GPS Bluetooth GPS Smart Sports Watch 650mAh Battery

Gloves on, phone buried, and the track goes unrecorded.

You drop down a fire trail you have not driven before, or you push into a gully after a fishing spot somebody told you about. You mean to get the phone out and mark it. You do not, because your hands are full and the phone is at the bottom of the pack. Nothing goes wrong that day.

It goes wrong the next time. You cannot find the turn-off, so you burn two hours of daylight looking for it, and now you are navigating unfamiliar country in the dark on memory. That is the chain that ends in a night out you did not plan and a phone call somebody has to make on your behalf.

This one has a real satellite receiver in the watch — an AG3352B chip working GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS and Galileo — so the track records on your wrist while you keep both hands on what you are doing. It is a big watch: 56.9 mm across and 14.3 mm thick, with a 650 mAh battery behind it, which is where the endurance comes from.

What it is not is a mapping unit and it is not a rescue beacon. It records where you went and shows you a compass, an altitude and a pressure trend. Read the Limits tab before you buy — particularly the water rating, because this one is weaker than most people assume.

What It Does

• Records the track without the phone: the satellite chip is in the watch, not borrowed off your handset over Bluetooth. Start it at the gate and the route is on your wrist by the time you get back.
• Answers the call with filthy hands: Bluetooth calling with a dial pad, stored contacts and a call log, so the phone stays in the pack while you take the call.
• Tells you the weather is turning: a barometric sensor and an altimeter, so you get the pressure trend and your elevation rather than guessing at both.
• Gives you a bearing on a flat ridge: a geomagnetic compass on the dial for when every gully looks the same and the sun is behind cloud.
• Goes a trip without a charger: 650 mAh and a magnetic charging puck. The supplier quotes about 12 days of normal use and about 10 hours with GPS running — their figures, not ours.

Key Features

• Standalone satellite receiver: AG3352B chip covering GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS and Galileo. Supplier quotes about 30 seconds for a cold fix and about 10 seconds for a hot one.
• 1.45 inch round touch screen: 412 x 412 resolution, full touch, with an always-on setting and a screen-off dial.
• 650 mAh battery: charged by a magnetic puck on the caseback, so there is no port to pack with grit.
• Realtek 8763EWE platform: pairs with iOS 9 and above and Android 4.4 and above.
• HX3605 optical sensor: drives the heart rate, blood oxygen and sleep readouts. Consumer grade — see the Limits tab.
• Compass, altimeter and barometer: the three outdoor sensors, all on the watch rather than pulled from the phone.
• Built like a lump: metal unibody with the buttons and bezels stated as high-strength zinc alloy. 56.9 mm wide, 52.8 mm tall, 14.3 mm thick, 275 mm total length with the strap on.
• Ten strap and case combinations: black or gold case, with a steel link, a second link style, a milanese mesh, a leather or a silicone strap. Pick the option at checkout.
• The everyday smart watch things: message push, weather, music control, stopwatch, alarm, camera shutter, voice assistant, hydration and sedentary reminders, cycle tracking, and custom watch faces.

Limits

The water rating — read this before you get it wet

The supplier's own parameter panel states 1ATM. That is the figure that governs immersion, and 1ATM is the bottom of the scale. As a general rule 5ATM is a swimming watch and 10ATM or better is a diving watch. This is neither.

• Fine: rain, sweat, washing your hands, a splash off the boat, getting caught in the shower walking back to the ute.
• Do not: swim in it, snorkel in it, dive in it, wear it in the shower or the spa, or hold it under a tap. Hot water and steam are worse than cold water because they push the seals.
• The sports-mode trap: the supplier's list of sports modes includes swimming and free diving. A sports mode is a timer with an icon on it. It does not change the seal, the gasket or the rating, and it is not permission to get in the water with it.
• Two ratings, one answer: two of the images also carry an IP68 icon. IP and ATM measure different things and where both are quoted the ATM figure is the one that governs immersion. Go by the 1ATM.

An earlier version of this page said the supplier stated IP69K and 3ATM. Neither figure appears anywhere in the supplier's material. We have corrected it down to what is actually printed.

