Category Archives: Wearables

Huawei Watch 3 review

accessories, Reviews, Tech News, Wearables

Welcome to my review of the Huawei Watch 3 which retails for £349.

The Key Features / Specifications

  • Continuous Health Monitoring. The Huawei Watch 3 allows continuous blood oxygen, heart rate and skin temperature monitoring.
  • 3 days battery life in smart mode and up to 14 days use in ultra-long battery life mode.
  • Stay connected 24/7 with eSIM mobile calls that allows the Huawei Watch 3 to function as a stand-alone communication device. Make calls, play music and download apps without being connected to your phone, still using your existing number.
  • 100+ workout modes for indoor and outdoor sports and 85 custom modes with automatic exercise detection for the 6 most common types of workout. GPS Tracking.
  • High-response touch-sensitive screen, side button and fully rotatable crown, offset for easy access. Rotate the crown for easy scrolling through on-display features and volume settings.
  • Huawei Watch 3 comes with 30 pre-installed faces, including animated faces to really liven things up. Plus, you can add from over 1,000+ designs available on Huawei watch face store.

Video Review

Conclusion

The Huawei Watch 3 running Harmony OS is a really competent and smooth wearable. With some unique features this is an easy recommendation from me. 9/10.

Useful Links

https://consumer.huawei.com/uk/wearables/watch-3/

AirPower in 2020 – Mophie 3 in 1 Wireless Charger Unboxing & First Impressions

accessories, Apple, Reviews, Tech News, Wearables, ,

Welcome to my first impressions and unboxing of the Mophie 3 in 1 wireless charger that charges your AirPods, Apple Watch & iPhone all wirelessly. Fast wireless charging is available for the iPhone as well.

This is what AirPower should have been. It’s a seriously cool product and currently exclusive to Apple, retailing for £130.

One of the positive aspects of the wireless charger is the two white lights on the front edge initially and gently glow for two or three seconds before turning off. The left white light is to acknowledge AirPods are charging and the right side is for your iPhone. So at night , you won’t get an annoying charging led light that so many other chargers seem to have!

Video Review

Conclusion

It’s expensive, it’s sold exclusively at Apple. But it’s relatively compact and looks fabulous on your bedside table.

Useful Links

Mophie chargers on Amazon UK

HONOR launches the Band 5; a stylish and practical smart band offering superior performance – full details

Tech News, Wearables

HONOR launches the Band 5; a stylish and practical smart band offering superior performance.

24/7 Health Monitoring

Powered by the latest HUAWEI TruSeen™ 3.0 heart rate technology, the HONOR Band 5 provides more accurate, 24-hour real-time continuous heart rate monitoring to help users keep track of their health and fitness. The heart rate monitor also switches to an invisible light while you sleep, preventing night light interference while also featuring a heart rate alert which vibrates and flashes to alert users when their real-time heart rate exceeds the pre-set limits.

The HONOR Band 5 also features TruSleep™ technology which automatically records light, deep and REM sleep and monitors users’ sleep quality. Supported by Huawei AI technology and certified by the Center for Dynamical Biomarkers at Harvard Medical School, TruSleep™ precisely identifies six common sleep disorders and offers more than 200 customised suggestions to improve sleep quality. Compared to previous generation models, performance is enhanced with an accuracy of up to 96.3%.

Professional Fitness Tracker.

HONOR Band 5 is a reliable exercise companion, closely tracking users’ workouts and providing recommendations for improvement. It supports a variety of outdoor and indoor activities, including outdoor running, indoor treadmill, outdoor riding, indoor cycling, free training, walking, elliptical trainer, rowing machine and indoor walking

HONOR Band 5 also features a full range of swimming tracking options, and is water resistant in depths of up to 50 meters. When swimming, Band 5 tracks the numbers of strokes, speed, distance, intervals and calories burnt, giving users a clear view of their progress. It also tracks a swimmer’s SWOLF score, a combination of stroke count and time spent in the water, to help swimmers improve their technique.

All-in-one notifications and long battery life.

Equipped with a 0.95” AMOLED Full Colour touchscreen, the HONOR Band 5’s screen resolution of 240x 120 pixels at 282 PPI is easy to read, even under direct sunlight. A single charge provides 14-days of normal usage.

When paired with a smartphone, the HONOR Band 5 also alerts users of incoming calls, SMS, email and SNS notifications. A remote-control function allows users to capture photos from both the rear and front cameras of the phone in a single click. When Bluetooth is activated, users are even able to locate the paired phone via the “Find phone” function.

