The limit of the silly trend of oversized watches obviously is relative to the size of the arm
Watches suitable for an arm
First the same images used in the collage above with links to reviews (click images to enlarge)
It really sounds as a tautology, but a watch fitting on an arm will be ON the arm, that is including the ends, not hoovering over, (or even worse extending beyond it)…
My arm is about 180-185mm (depending on temperature and time of day), the width is about 68mm.
And it is quite clear from the image above, that the 53mm long TN88 with the ends hovering in mid air is grossly oversized for my arm.
The 52.5mm long E400 is also grossly oversized (not just ugly because of the extreme thickness).
The 48mm long, ø43mm watch (T8) is if not too big for my arm, certainly near the limit….
The 46mm long ø40mm watch T8 Mini is a better fit to my arm, though not by much.
Note that there is not a huge difference in the diameter of the two middle ones, E400 and T8 with ø44.6mm vs ø43.0mm, so that is not the right thing to go for looking for a fitting watch. It is clearly the length of the case as well as the thickness that are the limiting factors here AND whether the band-arms points downwards following the shape of a human arm or not.
BTW the original 2022 T8 had LONGER arms, but as the they pointed downwards following the arm, it worked the same on my arm as the newer 2023 T8, just with a larger gap between the end of the watch and the case it self.
(Though for minor arms than mine, the 2022 version looked (even) more oversized)
Unfortunately the manufacturers rarely show a clear watch profile and how the band can follow human arms of various sizes. The fewest even give the overall length! And many CLAIMS that it ‘suits’ MUCH smaller arms than it actually do, just telling the limits of how close/far the accompanying band can go, not in any way related to whether it suits that arm-size!
Here TN88 side by side with the T8 Mini, both with their bands set for the my arm-size. The problem with the TN88 is quite clear here, it might fit a much larger arm around 25-30cm though.
Personally I would have preferred if the T8 Mini had used 20mm and not 18mm bands. Half the diameter seems suitable, less make the watch look more disproportional/oversized
An arm profile can be idealised as two half circles and two straight lines (It is closer to reality than an ellipsoid). Here a sketch
As a simplified shape for
Image taken from here.
So for my arm, anything much beyond 30-35mm, really should point more or less downwards… The T8 start pointing downwards at about 38mm, and the T8 Mini at 34mm…
Actually the 48mm length of the T8 is one of the smaller smart watches you can get today….
Decent thickness watches
It is not at all easy to find watches less than abot 10mm thick, almost all are ‘two watches thick’… I tried to make a list in a reddit post:
| Thickness | Diameter or width | Total length | Stamina weeks | Name | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.8mm / 6.9mm / 4.0mm | ø43.0mm | 48.2mm | 6 weeks | Sovogue T8 or ST08 | 2022 |
| 7.8mm / 6.9mm / 4.0mm | ø43.0mm | 48.2mm | ~6 weeks | Sovogue T8 Pro | 2024 |
| 8.05mm / 6.95mm / 4.0mm | ø40.0mm | 46.0mm | ~6 Weeks | Sovogue T8 Mini | 2024 |
| — / 7.5mm / 7.5mm | ø38.5mm | ~42.1mm | ~0.3 week | Pebble Time Round | 2015 |
| 8.5mm / 7.5mm / ??? | ø46.5mm | 53mm | ~2 weeks ?? | Funost TN88 | 2023 |
| 8.7mm / 8.1mm / 8.1mm | ø42.2mm | 47.6mm | ~2 weeks ?? | Sovogue R18 or SR18 | 2021 |
| 9.9mm / 9.0mm / ??? | 38.0mm | 50.8mm | ~2 weeks ?? | ???????? Q9 PRO GT2 | ? |
| ??? / 9.5mm / ??? | 43mm | ~43mm | ~0.6 weeks | Polar Ignite 3 | 2023 |
| ??? / 9.65mm / ??? | 31.50mm | ~52.8mm | 3.5+ weeks | unknown! | ? |
| 10.5mm / 9.99mm / ??? | 26.2mm | 43.4mm | 2 weeks | Huawei Band 7 | 2022 |
| ??? / ??? / 8.99mm | 24.54mm | 43.45mm | 2 weeks | Huawei Band 8 | 2023 |
| ??? / 10.0mm / ??? | 25.5mm | 48.0mm | ~2 weeks ?? | ?????? ZX19 | 2022 |
| ~12mm / 10.1mm / ??? | ø35.4mm | ~43.6mm | 0.7 week | Garmin Lily 2 | 2024 |
| 11.4mm / 10.6mm / 10.6mm | 29.7mm | 49.4mm | 2 weeks | Oppo Watch Free | 2022 |
Decent length watches
It is not at all easy to find watches less 45-46mm long… I tried to make a list in a reddit post:
| Thickness | Diam./width | Total length | Stamina weeks | Brand & Model | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ??? / ~13mm / ??? | ø37mm | ~41mm | ~4 week | Withing Scanwatch2 light 37 | 2023 |
| ??? / 13.4mm / ??? | ø38mm | ~42mm | ~4 week | Withing Scanwatch2 38 | 2023 |
| – / 7.5mm / 7.5mm | ø38.5mm | ~42.1mm | ~0.3 week | Pebble Time Round | 2015 |
| ??? / 9.5mm / ??? | ø43mm | ~43mm | ~0.6 weeks | Polar Ignite 3 | 2023 |
| 10.5mm/9.99mm/? | 26.2mm | 43.4mm | 2 weeks | Huawei Band 7 | 2022 |
| ??? / ??? / 8.99mm | 24.54mm | 43.45mm | 2 weeks | Huawei Band 8 | 2023 |
| ~12mm / 10.1mm / ? | ø35.4mm | ~43.6mm | 0.7 week | Garmin Lily 2 | 2024 |
| ??? / 12mm / ??? | 35.2mm | ~44mm | 0.7 Week | Unknown Chinese | ? |
| 8.05 / 6.95mm / 4.0 | ø40.0mm | ~46mm | ~6 Weeks | Sovogue T8 Mini | 2024 |
Options from “known” brands
Garmin Lilly 2
It is a shame that the only real smart watch from a known band with a decent size, though a bit thick, the Garmin Lilly 2, has these clumsy (and IMHO ugly) band-attachments, otherwise it (despite the 12mm thickness) would have suited many minor arms, And could have been fairly lady-like.
Polar Ignite 3
From an at the least somewhat known brand is the Polar Ignite 3, and the numbers look fine. But it has a really strange profile with the band attached under the watch, so it looks like a watch with a display-disc glued on top, certainly not a a very wearable form, that will catch any sleeve, and generally just sticks out oddly… Too bad, an in many ways otherwise interesting watch (with an over 5mm wide bezel-ring… display covers 57%).