It is not a medical device

The watch shows a heart rate, a blood oxygen percentage and a blood pressure figure. Every one of those comes from a single optical sensor shining a light at the back of your wrist. They are estimates produced by a consumer sensor, not measurements — the blood pressure number in particular is not a cuff reading and should never be treated as one.

• Do not make a decision on it: nothing this watch displays should change what medication you take, when you see a doctor, or whether you keep working. If a number worries you, get it checked properly.
• No blood glucose: there is no blood glucose or blood sugar function on this watch. No wrist-worn optical sensor does that, whatever the listing says.
• It is not an ECG: some of the watch faces draw a heartbeat trace across the dial. That is a graphic, not a trace off electrodes.
• It will not diagnose or treat anything: not a heart condition, not sleep apnoea, not high blood pressure, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.

What else it will not do

• It is not a rescue beacon: there is no SOS to emergency services, no satellite messaging and no distress function. It receives from satellites, it does not transmit to them. If you go somewhere that needs a PLB or an EPIRB, take a PLB or an EPIRB.
• Calls need your phone nearby: there is no SIM slot and no mobile data. The calling works over Bluetooth to a paired handset, so out of Bluetooth range you have a watch and no phone service.
• No maps on the watch: the supplier states the recorded track is reviewed by opening the phone app. Nothing in their material says maps are stored on the watch, so do not buy it as a navigation unit.
• It wants the app once, at least: the supplier says the first satellite fix needs the app connected to load ephemeris data. Plan on setting it up at home before it goes bush.
• The military badges are marketing: the supplier's images carry a "military quality" seal and a panel claiming twelve military-grade tests. We have sighted no test certificate for any of it and we are not repeating it as fact.
• The supplier contradicts itself on the screen: the parameter panel says IPS, one banner says HD AMOLED and the variant banners say sapphire. Three different claims for one screen. We have not pulled one apart, so we are not calling it.

Q & A

Does the GPS work if I leave the phone at home?

Yes for recording. The satellite chip is in the watch, which is the whole point of it — the supplier lists an AG3352B receiver working GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS and Galileo, and quotes about 10 hours of battery with GPS running. What you lose without the phone is calls, message push and reviewing the track afterwards, because that happens in the app. Set it up and sync it before you go out.

Can I swim with it?

No. It is rated 1ATM, which covers rain and splash and nothing beyond that. It does have a swimming mode and a free diving mode in the software, and that is exactly the thing that catches people out — the mode is a timer, not a seal. If you want a watch you can do laps in, you want 5ATM as a minimum, and diving wants 10ATM or better.

What is the difference between the ten options?

Case colour and strap, nothing else. The watch, the screen, the battery and the sensors are the same across all ten. You are choosing a black or a gold case, and then a steel link band, a second steel link style, a milanese mesh, a leather strap or a silicone strap. Silicone is the one to pick if it is going to work and get wet; the metal bands are the dressier end of it.

Which app does it use?

The supplier's parameter panel names DAFIT, on iOS 9 and above or Android 4.4 and above, with 27 app languages listed. An earlier version of this page named a different app; we could not source that anywhere in the supplier's material, so we have gone with what is printed.

Will it fit my wrist, and is it too big?

It is a big watch and we are not going to soften that. The case is 56.9 mm across and 14.3 mm thick, and the total length including the strap is 275 mm. If you already wear a chunky field watch it will feel normal. If you wear something slim, measure your wrist first. The supplier does not publish a lug width, so we cannot tell you what an aftermarket strap needs to be.

How long does the battery really last?

We have not run it down ourselves, so all we can give you is what the supplier states: about 12 days of normal use, 7 to 10 days heavy, about 10 hours with the GPS running continuously, and about 90 days sitting in low-power standby. GPS is the thing that eats it. Treat those numbers as the supplier's best case rather than a promise.

How long does delivery take?

Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you order, and up to three weeks to be safe. Regional and remote addresses take longer again. Delivery is free to Australia and New Zealand.

Specs

This product is not a medical device. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition.