LOKMAT Rugged Smart Watch, IP68 Water Resistant

A knockabout watch that tells you the truth.

Your phone lives in your pack, in the door pocket or on the dash. Out on a fence line, down a track or halfway up a stope, that means every call and every message waits until you next dig it out — and the one that mattered was two hours ago.

Miss the call that said the weather turned, or that someone is not where they said they would be, and a straightforward day turns into a long one. It is rarely the gear breaking that hurts you. It is not knowing yet.

Most smart watches make that worse rather than better. They are thin glass slabs built for a gym floor, they want charging every third day, and the first solid knock against a tray or a door frame finishes them.

This one is a lump of moulded TPU and ABS on a stainless steel caseback, with the screen set down inside a raised bezel and eight exposed screw heads holding the guard on. The dial is marked LOKMAT and the case is moulded SPORT WATCH and WATER RESIST. It runs a 1.28 inch colour touchscreen off a 230 mAh cell, and it puts your phone’s notifications on your wrist so you know straight away instead of eventually.

It also displays a handful of health readings, and we are going to be straight with you about exactly what those are and are not worth. That is in the Limits tab and it is the most important thing on this page.

What It Does

• Alerts on your wrist: incoming calls, SMS and app notifications from a paired iPhone or Android handset, so the phone can stay in the pack.
• Movement tracking: steps, distance and calories, counted by the G-sensor in the watch.
• Heart rate: an optical sensor sits in the caseback and reads on demand or through the day.
• Sport modes: walking, running, hiking, cycling, basketball and elliptical, each logging time, heart rate and calories.
• Sleep record: logs deep and light sleep and totals the night in the app.
• Phone housekeeping: find-my-phone, music track and volume control, stopwatch, alarm, sedentary and drink reminders, and local weather pulled from the handset.

Key Features

• 1.28 inch colour screen: 240 x 240 IPS, full touch, backed up by four side buttons you can work with cold or wet fingers.
• Bluetooth 5.0: pairs to Android 4.4 or iOS 8.0 and later through the FitCloudPro app.
• 230 mAh cell: charges through a magnetic cable that clips onto two pins on the caseback — no port to let water in.
• Stated IP68: the manufacturer’s own spec panel states IP68 and the case is moulded WATER RESIST. Read the Limits tab before it goes near water.
• Steel caseback: engraved HEART RATE, STAINLESS STEEL, with the optical window set in the centre.
• TPU strap: 20 mm wide, fitting wrists from 132 mm to 200 mm around.
• Case size: 49 x 49 x 12.5 mm on the manufacturer’s own measurement panel.
• Three colourways: black, a camouflage green and a blue denim-look finish, all with the same hardware.
• In the box: the watch, a spare strap, the magnetic charging cable and a user guide.

Limits

It is not a swimming or diving watch. The manufacturer states IP68 and the case is moulded WATER RESIST, but IP68 is a dust and ingress rating and it declares no depth and no swimming rating whatsoever. There is no ATM figure printed anywhere on this watch, on its packaging list or on the manufacturer’s spec panel, and we have not sighted an IP68 test certificate. Treat it as rain, sweat, splash and hand washing. Keep it out of the pool, out of the surf, off your wrist in the shower and well away from a sauna — heat and steam attack the seals faster than cold water does. If you want a watch you can swim in, you want a 5ATM rating, and if you want to dive it you want 10ATM or better.

It does not measure your blood pressure, and we are not going to pretend it does. The watch and the app both show a blood pressure screen with a reading in mmHg, and several of the supplier’s own images sell it hard. The manufacturer’s own specification panel lists the sensors fitted to this watch as an optical heart rate sensor and a G-sensor — that is all of them. There is no cuff and no dedicated blood pressure sensor in it. Do not use that number for anything, do not use it to decide whether to take medication, and do not use it instead of a proper cuff from a pharmacy or your doctor.

The blood oxygen figure carries the same warning. A SpO2 number appears on the watch and in the app, but no dedicated blood oxygen sensor is listed on the manufacturer’s spec panel either. Treat it as a novelty readout, not a measurement.

The heart rate sensor is real, but it is a fitness sensor. There genuinely is an optical sensor in the caseback and you can see its window in the photographs. It is fine for watching your effort on a climb or a ride. It is not a heart monitor, it will wander if the watch is loose or your wrist is cold, and it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition.

No GPS. There is no GNSS receiver in this watch. Distance is worked out from your step count, not from satellites, so it is an estimate and it drifts on rough ground.

You cannot talk on it. There is no speaker and no microphone. It shows you who is ringing and lets you reject the call from your wrist; to answer one you still reach for the phone.

It needs the phone nearby. Notifications, weather and the app data all come over Bluetooth. Out of range it keeps time and keeps counting steps, and that is it.

The battery numbers are the manufacturer’s, not ours. The cell is 230 mAh, which is corroborated. The maker’s panel claims 12 days with health detection, sport recording and notifications running, 25 days in standby on default settings, and 72 minutes to a full charge. Other sellers of the same watch quote 8 to 12 days in normal use, and one quotes 15 days. We have not timed one. Expect the bottom of that range with heart rate left on all day.

No certification sighted. Watches in this class are routinely sold with CE and RoHS marks quoted in the copy. We have not sighted a certificate for either, and no standard number is printed on the watch or its caseback, so we are not listing one.

Q & A

Can I swim in it?

No. IP68 sounds like it should cover swimming and it does not — it is an ingress rating with no depth behind it, and no ATM figure is published for this watch at all. Rain, sweat, a splash at the trough and washing your hands are fine. The pool, the surf, the shower and the sauna are not.

Does it really read blood pressure?

It shows you a number in mmHg. It does not measure your blood pressure. The manufacturer’s own spec sheet lists an optical heart rate sensor and a G-sensor as the only sensors fitted, and there is no cuff. If you need to know your blood pressure, use a cuff.

Does it have GPS?

No. No GNSS receiver, and no mapping. Distance comes from counting your steps, so treat it as a rough figure rather than a measured one.

Can I answer a call on my wrist?

No — there is no speaker and no microphone in it. You will see the caller and you can reject the call from the watch, which is the useful half when your hands are full.

What app does it use, and will it work with my phone?

FitCloudPro, which is free on both the App Store and Google Play. The manufacturer states iOS 8.0 or later and Android 4.4 or later, so any phone bought in the last decade will pair. There is a QR code on the watch that takes you to the download.

How long will it actually last on a charge?

The cell is 230 mAh. The maker claims 12 days in regular use and 25 in standby; other sellers of the same watch say 8 to 12 days. We have not run the test ourselves, so take the lower end as your planning figure, especially with all-day heart rate switched on.

Will it fit my wrist?

The strap adjusts between 132 mm and 200 mm of wrist circumference. Run a tape around your wrist before you order. A spare strap comes in the box.

Specs

Delivery is 10–14 days from the day you order, and you should allow up to 3 weeks. Shipping is free to Australia and New Zealand.

This watch is a fitness and notification device. It is not a medical device and it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition.