This is an honest review based on my own experience with this watch. With the mass production of chips and technology, electronic items like this (especially when manufactured in China) are extremely inexpenive to produce, therefore, I would have expected better performance but it is what it is. To get right into it, I realize that this is only a $50 smart watch and not a $400+ branded one, but I am still somewhat disappointed as outlined below:
PRO’s
– The watch IS nice looking and rounded, unlike the common square smart watches that are so unappealing. It looks much like an analog watch and the brushed stainless band is nice.
– You can change the watch faces easily and there are several available to choose from (many of which are attractive)
– It’s inexpensive compared to other smart watches on the market
CON’s
– No instructions. I list this because there is a SMALL little manual that comes with the watch, but it is EXTREMELY basic and the font is super SMALL (maybe 1 or 1.5 point font) and I had to install an app on my phone that I could use to scan and enlarge the type just so that I could still struggle to read it. There are no instructions on how to actually ‘use’ the features that the watch has. You have to just sort of figure it out on your own. Very limited use.
– Health Monitoring. Like all smart watches, the health monitoring features (O2 level, BP, heart rate, etc.) and ‘directional’ indicators at best, meaning they are not nearly close to accurate. I have been wearing the watch and reading the blood presure readings and using a blood pressure wrist cuff at the same time. The cuff was 123/82 with a pulse on 69 BPM, the watch was 174/90 with pulse of 90 BPM. Pretty big difference.
– Limited App. Once you go and download the app (FitCloud) that this watch uses onto your phone, it is also very basic with very few features. There is also no way to have notifications from many other popular apps (Bumble, etc.) show up on the watch itself. Extremely limited, you might as well just use your phone for everything. (NOTE: You can add notifications for ‘some apps’ – many not commonly used – by going into the downloaded phone app itself ‘Fitcloud’ under “Device” >>> “Push Notifications”).
– Bluetooth. The watch and phone lose connection regularly and the Bluetoorch range is abysmal. If I leave my phone lying on my desk and walk into the other rom (20-30 feet away) for a second to get something, the watch loses the connection with the phone. It will also lose connection even when I have my phone in my pocket and the watch on my wrist. The fact that I have to keep reconnecting is a pain.
– Battery life. The sales listing states that the watch may need charging monthly, but in my first-hand experience, you’ll be lucky if it holds a charge for a week. I work from home and only wear this watch a couple of days and I have to charge it at least weekly.
– Text Messages. The watch will disply text messages when they come in, BUT, if the message is more than one or two lines you’ll have to read it on your phone anyway because the watch face won’t scroll the message so that you can read it in it’s entirety. This makes it useless other that simply informing you that you received a message and that you need to pick up your phone to read it.
– Unresponsive Seller. I have posted questions (twice) here on this watch’s Amazon listing asking if it is possible to get notifications on the watch from other third party apps, however, in each case (although the questions went to the seller) I have failed to receive a response of any communication whatsoever.
In summary, it’s a nice looking watch but had I known how limited its functions are, how limited the app (that you have to download) is, and how short the battery life actually is, I wouldn’t have had the initial expectations that I did. If you just want a nice looking watch that you can change faces on, maybe control Spotify or music with when stream to other devices, and that tells you when you need to pick up your phone and read a message, this watch will be fine.
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