Nubia Watch hands-on review: A glimpse of the future of smartwatches
Our Verdict
The Nubia Watch has an innovative design, but the software needs some work.
For
- Cool flexible AMOLED brandish
- Accurate GPS
Against
- Bulky
- No app shop
- Software needs some work
Tom'due south Guide Verdict
The Nubia Lookout has an innovative design, but the software needs some work.
Pros
- +
Cool flexible AMOLED display
- +
Accurate GPS
Cons
- -
Bulky
- -
No app store
- -
Software needs some work
Smartwatches face a large problem: trying to cram a lot of information onto a small brandish. Some watch makers, like Apple tree, Samsung, and Google, tackle this through a multi-layered interface. Others, like the new Nubia Watch, simply effort to give you a larger display.
The Nubia smartwatch, currently a Kickstarter project, has a large flexible AMOLED display that wraps halfway around your wrist. I've been testing out an overseas version of this smartwatch for a few days, and while the hardware is stunning, the software however needs some refinement before it tin can take on best smartwatches such as the Apple tree Watch v and Samsung Galaxy Watch 3.
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Nubia Watch: Toll and availability
The Nubia lookout man is available on Kickstarter. When — or if — it ships to the general public this October, the watch will price $399. Early bird backers on Kickstarter can get it for $199; there are 500 early on-bird slots available.
Nubia Lookout: Design
The testify-stopping feature of the Nubia Watch is its wraparound display. I changed the display setting to remain on, fifty-fifty though that shortens battery life, equally the screen is besides pretty not to expect at. It looks less similar a smartwatch and more than like some other Sci-Fi device.
Nubia'due south flexible AMOLED display is 4 inches long and about one inch wide, and it curved nearly halfway around my wrist. A somewhat thick bezel borders this substantial scout; it feels more like a chunky bracelet than a timepiece.
While the Nubia brandish is curved, it's generally stock-still in identify except for the very ends, which tin can curve to accommodate the strap effectually your wrist.
Although it fit the contours of my wrist well, I suspect those with smaller wrists will detect the Nubia Watch cumbersome to habiliment. It's besides quite heavy: At iii.45 ounces, the Nubia Sentinel weighs an ounce and a half more than than even the massive Garmin Fenix 6.
The Nubia Watch runs on a dated Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100 processor, only the watch felt pretty responsive equally I scrolled through menus and selected diverse items. Other hardware includes Bluetooth, Wi-Fi-, GPS, and the ability to accept eSIMs — though this is only bachelor overseas. The Nubia Wear has 8GB of onboard storage, just only near half of that can exist used by the wearer.
The sentinel is IP54-rated for dust and water, and so it tin can survive some splashes. It's non every bit water-resistant as the Apple Scout or Samsung Milky way Watch three, both of which can go for a swim.
Nubia Watch: Display and interface
The Nubia Watch runs a custom Nubia wear OS, which feels similar it has its roots in Wear OS. The principal screen shows the time and date in the center of the display, with four colored bars coming from both ends, and pointing toward the middle. With a resolution of 960 x 192 pixels, the display looks very crisp
Swipe to the right or left, and you're presented with a row of icons: Telephone call, letters, Sports, Wellness, Heart Rate, Settings, Avalanche, Conditions, Compass, Schedule, Clock, SearchPhone, Music, and AliPay.
Swipe downwards from the home screen and you lot get quick access to settings, and swiping up shows yous any notifications y'all may have.
The funky Barrage icon lets you put a virtual light show on the screen. There are four options yous can choose, including one with Matrix-style letters that read Flex Your Life and fade every bit they scroll downward the screen. Yous tin can also create your own Marquee in the Nubia smartphone app (Android and iOS), and transport it to the watch. It's not that useful, but is a fun way to testify off the brandish.
Nubia Watch: Picket Faces
Press and hold the main watchface, and you're presented with a dozen other faces that brand full use of the Nubia's screen.
A mostly amber watchface called Mars Organisation, for example, shows the fourth dimension in the eye, simply in the curved section facing you, you'll see your heart rate, steps, date, and calories. There are other watch faces that look similar clock gears, ones that show the weather, and ane that shows the phases of the Moon.
A couple of the lookout man faces display stats on the curved section of the watch on the exterior of your wrist. While it's cool the information is there, it'due south hard to see unless you twist your arm.
Different the watchfaces on Wearable OS devices and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, you can't currently customize the Nubia Article of clothing'due south watchfaces. That's a feature Nubia should add.
Nubia Picket: Health and fettle features
Selecting the Sports icon on the Nubia Watch presents yous with 4 workout options: Complimentary Workout, Outdoor Walking, Indoor Running, and Outdoor Running. That'south pretty express, but it's a first.
The Health icon gives yous a consummate rundown of all your stats for the day, such as light and deep sleep, resting heart rate, steps, distance run, and calories burned.
I took the Nubia Watch for a run, and on a cloudy day, it took about a minute for information technology to acquire a GPS signal. Its heart rate monitor seemed to be accurate, simply there was a definite lag; it would take most 10 to 15 seconds earlier it showed an increase or subtract in my eye rate. I did like that the watch auto-paused the workout when I would come to a terminate, such as at a traffic light.
Surprisingly for such a big screen, it was a little hard to read my performance stats as I was running. That'due south because the Nubia Lookout man tries to cram in as well much information; it would exist great if you could customize the display to evidence the stats you want most. Similar almost touchscreens, I too found that the Nubia'due south brandish became unresponsive when it was dripping with sweat.
Nubia Watch: Smartphone app
I tested the Nubia Watch with an iPhone. (Information technology besides works with Android devices.) The Nubia Sentinel app isn't anything special: Its principal screen shows you your footstep count, sleep, eye charge per unit, and any photos you've uploaded. The Settings page lets you lot manage the watch, download music and pictures to the device, and prepare which apps on your phone can transport notifications to the watch.
Nubia Lookout man: Battery life
Nubia claims that the watch'due south 425 mAh battery will final up to 36 hours in smartwatch fashion and 7 days in power-saving mode. That would be a off-white corporeality longer than the 24-hour battery in the Apple tree Lookout, and a picayune short of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, which we found lasts almost ii days on a charge. Afterwards roughly a day's worth of use, which included a 30-minute run, the Nubia Watch was down to 25 percent.
Nubia Scout: Outlook
Nosotros've seen wraparound smartwatches earlier, most recently Will.i.am's two aborted attempts at wearables. Simply flexible displays seem to be the future of smartphones, so why not smartwatches, too?
Notwithstanding, the size of the Nubia Watch, plus its proprietary operating system and lack of 3rd-party apps makes this a absurd-looking smartwatch, but one with a niche audience.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/nubia-watch-hands-on-review-a-glimpse-of-the-future-of-smartwatches
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