So I have been living with this little guy for over a week and I believe it's time to write up a review on it.
I wont deal with unpacking as it came in an OEM unbranded box containing only the watch and usb cabble.
I have been using it paired to my Galaxy Note 2 running the official 4.4 update.
Specs :
* Sharp Memory LCD 1.26" 144x168 resolution
* Dimension: 37x55x12.7mm
* 10 days or more standby time
* Weight 98 grams
* Supports Android ( iOs support coming soon )
* IP67 rating
* Pedometer / Accelerometer
* EFM32 Gecko Cortex-M micro-controller
* Bluetooth 3.0 and 4.0 BLE
Latest Android Companion App ( I will post newer ones as I receive them from the manufacturer ) : https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_0tZLvAcbvCR1pZcWw0OHdxcWQxQUt2bUFJczNRSXdtV3A0/edit
*Watch pictures : http://imgur.com/a/XE6EN
The watch looks like the illegitimate child of the Nike Tomtom GPS watch and the Pebble. It is a bit on the chunky side and made entirely out of a very rubbery black plastic that feels nice to touch and doesn't feel bothersome around the wrist.
The screen is protected by a glass lens that I'm pretty sure isn't scratch resistant. As for being able to view it in bright light , nothing can beat Sharp's Memory LCD. It's crisp and has a nice contrast. With the back-light ( blueish hue ) on it's perfectly usable at night too.
Button layout is identical to that of the Peblle and they are also mapped in the same way. One on the left for back. Three on the right , top one is up , middle is select and bottom is down. They are nicely textured and require a bit of pressure to click making accidental presses less likely.
The charging port is magnetic with an almost identical connector to that of the Pebble. It comes with an usb cable but no charger. The connector is held in place well and has an little key to make sure you won't inverse the polarities by mistake.
* Charger : http://imgur.com/53LSyqc
The first screen you will see is of course the watch face , it comes with four different ones to choose from : http://imgur.com/a/ASc8D
Pressing the select button opens up the menu with a nice side scroll animation. Here you will see a list of the watches features and a small info bar at the top that shows battery charge , time and if you are connected to your phone.
Menu pictures : http://imgur.com/a/NYat1
Features are as follow :
1. Call notification that will show the phone number and contact name , if such exists , and the ability to mute the incoming call.
1. Ability to read a newly received SMS.
1. Music player remote control. Sadly enough it lacks volume control , only having pause/play , next and previous. Artist , album and song name are displayed.
1. Next we have the camera remote shutter. It works even with the phone locked. The screen doesn't turn on when you take a picture but it still makes the camera sound when triggered.
1. This is followed by weather which displays the current and max temperature for a chosen location plus a little icon that illustrates the current conditions.
1. The find phone feature triggers an alarm that uses the same ringtone as a call and has to be manually disabled on the phone screen after you unlock. This means if you have an unlock pattern there is no way to stop it until it is used. The watch also vibrates if the phones gets far away enough to loose Bluetooth connection.
1. There is also a Running feature which basically is a pedometer. It shows how many steps you took , how many calories you burned , distance traveled , average speed and time. All this info is synced on the phone where you can see the hole history and charts. The pedometer requires you to set your height and weight. It can be turned off to save battery.
1. In the settings menu we have :
1. Bluetooth where you can turn on or of the radio module or activate the power saving feature.
1. Alarm where you can set simple alarms. This is pretty useless as you can choose to receive alarm notifications from your phone. I supposed this makes sense if you are using the watch alone.
1. Date and time settings which are also pretty unnecessary as the watch constantly syncs with your phone for the current time so no need to ever set them manually.
1. Back-light has three settings : off , always on or automatic which means it turns on when you press any button.
1. As language support goes it only has Chinese and English.
1. The about window will display the firmware version , the device ID , Bluetooth status and battery status.
1. Power of turns the watch of .. surprise surprise.
As battery life goes it is at least on par with that of the Pebble if not better. Now it really depends on how many notifications you receive and how often you flip around your songs. I got with quite the use about 5 days and a half on the charge that came from the factory , around 50%. I'm now on my first full charge.
The watch for now has only an Android companion app so no support for iOs.
The app allows you to choose what notifications you want to receive , this works with notifications from absolutely any android application. Basically the watch screen becomes a second notification bar where you can scroll through all of them in the order they are received.
Within the app you also set the location from where to receive weather updates , the units used and the refresh frequency.
Here it's also the place where you can view the synced pedometer data.
Currently the app is at version 1.03 and the manufactured claims they issue monthly updates.
Screenshots : http://imgur.com/a/OUB2K
So now for the big question , how is it to live with the watch ? Well it does everything it's supposed to and haven't discovered any issues since I updated to 1.03 ( 1.02 would have occasional Bluetooth interrupts ). Being able to check all my notification without ever having to take out my rather large phone ( Note 2 ) makes it all worth it , that and the music control app. For 58 usd , 83 with DHL express shipping , it's pretty hard to find a down side to this little guy. Yah it isn't the greatest looker but it does feel sturdy and the fact that it is water resistant is a great plus , dare I say a must . If you are looking for a basic smart-watch you should definitely give it a look.
