We are now familiar with smartwatches thanks to Samsung’s Galaxy Gear that came with Galaxy Note III. I’ve not tried to use the Galaxy Gear but from the reviews I have read so far, well, it isn’t worth the price money, after all, it just a companion of the Galaxy Note III. On the positive side, the gear actually solves some few problems.

Read: Comprehensive review of Galaxy Gear and Price.

Some of the problems the Galaxy Gear solves is that with it you no longer have an excuse not to answer calls unless you really want to ignore them; and yes you don’t have to miss other important notifications like a Facebook update and a tweet. So what is the function of a smartwatch again? I would say it’s merely a notifier. But do you really think $300 is worth spending on a gadget whose basic function is to tell you that have missed calls?

WearVybe thinks that if it’s only the notification that you need then there is no need for some camera (less than 2MP), touch screen, and many other nonsensical additives that the Galaxy Gear come with. So for as little as $39 dollars they want you buy a wrist band that has a vibrating chip embedded on it that connects to any smartphone (iPhone 4S and later, Android devices running on Jelly Bean 4.3 and later, some Windows Phones and BlackBerry Z10) that they have called Vybe.

As you can see from the image, Vybe comes in different colours, 7 to be precise. Preorders are now available at $39 (Shs. 3200) but you’ll only get one colour at that price. For variety of wrist band colours you pay $49. For three wrist bands you pay $49 (Shs 4170) while $74.50 gets you the Vybe and all seven colors.

The Vybe connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth 4.0 and will be able to vibrate intermittently every few seconds on your wrist until you receive the call or read the text message. If you ignore the vibrations the call will go to missed calls or to voice mail as normal. To ignore a call you press on the Vybe.

What I like about Vybe is that if you move away from your smartphone for a distance of about 15 meters it will vibrate rapidly to alert you that you have left you phone at wherever. I like this because several times I have walked up to the bus stage only to realize that I left my phone at home and I must walk back for more than 10 minutes to go pick the damn thing. Also leaving your phone at a bar or restaurant table won’t be a big deal as you will be notified within a minute of leaving the restaurant.

But not every one is happy about the Vybe. Here is one comment I have pulled from CNET:

Who really needs this? It’s another device that needs to be charged, and drains the phone’s battery. If you truly cannot miss a call, why not leave the ringer on your phone on, or put it into your pocket with the vibrate ringer enabled? And if you’re in the car, you definitely don’t need to be alerted to check your phone.

I just do not see any real need or use for something like this 99.9% of the time. Text messages can wait until I check my phone, and my phone has voicemail capability for the times I cannot answer my phone.

There is such a thing as being too connected IMO. ~ By loose_screw

It would be unfair not to include a positive comment:

I like the concept, sometimes I leave with my phone charging in one room and I could be in a different room … lets say washing dishes, gaming, etc and I hate when my wife gets home because I didn’t answer her calls because I didn’t hear my phone, so in my case I do find a very useful application so I might get one, im sure my wife won’t mind paying for it lol. ~ By einsnico

I say, great concept. Just give it some smart features like a touch screen and a camera. They should also enable setting the minimum distance for rapid vibration as 15 minutes might be far enough for a thief to disappear with the phone.