,613INR 21,103EUR 237CNY 1,812 in the US while Samsung’s Gear Fit and Gear 2 are at around $199PHP 11,678INR 16,865EUR 190CNY 1,448 and $299PHP 17,547INR 25,340EUR 285CNY 2,176; that’s playing in the range of Php6,500USD 111INR 9,390EUR 105CNY 807 to Php13,500USD 230INR 19,502EUR 219CNY 1,675; with that said, there’s a great possibility that this year’s upcoming smartwatches will be priced similarly when launched.

When the storm comes, are you willing to pay that price? Feel free to leave your answers, comments and opinions in the section down below.

Bob Freking

Bob Freking occasionally contributes articles to the website. He is a UST Graduate of Commerce & Business Administration, Major in Marketing Management, and a full-time Sith Lord with three dragons.

18 Comments

wew says:

11 years ago

kung ako cguro e hanggang 10k lng…max n un…willing ako sa price n yan basta fully loaded n ng features ung smartwatch.more than that hindi na.wala naman masyadong advantages ung smartwatch pag kinumpara sa smartphone para mapapayag akong gumastos ng mas malaki jan.
- Reply
chris chew says:

11 years ago

Around 5k – 8k. For me ok lang basta wag lumampas sa introductory price ng mga mid range smartphones (global brands). Baka kasi mas mahal pa yung smartwatch kaysa sa gamit na phone.
- Reply
epiqpwnage says:

11 years ago

5k below. It is supposed to be an extension for your smartphone and not an alternative to, so it shouldn’t cost more than a midrange smartphone
- Reply
lok says:

11 years ago

G-Shock Bluetooth watch…
- Reply
nego says:

11 years ago

Sony Smartband is interesting. nasa 4-5K lang :)
- Reply
blitz says:

11 years ago

Around 3,500.00 only. Moto 360 for the win! :)
- Reply
proftom says:

11 years ago

5-8K for me is ok. i’m not buying if beyond that. will definitely buy if below.
- Reply
abuzalzal says:

11 years ago

A wristwatch that has to be charged everyday! how convenient!

I’d probably test-drive one first from a friend before buying and see if it clicks

Php5k for me
- Reply

Abudakdak says:

11 years ago

Ma’am paano magtest drive ng wristwatch? Kailangan ba idaan sa highway para fully tested talaga?

Easy E says:

11 years ago

php3k for a smartwatch that is an extension of a smartphone; php5k for a full-featured smartwatch.
- Reply
roiji says:

11 years ago

6k max. depending on feature..

Really looking forward to the Moto360.
I hope it’s cheap, unlike the Galaxy Gears.
- Reply
Jamaes says:

11 years ago

Mga 500 to 1000 at most.
- Reply
DTech says:

11 years ago

10k Max… but must be worth the K. lol
- Reply
Toni says:

11 years ago

well, it depends on what would be the function of the watch, if it would just be an extension of my phone then around 1-3K but it would function like a sports watch where it would track my heartbeat and record my achievements then 3k-5k, but if it’s smart enough to function like a smartphone, then around 10k, since I suppose I would not be able to play on an itsy bitsy tiny screen
- Reply
Pangkama says:

11 years ago

I bought that gear 1 for 6990. Its a steal from its original price of 14k.
- Reply
angelo says:

11 years ago

Not willing to pay anything. I’ll just buy a regular watch that I can use for more than 10 years rather than a smartwatch that will be out of date within a year or two and no longer usable after 3+ years because of the limitation of the lithium-ion batteries.
- Reply
Pinhead says:

11 years ago

for sure… price takes a wide variety of concern…
anu p nga ba habol ntin?
-durability
-performance
-accuracy-
-wide functions
-portable
-elegant
-etc

in short: more price = more features diba?

pwes kung cheap ka canvas k nlng ng less features i’m sure less price din un ahahaha…

pero ako? gsto ko pag ipunan kung lifetime use nmn khit pumatak p ng 12k above assured ka nmn n di k mapagiiwanan at ung gadget n nabili mo considered as legendary s future
- Reply
Marf says:

10 years ago

Php 2,500 would be fine. there are local phones that you can buy for 3K-6K with great specs, so i think smartwatches should be priced lower than that in the Phil market. hope local brands will make wearable tech soon.

for high-end brands, Php 5,000K tops, coz investment-wise, tech changes so fast, you might want to change it after 1yr or 3 max (like the way you change your watches, or maybe buy one for casual wear and another for formal events).

features should include the established features for a normal watch, being durable, waterproof, scratch proof and dust proof, and since it is a smartwatch, it should, of course have the connectivity feature, time, date and alarm, maybe LED light and of course long battery life (maybe we can go back to the coin-battery concept and not charging everything every single day – waste of time).

and the other features would be the “premium” that you pay for such as Screen for display, type of glass and display (corning or gorilla, IPS, MALI or whatever type they come up with next) heart rate monitor, GPS, pedometer, wave monitor (for surfing) messaging, camera, call function, “deep sleep” monitor, blood pressure monitor, calorie counter, “siri” function etc.
- Reply