Smartphones are extraordinary devices that help you work and live better. Everyone knows this, but a lot of people haven’t taken the next step by pairing their mobile devices with smartwatches. If you haven’t joined the smartwatch revolution yet, consider these four ways that the smartwatch can improve on your smartphone.

Smartwatches Make It Easier to Check Messages

Modern professionals rely on their smartphones to stay in touch with colleagues, clients, and other important business contacts. Indeed, many professionals check their mobile devices constantly to see whether they’ve received messages. There are times, however, when you can’t do this. Pulling out your smartphone in the middle of a meeting is considered so rude that it could stall your career. No boss appreciates having his or her presentation interrupted.

A smartwatch makes it possible for you to check messages while keeping your career on the right track. For instance, the Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch gives you the chance to read messages without disrupting meetings. Since the Gear S2 has a Super AMOLED display, you can read the text easily without calling attention to yourself.

Smartwatches Are Better Exercise Companions

You can use your smartphone to track your performance during workouts. If you’re heading out for a jog, you can strap the smartphone to your upper arm so that it can tell you how much distance you travel and how fast you are running.

Although a lot of people use their smartphones in this way, you have to admit that it’s inconvenient. Most smartphones weigh between 130 and 185 grams. That might not sound like a lot of weight, but it can get annoying, especially during lengthy workouts.

Wearing a smartwatch lets you track your performance just as effectively without lugging around the weight and sweaty bulk of a smartphone. To get the most out of your smartwatch, though, you’ll need the right apps. Here are a few of the top fitness apps for smartwatches:

• Endomondo
• Google Fit
• Runtastic Running Pro
• Strava Running and Cycling

Some of the apps have limited functionality when your smartphone isn’t nearby. Many of them can’t, for instance, analyze your workout without help from a smartphone. The good news is that smartwatches can save necessary information so that you can use the apps’ analytical features when you get home and reconnect with your phone.

Smartwatches Can Make Driving Safer

Distracted driving has quickly become a problem that kills over 3,000 people per year. Unfortunately, the number of deaths and injuries climbs as smartphones become increasingly important parts of life. Ideally, everyone would put down their distracting devices and pay attention to the road. That isn’t going to happen, though, as long as drivers use GPS-enabled devices to get directions.

Looking at your smartphone screen for even a moment increases your risk of an accident. A smartwatch, however, is less distracting. Some designs, when equipped with the right apps, will give you audio directions so that you never have to look away from the road. Others vibrate to alert you to upcoming turns. Even if you need to look at your smartwatch’s screen, it’s safer than looking at your smartphone. The watch, after all, is strapped to your wrist, so you can look at it without taking your hands off the wheel or moving your eyes so far off the road.

A Smartwatch Can Act as a Remote Control for Your Phone

Smartphones are still considerably more powerful than smartwatches. However, while it may take a few years for developers to make a smartwatch that can fully replace a phone, you can still benefit by using both devices together.

When you have a smartphone in your pocket, you can use your watch as a kind of remote control:

• Skip songs you don’t want to hear.
• Adjust your smartphone’s volume.
• Answer or reject incoming calls.

These features make your smartphone more convenient than ever because you don’t have to get it out of your pocket or purse to perform simple tasks.

Some people still think of smartwatches as high-tech fashion accessories. Once you have seen how they can improve on smartphones, though, you will understand how practical they are.