Hi everyone, I’m trying to keep my elderly dad safe when he goes out. He has dementia and often forgets his phone, so a smartwatch that can track him if he gets lost would really help. Do smartwatches usually switch from Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to LTE automatically when they’re out of range of his phone or router? Also, I know many smartwatches have short battery lives with LTE. Is there a smartwatch that can last longer than three days?
Just a heads up about tracking people. In some places, there could be legal issues with tracking someone, even if they have dementia.
Josie said:
Just a heads up about tracking people. In some places, there could be legal issues with tracking someone, even if they have dementia.
I understand, but it’s possible here if the person agrees ahead of time, which I think won’t be a problem for us.
@Cade
I don’t know much about LTE watches, but from what I hear, they use a lot of battery. The quality of the connection matters too. If it’s close to a cell tower, it won’t need as much power.
Maybe some solar watches could help with battery life?
@Josie
Good point! Our cell service isn’t great, so the battery might drain quickly anyway.
You might want to check out an Airtag or something similar.
Instead of a watch, consider giving him a pendant with an Airtag or Galaxy Smarttag 2. They have batteries that last for months.
My mom accidentally took one of my Smarttags when she visited my uncle in the province, and I could track her location during her trip, even knowing which hotels she stayed at.
Choose based on what’s popular in your country. In the US, about 50% of people use iPhones, so an Airtag would be better. Here, Apple is only around 14% of the market, so it’s not as effective.
Airtags are a good idea but need other people around to work well. Many smartwatches have an auto-tracking feature, but it usually just turns on GPS. The best option might be an Apple Watch LTE, which you can track with its data and use the find watch feature. If he takes his phone, you could track that too.
Smartwatches typically don’t switch to Wi-Fi automatically when out of Bluetooth range since it uses a lot of battery. If it’s LTE, then yes, it should switch to that when out of Bluetooth range.
I’d say Garmin watches have the best battery life, and no one else comes close in terms of how long they last.
They have several solar models that claim to have unlimited battery life.
INSTINCT is one model, and FORERUNNER is another Garmin option.
If you use STRAVA (an exercise app), you can get a 20% discount on the Forerunner.
Good luck with your dad!