The supplier I used : http://imesmart.en.alibaba.com/prod...mart_watch_blue_tooth_iphone_smart_watch.html
lgstoian said:
Currently the app is at version 1.03 and the manufactured claims they issue monthly updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks for your efforts, very informative. I know its not been a month yet, can you let us know if there's any software or apps update please.
lgstoian said:
So I have been living with this little guy for over a week an.....
Specs :
* Sharp Memory LCD 1.26" 144x168 resolution
* Dimension: 37x55x12.7mm
* 10 days or more standby time
* Weight 98 grams
* Supports Android ( iOs support coming soon )
* IP67 rating
* Pedometer / Accelerometer
* EFM32 Gecko Cortex-M micro-controller
* Bluetooth 3.0 and 4.0 BLE
The supplier I used : http://imesmart.en.alibaba.com/prod...mart_watch_blue_tooth_iphone_smart_watch.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So the sensors are not the same as the pebble.
Pebble Sensors:
3D accelerometer
e-compass capable (with future software updates)
Ambient light sensor
This watch looks interesting.
I'm looking for a smartwatch, but want a e-ink or similar display so the time is always readable and I want one that I can track my sports activities with.
Does this watch have a option to link it with an Android app so you can read your speed and distance with it?
I saw it has a pedometer but that that's not what I'm looking for.
Could you give us some pictures of notification from e-mail or text messages?
Does it show the whole message, only the topic or does it only let you know you received a mail?
Did you order one piece or a batch?
Interested in your future dealings with the watch, so please keep us posted!
I ordered a single piece. The app does track the number of steps you take , distance and calories burned in a chart.
It only shows the subject and a small part of the message / email / notification. If it is a small sms or hangouts message it will be shown completely.
lgstoian said:
I ordered a single piece. The app does track the number of steps you take , distance and calories burned in a chart.
It only shows the subject and a small part of the message / email / notification. If it is a small sms or hangouts message it will be shown completely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply.
I assume it's not possible to check upcoming calendar appointments with this watch?
Hi Everyone,
First I apologyze, I am not native english so my english is not very good.
So I have a G2 that is is working very correctly (802). It is working very well but I am really wondering something about the luminosity.
Since the loolipop update (I do not know if I had this before), I have a very thin line of luminosity at the top of the G2. It is especially visible in the parameters section, in the task manager or when you want to adjust sound and luminosity. It is very visible on many utube videos.
I cannot post a picture as I am a new user, but do you think it is a bug or a problem ?
Hey
Do you mean backlight bleeding?
After my G2 got the LP update I too noticed a fine illuminated line on top of the screen causing a horizontal gradient. After a short research I found out that this is also present in KK, but due to KK style of the notification bar hardly to see. So it's a hardware issue.
So I went to the local authorised repair shop of LG and showed it via vertical screenshots shown in landscape mode to the worker there. Without any discussion the phone was taken for warranty repair. This is about 12 days ago, still waiting.
BTW, a friend of mine also has a G2 without any bleeding on top.
Hi,
Thanks to have answered. Yes, it is backlight bleeding. I will go to a repair center.
Thks
Anyone else running into this problem? I'll get a notification, for example a Gmail notification. My phone chirps, then my watch buzzes. I look at my watch and the previous Gmail notification shows up.
After about a 2-3 second pause, it will flip to the new notification. Of course, this is usually just before the notification fades away and my watch face returns which means if I'm looking at just the right moment I might see it, but probably not.
I had this happen with my Samsung Gear Live watch a lot. About a month ago I upgrades to a Moto 360 Gen2 watch and this problem seemed to disappear. But now it's happening on the Moto 360 as well. I did just do an update on the watch which may or may not have been when the notification problem returned.
I'm not running a lot of odd things on my watch. I'm using WatchMaker Premium for my watch faces.
HI everyone,
i got two D5+ and when one is in use and i turn the to me to look on it the watch turn on the display so i can read the time.
the second D5+ doesn't do this.
Possible that this is a software issue or is it a hardware defect ?
Thank you !
Do you mean the screen doesn't turn on when you turn over your wrist? Go to settings, find the auto-wake-up motion, turn it on.
Hello there!
I'm about to buy a amazfit stratos 2 because I'm unable to find any other watch that has Android Wear and a proper LCD always on display like the Stratos or Pace has.
Does anybody knows any other smart watch that has this always on feature?.
I mean full color always on screen, not like the OLED screens that goes mutilated when always on power saver kicks in, like this pic.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/C7o5r9zUd7k/maxresdefault.jpg
Thanks!
Almost all Garmin watch look at the Vivoactive 3
But garmin watches are not Android Wear, are they?