My full review will be coming soon.

Apple Watch – The Real Story from WWDC 2019 – Editorial

Apple, Tech News, Wearables

At WWDC 2019, Apple showed off the new version of Watch OS. The big news wasn’t the new watch faces, or new features to the health app it was the few changes to the operating system that will make the biggest difference to using the Apple Watch since it got launced.

Currently, if you want to use an Apple Watch, you need to use an iPhone. This is frustrating if you say wanted to use your Apple Watch with your favourite android phone, because this was not an option.

Now with the new Watch OS beta, Apple has included the Apple App Store directly on the watch. This paves the way for the Apple Watch to be used either completely untethered, or even with any phone of your choice.

Why would Apple consider doing this? Well it is no secret iPhone sales are in decline. Apple has maintained profits by pushing the average price of the iPhone higher and higher. However, this doesn’t stop the decline of sales of the iPhone.

It is no secret that the Apple Watch is the number one selling smart watch world wide, and likely the biggest selling watch period. So with an App Store on the watch, this leaves Apple with an option for people to buy the watch without needing an iPhone and even with the possibility of using it on another platform, like android.

If Apple enabled this, just imagine the exponential increase in sales of the Apple Watch. Who knows the Apple Watch one day could be the actual replacement for the iPhone, or a version of it.

Picture Source – Apple

Huawei Watch GT – First Impressions incl Full Walkthrough of UI

Reviews, Tech News, Wearables, ,

Welcome to my First Impressions and Hands on with the Huawei Watch GT.

The Huawei Watch GT compliments Huawei’s wearable family. It runs Huawei’s own operating system, Lite OS. The Watch GT is an extension of Huawei eco system.

With the Watch GT, Huawei wanted to create something similar to Garmin and Fitbit. However, they also wanted the watch to look like a sports watch.

Some of the feature highlights includes a superb battery life. It has the potential for 22 hours with continuous everything. This is with GPS on and continuous heart rate monitoring. More realistic and what most people will achieve is up to 2 weeks with general usage. Or if you restrict the background activities the battery will last up to 30 days.

Apart from Huawei using their own OS, it also has their own chipset with a low and high power core, which will kick into action, depending on what’s needed by the user. Some of the fitness features include real time performace when running, a heart rate system now uses a 6 system light system to read heart rate. It uses the sensors and AI to understand where the watch is precisely placed on your wrist to give you more accurate readings. GPS location is derived via 3 different GPS systems to help triangulate more accurate and faster tracking. The Huawei Watch GT also includes an altimeter.

In terms of compatibility, the Huawei Watch is compatible with iOS and android. Data is synced and displayed using the updated Huawei Health app.

Huawei Watches on Amazon UK

Google Daydream View & Samsung Gear VR (Note 8) Reviews & Comparison – The Ultimate Shootout

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Welcome to my reviews of the new Google Daydream View VR Handset and the upgraded Samsung Gear VR which now fits the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.

Google Daydream View Key Features

– Headset – Dimensions Length 167.8 mm x Width 117.1 mm x Height 100.2 mm
– Weight 261 g
– Material Lightweight fabric
– Colours Fog, Coral, Charcoal
– Compatibility Daydream-ready phones including Google Pixel 2, Google Pixel, Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+ & Note 8, Moto Z & Z2 and more

– Controller – Dimensions Length 105 mm x Width 35 mm x Height 17 mm
– Weight 40 g
– Sensors 9 axis IMUs for precision tracking
– Wireless Bluetooth low energy (LE)
– Ports & Connectors USB-C charger and cable (not provided in box)
– Battery – 220 mAh battery (rechargeable)

Samsung Gear VR (Note 8) Key Features

– 101º Field of View
– Sensors – Accelerometer,Gyro Sensor,Proximity Sensor
– Headset Dimension (HxWxD) 98.6 x 207.8 x 122.5 mm
– Weight 345g
– 800+ apps
– USB Type C and Micro USB connectors

Main Review

I have used VR for about 2 years and in that time quite a bit has changed. There are many more apps and experiences available. The Samsung Gear VR experience is superb. Lots of apps, slick software too. The headset is over 100g heavier than the Daydream View. The Daydream is lighter and more comfortable to wear. But I had glitches using it with my Note 8, whereby I had to keep removing the Note 8 out of the headset to fix things so that I could move on again. At one point, it was driving me mad. However, it is all about the software. If you find an app or game that you prefer on one platform or another, then that might hold some more weight for you. Personally, I think Samsung is superior in both hardware and software at the moment, but is restricted by the fact it only works for certain Samsung phones. Therefore, with Daydream View you probably will end up with the ability to use it with so many different phones and brands. Now continue to the video review for more insights.

