T30 Rugged Smart Watch - 1.6 inch IPS, Bluetooth Calls

The phone's buried in the pack, and it's ringing.

By the time you have the pack off, the lid open and your hand on the phone, it has stopped. Same story with gloves on, in a cab, on a ladder, or with the phone in a chest pocket under a jacket and a hi-vis. You either miss the call or you stop what you are doing to take it.

The T30 is a big round watch that puts the call on your wrist instead. A 1.6 inch round IPS screen at 400 x 400, a speaker and a dial pad, and a 600 mAh battery behind it. It pairs to your phone over Bluetooth, so calls, messages and alerts land on the watch and you answer them there. Around 73 g on the wrist, in black or green.

Be clear about what it is. It is a large, cheap, rugged-looking watch that handles calls and counts steps well. It is not a navigation watch, it is not a medical device, and it is not one you swim in. The Limits tab spells all three out, and it is the part of this page worth reading before you buy.

What It Does

• Calls on your wrist: the phone stays in the pack, the crib bag or the door pocket. Incoming calls push to the watch and you answer on the watch, through its own speaker and dial pad.
• Readable with safety glasses on: 1.6 inch and 400 x 400 is a big round face. Glance at it, read it, get on with the job, instead of squinting at a small rectangle.
• Not a nightly charge: the supplier quotes 5 days with Bluetooth calling turned on and 8 days in its normal watch mode, off a 600 mAh battery. Charging is a magnetic puck, so there is no port to fill with dust.
• Handles rain and hand washing: the supplier rates it IP68 and says washing your hands and getting caught in the rain are fine. It also says do not leave it under water or put it in hot water. Read that as weather, not swimming.
• Counts the day for you: steps, calories, sleep and an optical heart rate sensor running in the background, plus 22 sport modes if you want the walk, the ride or the climb recorded on its own.

Key Features

• 1.6 inch round IPS screen: 400 x 400 resolution, 400 ppi, touch operated, with two side buttons marked POWER and SPORT.
• 600 mAh battery: the supplier's own panels quote 8 days in classic mode, 5 days with Bluetooth calling in use, and 25 to 30 days on standby. All of those are lab figures.
• Bluetooth calling and messages: answer, hang up, mute and dial from the watch, with call records and contacts synced from the phone. Notifications and message alerts push through as well.
• Built-in speaker: the supplier's wording is "Hi-Fi speakers". It is a watch speaker, so treat it as loud enough to take a call in the open, not as an audio product.
• Magnetic charging: two contacts on the case back and a magnetic cable. No plug, no flap, no rubber bung to lose.
• 22 sport modes: cycling, mountaineering, basketball, football, skipping, yoga and the rest, each recorded as its own session.
• Music and weather: play, pause and skip on the phone from the watch, plus alarms, a timer, a stopwatch and a weather readout that comes from the phone rather than from the watch.
• More than 50 watch faces: six menu layouts, a stack of dials, and the option to push one of your own photos across as the face from the app.
• Works with either phone: QWatch Pro from Google Play or the App Store, Android 4.4 or above, iOS 8.2 or above.
• Two colours: black case with a black strap, or black case with a green strap. Pick at checkout.

Watch It

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Limits

The screen is IPS, not AMOLED. This watch is advertised as AMOLED all over the internet, and we have used that word on this page ourselves. The supplier's own specification panel says "1.6 inch IPS color screen", and its screen page says "1.6-inch IPS high-definition color screen". We are going with what the manufacturer printed, not with the marketing. IPS is a perfectly good panel at this money, but it is not AMOLED and you should not pay for AMOLED expecting deep blacks and an always-on face.

IP68 is not a swim rating, and there is no ATM rating on this watch at all. The supplier states IP68 and describes it as "life waterproof": washing your hands and getting caught in the rain. It then says, in its own words, "Do not immerse the watch in water for a long time or in hot water". No 3ATM, 5ATM or 10ATM figure is stated anywhere on the product or in the supplier's material. So: rain, sweat, hosing your hands off, fine. Swimming, snorkelling, diving, surf, spa or a hot shower, no. If you want a watch you can swim in, buy one with an ATM figure printed on it.

It is not a medical device and we do not sell it as one. The heart rate, blood oxygen and blood pressure modes are consumer fitness sensors. The heart rate figure comes from an optical PPG sensor shining a light at your wrist and timing what bounces back. Every number it gives you is an estimate produced by that method. It is not a measurement, and nothing on this page claims it diagnoses, treats, cures, prevents or manages any condition.

The blood pressure figure is an estimate from an optical sensor, not a cuff reading. Do not use it to manage high blood pressure, and do not use it to make any decision about medication. If you need a real number, use a cuff.

