Can a ultra cheap smartwatch really compete with the big boys?
Before we get into the review of this watch, please bear with us for a moment as we provide a bit of background.
A couple of months ago, a press release dropped into our inbox, extolling the virtues of the Cube i10 tablet. In spite of costing just £82, it offered dual Windows and Android booting, as well as array of quite impressive features. This press release was written in broken English, and a visit to the retail site that issued it confirmed that the i10 was a cheap Far East product and would be sent from abroad.
We were intrigued, and we tried to get a review sample sent to us. Unfortunately, after a protracted and utterly confusing email exchange with the company's PR rep, in which we had explain that we didn't need payment for the review, we instead agreed to take a look at the Ulefone uWear instead (see, we got there eventually).
Just like the i10 that we're not looking at now, this is a device that promises a great deal, while costing next to nothing.
Physically, you get a small, square touchscreen, a micro-USB charging port on the side, a power/back button, and a soft rubber strap. Also, it has a dust and waterproof rating of IP65, so you don't have to worry about wearing it in the rain.
In terms of the software, you need to pair the uWear with an Android or iOS phone over Bluetooth. This you can do via your phone's normal Bluetooth pairing procedure, but to really get the most from this watch, you also need to download and install the companion apps for your phone, which you can find by using a barcode scanning app to scan the QR code that's included in the uWear's main menu.
That's simple enough, but the problem is knowing which app to install, because there are two: BTNotification and Fundo Companion. The latter empasises the health features of the uWear, such as the pedometer, sleep monitor and 'Sedentary', which is supposed to tell you if you've been sitting still too long. Oddly, though, all the notification features, which determine what you'll see on the watch, can be toggled by either app, making BTNotification a tad pointless.
Unfortunately, the instructions that came with uWear were written in something that only had passing resemblence to English, so we just installed both apps (from Android .apk files, rather than from the Play store), and did our best to work out how the phone and the watch are supposed to play together.
First off, after pairing the two, we tapped the 'Dialer' icon. This opened up a small number pad on the uWear, so we could type in a number and initiate a call. This worked well, and we were able not only to get the phone to connect, but we didn't have to take our phone out of our pocket, because the uWear itself has its own speaker and microphone. That means you get to talk into your watch like you're Dick Tracy. Whether or not you consider that a good thing is no doubt a personal preference, but we rather enjoyed it.
Next, we opened the contacts menu, and found, thanks to the uWear syncing with our phone, all our contacts in alphabetical order. What we didn't find, though, was any way to quickly scroll through them, which meant having to using the tiny touchscreen to go down the list, a few names at a time, until we eventually came to the one we wanted. That was bad enough, but what made it even worse was the fact that the screen sometimes didn't register our touches.
On the plus side, the touchscreen is responsive enough in the main menu, and the notification system works well. You can choose, via the app, which phone notifications will appear on the watch, so when you get a message or something, it will pop up on the uWear's screen. Tap on a message, and you can read it. If it's a long message, you'll once again be thwarted by the screen as you try to scroll down, but just as a way of getting your attention, it works well enough.
Indeed, many devices that simply vibrate when you have a message or call cost more than the uWear, but this watch has a surprising amount of features. In addition to what we've mentioned already, you also get a calculator; a small, month-view calendar; an altimeter (which we couldn't get to work); an alarm function; a barometer (which also didn't appear to work); the ability to control your phone's camera remotely; an 'Anti lost' feature to help you locate your mobile or the watch if one of them is missing; and an audio player, which is designed to let you skip tracks on your phone, as well as pause, play and alter the volume. This last feature, though, didn't actually work as expected when we tried it. When we paired the uWear with our Android phone, it simply designated the watch as an audio output. Yes, we could skip tracks and so on, but the music played not from the phone, as we'd have liked, but from the watch itself. We're don't want to seem fussy, but listening to music via a small, tinny speaker on our wrist doesn't seem all that practical or enjoyable.
Clearly, then, the Ulefone uWear is not without its problems. Most of them are software related and could probably be fixed easily enough. Perhaps that's encouraging, but we're not optimistic the manufacturer will bother to remedy these problems, so in the end we just feel disappointed.
Of course, any such feelings are tempered by the fact the uWear costs so little. The parts of it that work are certainly worth more than the price and, if anything, it's Ulefone's own ambition that is its downfall. Had it not tried to shove so many functions in here, it would have perhaps been more successful. Anthony Enticknap
Cheap and, at least sometimes, cheerful.