5 unexpected uses for your old smartwatch

Upgrading to one of the best smartwatches can be exciting, but it often means your old smartwatch is left with nothing to do. Unfortunately, it’s at this point that users may toss their old smartwatch in a drawer and forget about it. But it doesn’t have to be like that.

Your old smartwatch is a versatile piece of hardware, so despite how it seems, that small device that’s been gathering dust still has some pretty unexpected and interesting uses. With the right guidance, you can give your old smartwatch a new lease on life, or at the very least, you could sell it for some quick cash. Even if your smartwatch no longer receives major OS updates, you can still use it as a dedicated AI tool, an easy-access note-taking device, a child monitoring tool, or a dedicated sleep tracker. So free your old smartwatch from its drawer and blow the dust off. Most of these unexpected uses only take a few minutes to set up and require an extra app or two, though some require a cellular plan or a phone for full functionality.

If you use AI tools like Gemini or ChatGPT, one of the more relevant uses for your old smartwatch is to turn it into a dedicated AI assistant device. Setting things up is pretty simple, allowing you to get answers from or talk to your AI, all without having to pull out your phone. On Wear OS smartwatches, Gemini is the primary option. While on the Apple Watch, Siri is the default — but you don’t have to stick with Siri.

On watches running Wear OS 4 or later, you’ll need to first make sure Gemini is installed and has been updated. Once that’s sorted and voice activation is enabled, all you need to do is say “Hey Google,” and Gemini will respond. If voice activation isn’t your style, you can alternatively press and hold the side button to activate Gemini. On Samsung watches, you’ll need to customize the side button so it can activate Gemini. To reassign, open Settings > Button and gestures > Double press > scroll to where you see Gemini and select it.

On the Apple Watch, activating Siri is straightforward; simply raise your wrist and say “Hey Siri” or press and hold the Digital Crown. You can use the Wrist AI app to gain ChatGPT or Gemini functionality, but the free tier only allows a small number of chats daily. For easier access, you can add a Wrist AI complication to your watch face. For Wear OS watches, to get ChatGPT going, you’ll need the WristAssist app, but it’s been removed from the Play Store, so you will have to sideload it. You’ll also need an API key from OpenAI to get things going; creating the key is free, but usage is billed.

A good use case for your old smartwatch is simply making it a note-taking device thanks to more accurate AI transcriptions. So instead of having to pull out your phone from your pocket every time you get an idea or want to jot down some thoughts, you can raise your wrist and speak.

Your old smartwatch likely already has a note or voice recorder app, so what you need is preinstalled. On Apple Watch, you can say “Hey Siri,” then “Record a voice memo” to get started.

You can get transcriptions of the notes recorded on both Wear OS watches and Apple Watch, but you’ll need your phone. On Samsung watches, you can get transcriptions in the voice recorder app using the built-in speech-to-text mode, but it has a 10-minute limit. Recordings taken on your smartwatch should automatically sync across your devices, so a note you recorded during your morning walk should be waiting on your phone by the time you get home.

There are few things as important to the human body as sleep, and your old smartwatch can help you improve it. But you’ll have to sacrifice charging your watch overnight, potentially leaving you with a drained battery in the morning. And that’s precisely where your old watch comes in. You can charge it all day, then wear it to bed while your main smartwatch charges.

Setup usually takes just a few minutes. To track your sleep and view your sleep data on Apple Watch, set up Sleep in the Health app on your iPhone, then turn on the Track Sleep with Apple Watch setting. For a Galaxy Watch, connect the watch to your phone, then open the Sleep tile on your Galaxy Watch and follow the prompts to get it set up. Keep in mind that how well this works and how much data it can track depends on the model of your smartwatch, because they don’t all offer the same sensors, especially older models.

Lastly, don’t treat the reported numbers with the same weight as a diagnosis from your doctor, because sensors can be inaccurate. So, if you notice anything concerning in your sleep report, take it as a cue to talk to your doctor, not as a diagnosis.

Your old smartwatch can find a new purpose on your child’s wrist as a dedicated kids’ watch. When set up, your kids can call, text, and share locations without owning a smartphone. Do note that this only works on LTE/Cellular smartwatches, and a smartphone isn’t needed for the child after configuration.

Samsung watches have a dedicated Kids mode that gives parents plenty of oversight over their child’s experience. So apart from the usual location monitoring, calls, and texts, parents can also approve or block apps, set School Time limits, and use Google Family Link to manage the child’s watch usage. Unfortunately, Kids mode isn’t available on every Samsung Watch; you’ll need an LTE Galaxy Watch 6 and above.

Apple Watch offers a similar feature called Apple Watch for Your Kids, and it’s supported on Series 4 or later with cellular, or an SE with cellular on watchOS 7 or later. As you’d expect, it can make calls and send texts, has location tracking, screen time management, and Schooltime mode, which, like Samsung’s equivalent, is basically restricted so the child doesn’t get distracted during school hours.

Keep in mind that cellular features require a carrier plan, which means additional fees for you. And carrier support varies, so some carriers may not support standalone calling from a smartwatch.

If none of the uses work for you, or you’d just prefer to get rid of your device, then your best option is to sell your old smartwatch. It probably still holds some resale value; it’s only a matter of finding the right place (or way) to sell it. There are two main routes to go with.

First, you can sell on marketplaces like eBay. Selling on a marketplace may give you the highest payout, but it also comes with the most hassles. You’ll have to handle everything concerning the sale, including writing an accurate listing, taking clear pictures, setting a good price, answering questions from window shoppers, shipping it, and then calculating how much platform fees cost you.

Selling to a buyback company like Greenbuyback is the second option that will likely net you less than a marketplace, but it can be more convenient. Simply get a quote online, then ship your old smartwatch to the buyer. Once it’s received, it’ll be inspected, and if the condition you described matches, you get paid. If it doesn’t, you can receive a revised offer. How long the whole process takes depends on the specific program; some pay in as little as 24 business hours after receiving your watch, while others can take up to five business days.

If you don’t mind getting store credit and less value for your old smartwatch, then you can trade in your old smartwatch to retailers like Best Buy or manufacturer programs like Apple Trade In. Before you sell or trade in your old smartwatch, make sure to unpair it from your phone and wipe it. On an Apple Watch, unpairing erases it. On Wear OS, sign out of your accounts and factory reset it.