The blood oxygen figure is an estimate too. The supplier's own photographs suggest checking it "when the body is unwell" to work out whether low blood oxygen is the cause. Ignore that. It is a wrist sensor on a cheap watch, not a pulse oximeter, and it is not a way to work out what is wrong with you. If you are unwell, ring a doctor.

It cannot measure blood glucose or blood sugar. No wrist-worn watch can. If you see this model or any other advertised as a blood sugar watch, that is a lie and it is a dangerous one.

The supplier calls it MIL-STD. We do not. One of the manufacturer's marketing images carries the words "MIL-STD Military Standard". MIL-STD-810 is a test method, not a certification, and no test report or certificate has been sighted for this watch. BushLine does not make military claims and does not trade on them. Treat this as a chunky plastic and alloy watch that will survive being knocked about, and nothing more than that.

There is no GPS in it. No GPS, GLONASS or any other positioning is specified by the supplier. It will not navigate, it will not record a track, and any distance it shows comes from counting steps. If you want a watch to find your way back with, this is not the one.

It has no SIM and it does not make calls on its own. Every call goes through your phone over Bluetooth. Out of phone range, or with the phone flat or left behind, it is a watch and a step counter. Setup also needs two separate Bluetooth connections: one to pair the watch to the QWatch Pro app, and a second one to the watch's own Bluetooth audio channel before calling works.

The battery figures are lab figures, and the supplier gives two different sets. One panel says 10 days of use and 30 days standby. Another says 8 days in classic mode, 5 days with Bluetooth calling in use, and 25 days maximum standby, with a footnote reading "The battery life data is measured in the laboratory, and the specific time is subject to personal use". Work off the lower set. Screen brightness, always-on heart rate and time spent on calls will all pull it down.

CE and RoHS only. The case back is moulded with CE, RoHS and "Made in China". There is no RCM mark and no AS/NZS listing stated, and no certificate has been sighted for any of the marks that are there. A logo moulded into plastic is not a certificate.

It is not a phone on your wrist. No app store, no maps, no camera, no payments, no voice assistant, no offline music storage. It runs a fixed set of watch functions on a small low-power chip, which is exactly why the battery lasts.

Q & A

Is the screen really AMOLED?
No. The supplier's own specification panel and its screen page both say 1.6 inch IPS. We have gone with the manufacturer's printed spec over the marketing wording. It is a bright, sharp 400 x 400 panel at 400 ppi, and at this money that is a fair screen, but calling it AMOLED would be wrong.

Can I swim in it?
No. It is rated IP68 with no ATM rating stated at all, and the supplier itself says not to leave it in water or put it in hot water. Rain, sweat and washing your hands are fine. Swimming, surf, spas and hot showers are not.

Does it make calls by itself?
No. There is no SIM slot. It connects to your phone over Bluetooth and handles the phone's calls through its own speaker and dial pad. Out of range of the phone, it stops being a phone.

Why do I have to pair it twice?
Because the data connection and the call audio are two separate Bluetooth links. First you add the watch in the QWatch Pro app for steps, sleep and notifications. Then you turn on Bluetooth calling on the watch and connect to it a second time from your phone's own Bluetooth list, which is what carries the voice. The supplier's instruction sheet covers both steps.

How long does the battery actually last?
The supplier quotes 8 days in normal watch mode and 5 days if you use Bluetooth calling, off a 600 mAh battery, and it states plainly that those are laboratory figures. Take a week as the realistic ceiling and less if you are on calls, running the heart rate sensor constantly or sitting on full brightness.

Does it have GPS?
No GPS is specified by the supplier and none is claimed here. Distance comes from the step counter. If you need navigation or a recorded track, buy a watch that states a GPS chip.

How good are the heart rate and blood pressure readings?
Heart rate off an optical sensor is reasonable for spotting a trend across a shift or a walk. Blood pressure and blood oxygen off the same style of sensor are estimates and should be treated as such. None of it is medical, none of it is a measurement, and none of it should be used to make a decision about your health or your medication.

Will it work with my phone?
Android 4.4 or above and iOS 8.2 or above, through the QWatch Pro app from Google Play or the App Store. That covers just about any phone still in service.

Can I change the strap?
The supplier does not specify the strap material, the lug width or whether it is a standard quick-release fitting, so we are not going to promise you a replacement will fit. If a swappable strap matters to you, ask before you order and we will look at what we can find out.

How long does delivery take?
Free standard shipping to Australia and New Zealand. Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you order, not from the day it ships, and up to three weeks. Regional and remote addresses take longer again.

Can I send it back if I do not like it?
Returns cover faulty or not-as-described items only. There is no change-of-mind or money-back policy. That is why the Limits tab is written the way it is: read it first and buy with your eyes open.

Specs

Watch face designs, menu layouts and packaging vary between production batches.

Note: This product is not a medical device. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition. The heart rate, blood oxygen and blood pressure figures it displays are estimates from a consumer optical sensor, not measurements.