T3 India

wearable

Review: Ambrane FitShot Zest

by

Price: ₹2,999

Smart wearables are flooding the market, especially entry-level models at the lower end of the price band. Ambrane’s FitShot Zest smartwatch joins the melee with a few advanced features.

The FitShot Zest is available in black, blue and pink colours and has a rectangular design similar to Apple watch. The watch has a predictable Chinese origin but is well made, unlike many products in this price band. A metal frame and a neat-looking sensor unit underside instil confidence. The device uses a 22 mm silicon strap, which also feels of good quality. The FitShot Zest carries an IP67 ingress protection rating and hence it is water and dust resistant. The watch uses a 1.7-inch display, which appeared sharp and bright with legible font and design elements. The watch can be paired with an Android phone using the FitShot Wear companion app. You get some neat watch faces to choose from. The control wheel has the single function of switching between the installed watch faces. On the flip side, the slightest brush of your hands can change your chosen watch face.

The watch includes advanced features Bluetooth calling, health monitoring and voice assistant compatible with Google Assistant and Siri. Apart from the regular health tracking features like SpO2, blood pressure, stress, sleep and heart rate, it also includes menstrual cycle tracking. It also tracks sports such as Running, Walking, Climbing, Treadmill, Cycling, Spinning, Yoga, Basketball, Football, and Basketball. Activity tracking records include steps, kilometres and calories burnt. Many of these may not be accurate but are close enough for all practical purposes. There are of course the regular features like stopwatch, alarm and others. You can also play and pause music or operate the camera on the smartphone with the watch. The watch provides up to seven days of battery life.

RATING

WE’RE IMPRESSED Good value for money, neat design, good features for the price

WE’D IMPROVE Accuracy of sensor

THE LAST WORD An entry-level smartwatch that exceeds expectations

Will the Fitbit Versa make you trade in your Apple Watch?

by

The Fitbit Versa is the fitness tracking brand’s most recent attempt at a “smartwatch for all”, with a modern design and affordable price tag, as well as a few new software tricks designed to tempt users away from the Apple Watch.

The Versa is designed to be comfortable enough to wear all day and night. Fitbit promises it’s also durable and versatile, with a thin anodised aluminium case and a variety of stylish accessories.

These include Horween leather, stainless steel, woven, or ‘Classic’ straps, which can be quickly changed to match your outfit or activity. You can see most of the options in the image below.

We think it’s a big improvement over the angular Ionic smartwatch.

There’s also a host of smartwatch features onboard, such as smartphone notifications, Deezer music streaming, Fitbit Pay contactless payment, apps, and downloadable clock faces.

Fitbit will soon be introducing ‘Quick Replies’, which let you send quick pre-populated or customisable replies to text messages and instant messenger apps (Android only).

Fitbit boasts “more than 550 apps”, which doesn’t quite compete with the likes of the Apple Watch, but it does include big names, like Flipboard, Hue Lights, Strava, Weather, etc.

Of course, Fitbit hasn’t forgotten about fitness, and the Versa is the first device to launch with Fitbit OS 2.0.

This includes a new personalised dashboard that provides a more simplified, intuitive and holistic view of your health and fitness data.

You’ll be able to see your daily and weekly health and fitness stats, historical activity, heart rate, and exercise summaries, action-oriented motivational messages, tips and tricks, and daily guidance.

You’ll also receive more personalised fitness guidance, with 24/7 heart rate tracking, on-screen workouts, and more exercise modes. This is designed to become more personalised over time, sending reminders and providing insights based on your previous data (coming later in 2018).

Sleep tracking is, of course, also back.

The biggest addition to Fitbit’s software is the introduction is “female health tracking”, allowing you to track your menstrual cycle, and see how it connects to your overall health.

It’ll let you log your menstrual cycle data, recording symptoms like headaches and cramp. Once it has enough data, it’ll also make cycle predictions.

Fitbit claims this will give users a holistic view of data all in one place “to reveal connections between your cycle and other stats in the Fitbit app, such as activity, sleep and weight trends to better manage your activity and sleep needs during certain times of the month.”

These software updates will debut on the new Versa, but will also be available for Ionic users via a software update.

The Versa has a 4+ days battery life, but doesn’t include GPS, like the more fitness-focused Ionic.

Fitbit Versa will be available in Q2 in black with a black aluminum case, gray with a silver aluminum case, or peach with a rose gold aluminum case for Rs. 19,999. Fitbit Versa Special Edition will also retail for Rs. 21,999 and accessories range from Rs. 2,499 to Rs. 8,999.

This Samsung Galaxy Edge smartwatch concept is a beautiful idea

by

Samsung was first out of the gates with a smartwatch with what many interpreted to be a rushed response to the rumours of the Apple Watch.

We’ve now seen over six different versions of Samsung attempting to do a smartwatch right and nothing has really blown us away, all of them have had their faults. The Gear A is the first we expect to see since Apple joined the game meaning Samsung needs to up its game considerably.

A new concept from Maform shows off what Samsung could achieve with its new found design techniques it introduced in the Galaxy S6 Edge. The concept clearly takes some influence from the Apple Watch as well.

The images show off some removable straps as well as a curved screen to offer more real estate without having to make it any bigger on the wrist. It even clips onto your straps making it much easier to take off and charge or switch accessories.

If Samsung did this we’d hope it’d make some apps compatible with the side screens that it didn’t manage to achieve for the Galaxy S6 Edge when it launched.

It all just looks a lot more stylish than what Samsung has achieved so far – most of us wouldn’t be embarrassed to place one of these on our wrists.

That’s what we all want from these devices as well, it’s more about fashion than functionality so fingers crossed Samsung can use its new found design credentials and put them to good use. 

Via YankoDesign