They show how many calories you burn, say that you should exercise again and monitor your sleep: Smartwatches are booming. But do the devices deliver what the manufacturers promise?
It was a long and difficult hike that Rieke Hullmann and her fiancé had chosen. They were traveling in the South Tyrolean Alps when a storm surprised the couple. “It quickly became clear to us that it made zero sense to just move on,” says the 32-year-old on the phone. Because of the rain it was slippery everywhere and they had no cell phone reception. But Hullmann – as always – had her smartwatch with her. The device took them the shortest route back to where they started. “That almost saved our lives,” says the young management consultant.