My wife thinks I have a disease — gadgetmusthaveitosis. She’s a physician so her diagnosis bears some weight. What’s odd is she makes the diagnosis with some disdain (not at all professional for a doctor; I’m pretty sure she’s judging me). The most recent symptom of gadgetmusthaveitosis is my smartwatch, the LG Watch Urbane (which she purchased for my birthday, mind you; clearly, she’s an enabler).

As we approach Christmas and you catch yourself wondering if you should buy a smartwatch for someone you love — or even someone you just happen to like — the answer is yes. In fact, the answer is a resounding yes. The thing is, I’m not exactly sure why. I love my Urbane but there’s no one thing that makes me love it.

My LG Watch Urbane

Ideally, the smartwatch would offer features that changed my life. I’m of the mind that innovations 1) lead to new behaviors rather than evolving existing behaviors and 2) add value to our lives. Reading email on my watch is cool but not all that different from using my watch as a calculator (a la my Casio watch from more years ago than I care to remember). Do I feel my Urbane adds value? Maybe… I do know it looks really cool.

With all of my skepticism laid bare, here comes the crazy part — with which I think many smartwatch owners will agree — I don’t know what I’d do without my smartwatch. In a few months, it has become an important part of my digital family (along with the aforementioned tablets and phones).

The thing about smartwatches (I’m taking the liberty of equating my Urbane with all smartwatches) is, it’s not any specific functionality that makes them great. Rather, it’s the combination of tools. I no longer have to pull out my phone to answer texts (thanks, voice recognition!). My emails show up on it. An audio recording app allows me to record audio notes. Not to mention the gadget measures my heart rate and tracks my exercise on the elliptical (without me asking it to). Plus, thanks to its connection with Google Now (the Urbane is an Android Wear watch), it tells me how long it will take me to get to my frequently visited places. Family members with the Apple Watch have me a little envious because they can actually answer the phone and talk to people through their watches because the Apple Watch has a speaker (the Urbane only has a microphone). In many ways, the watch is a mix between an able assistant and a well-meaning but slightly intrusive mother — attentive to my needs even if a little too interested in what I’m doing. But, truth be told, that’s the point…

There isn’t one use case that makes smartwatches useful. Instead, it’s the combination of features that prove to be valuable. It is all of the little things you didn’t know you needed. It’s not so difficult to take your phone out of your pocket to review notifications or make a query. Doing so on your watch, however, saves seconds and, in a fast-paced, need information now world, seconds matter. Add to that the ability to control your music apps, review to-dos, get the weather, find your phone, check your calendar in addition to all the other use cases out there and the smartwatch proves to be a pretty useful tool.

So, until the Star Trek Communicator Pin becomes a real thing (Google was working on that), if you’re on the fence about buying a smartwatch, I say get down off the fence, Humpty Dumpty, and come down on the side of that snazzy smartwatch you’ve been eyeing. I’m partial to my Urbane as Android Wear watches go but the Apple Watch is nice too if you’re into that ultra-cool, “Oh, is that an Apple Watch?” sort of thing.