Video Review

Conclusion

Quite simply if you have a Samsung phone that is compatible with the Gear VR, then stick to Samsung’s own offering. It offers a wide selection of content and a slicker software package. For everyone else, Google’s Daydream View offers compatibility across multiple brands. It just lacks the number of VR apps and slick software experience.

Useful Links

Google Daydream View – more info and latest pricing on Amazon – click HERE
Samsung Gear VR with Controller (Note 8 version) – more info and latest pricing on Amazon – click HERE

Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro Review – Samsung’s new Fitness Tracker with GPS and more

Reviews, Tech News, Wearables

Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro review. This is the latest fitness tracker from Samsung that introduces a few new changes that make it a decent fitness device.

Key Features

– Super AMOLED Curved and Capacitive Screen
– Compatible Androïd 4.4 and more, and IOS 9.0 and more
– Waterproof: 5 ATM, waterproof up to 50m according to ISO Standard 22810: 2010
– GPS, Accelerometer, Heart Rate Monitor, Gyro, Altimeter Barometer
– Notifications: social networks, SMS, calls, calendar, reminder, weather, “do not disturb”
– 4gb storage, Bluetooth 4.2
– Weight 34g
– Battery 200mAh

The Gear Fit 2 Pro strap is water resistant up to 5 ATM. It also has a slightly smaller 1.5 inch screen the original Gear Fit 2, which enables it to curve slightly better around your wrist. The strap has been improved to a more traditional system that can’t pop off by accident.

You can now swim in the pool or the ocean, using the inbuilt the Speedo application developed for Gear Fit2 Pro. This tracks your statistics and presents them in easy-to-read summaries.

UA RECORD: View your activity, sleep and workout statistics in a dashboard and learn about your health and fitness levels.

MapMyRun: Plan and follow your itineraries with real-time maps and capture each race, walk up and walk.

MyFitnessPal: Eat smarter and achieve your health goals by monitoring the calories you consume and burn.

Endomondo: Join a global fitness enthusiast community when you achieve your racing goals with personal training plans.

I really like the auto detection. So whether you’re playing tennis, basketball or even dance moves, the Gear Fit 2 Pro will automatically detect and save the activity. It also measures your heart rate continuously throughout the day, indicating heart rate zones, to help you make better fitness decisions.

There are more than 3,000 apps and watch faces to choose from, including Spotify. These are available from the Galaxy App. However, I doubt you will ever need to download more than 3 extra apps.

The Samsung Gear Application and Samsung S Health are fantastic piece of software which have improved considerably over the years, as well as opening up to tons of third party fitness and health services.

Amazon at the time of writing were selling the Gear Fit 2 Pro lower than Samsung’s own website. Click HERE.

Video Review

Conclusion

Highly recommended tracking device which is a breeze to use and has all the features you could possibly want in a fitness tracker.

Belkin PowerHouse Dual Apple Watch & iPhone Charger Stand – Review

accessories, Apple, Reviews, Wearables

Welcome to my review of the Belkin PowerHouse Apple Watch & iPhone Charger stand.

Key Features

– Dual fast charging: Dock offers 3.4 A total power output (1 A for Apple watch, 2.4 A for iPhone); simultaneously charge iPhone via lightning connector and Apple watch via integrated magnetic charger at the high speed possible
– Safe, neat, elegant: Elevates Apple watch safely while charging and provides easy access and visibility to both devices; built-in power supply with 1.2 m/4 feet cable and UK/EU plugs supplied for your convenience.
– Universally case compatible: Wheel at back of stand raises/lowers lightning connector to fit any protective case; forwards/backwards movable connector makes it easy to plug in your device
– MFI certified: Electronical accessory has received Apple’s made for Apple watch and made for iPhone certifications which ensure compatibility and performance
– Compatibility: Compatible with all Apple iPhones with lightning connector such as iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus or SE and all Apple watches such as Apple watch Series 2, Nike+, Edition or Series 1

Review

Conclusion

The Belkin PowerHouse Apple Watch & iPhone Charger Stand was far better than I anticipated and now sits proudly on my bedside table. Highly recommended. Available from Amazon.