5 ways to repurpose an old smartwatch
Do you have an old connected watch gathering dust in a drawer? Wondering if there’s anything practical you can do with it other than collect dust? Well, here are five truly useful ways to repurpose it into something that still deserves a place in your daily routine.
Turn it into a dedicated desk clock
One of the easiest ways to repurpose an old smartwatch is to turn it into a permanent desk clock. Simply place the watch on a charging stand, place it next to your monitor or on your study desk, and that’s it.
Some smartwatches, like the Pixel Watch 4, make this particularly easy because they come with a charging dock that holds the watch in an upright, clock-like position while charging. If not, you can easily purchase a third-party charging stand specifically designed for desktop use. Once set up, you can use it as a simple desk clock to show the time, as a Pomodoro timer, or even as a stopwatch to time how long it takes you to complete a quiz or solve a math problem.
The obvious downside is that the watch stays plugged in most of the day, which isn’t good for battery health. But that’s precisely why it works better with a old smart watch. Since it’s already past its prime, battery preservation is no longer a priority, so leaving it permanently docked doesn’t really matter.
Use it as a standalone music player
If your smartwatch has internal storage and Bluetooth (most do), it can work as a surprisingly capable standalone music player. Load it with your favorite playlists or audiobooks, connect a pair of wireless headphones, and use it while you exercise, take a walk, or do household chores. It also works surprisingly well for digital detox: you still get your audio, but without messages, social media, or constant notification checks.
Yes, you could do this with your current smartwatch, but that usually means filling its internal memory with music and leaving less room for apps and updates. With an old smartwatch, this trade-off disappears. Since you’re not actively using it for apps, you can dedicate most or all of its storage just to playlists and podcasts.
Now, if you’re repurposing an old Apple Watch, there’s a project called TinyPod that takes this idea further by turning it into a modern iPod-style device. If you’re comfortable with 3D printing, you can take inspiration from this concept to create something similar for a Pixel Watch, Galaxy Watch, or other smartwatches.
Turn it into a cycling companion
You can mount your old smart watch directly on the handlebars of your bike and make it a simple cycling companion. The setup doesn’t need to be fancy. You can use the watch’s regular silicone straps and loop it around the handlebars the same way you would wear it on your wrist. However, it can be difficult to install and remove. A better option is to replace the original straps with Velcro straps, which makes it much easier to attach the watch securely and remove it when you’re done.
Once mounted, the smartwatch acts as an always-on display that you can view while you ride. You can use it to show directions, track how long you’ve been riding, or just keep an eye on the time.
In practice, this often makes more sense than mounting your phone. A phone-based setup with an always-on display drains the battery quickly and puts an expensive device at risk if you hit a pothole or have a minor accident. With an old smartwatch you avoid battery anxiety and the risks are also much easier to justify.
Set it up as a backup sleep tracker
One of the biggest problems with modern smartwatches is battery life. Most barely last a full day on a single charge. If you wear your watch all day and also want to track your sleep at night, something has to give: the battery often dies overnight or the next day.
To avoid this, you need a very precise charging routine so that you can recharge it without sacrificing health data. In practice, this is extremely difficult to maintain consistently. However, an aftermarket smartwatch solves this problem immediately.
The simplest setup is to wear your primary smartwatch during the day, then charge it at night and use your old smartwatch exclusively for sleep tracking. This way both devices stay charged without constant scheduling.
You can also reverse this arrangement. If your newer watch offers better sleep tracking, use it at night and wear your old one during the day for notifications, steps, and basic timekeeping. Either way, the old smartwatch becomes a backup device, allowing you to get continuous tracking without worrying about battery life or charging schedules.
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Can’t fall asleep or stay asleep?
Turn it into a party remote
Imagine you’re having friends over and you want them to feel comfortable: change the music, skip tracks, or adjust the lighting to suit the mood. You want to give them control, but you probably don’t want to hand over your phone, which contains your personal messages, emails, photos and apps. This is where an old smartwatch works surprisingly well.
You can set it up to connect only to what your guests need: Spotify or YouTube for music playback and your smart home app to control lights or colors. Since it is not linked to your main phone or personal accounts, there is no risk of someone breaking into your private information.
In fact, a smart watch is particularly suitable as a party remote control. It’s small enough (after removing the straps) to leave on a table or counter, and usually comes with solid IP ratings, so you don’t have to worry about people spilling things on it.
Old smartwatches aren’t obsolete, they’re just underutilized. With a little creativity, you can optimize them to do one or two tasks well, while taking the strain off your other devices.
