Alright, so I finally got around to messing with that G Wear smartwatch I’ve been eyeing. Here’s the lowdown on how it went.
First Impressions & Unboxing
Okay, the box was pretty standard. Opened it up, found the watch, the charging cable (magnetic, which is nice), and the usual instruction booklet that I immediately tossed aside. The watch itself felt pretty light, which is a good thing. The band felt kinda cheap, but hey, you can always swap that out later, right?
Getting it Powered Up
Slapped it on the charger. It took maybe an hour to get to full charge. While it was charging, I downloaded the G Wear app on my phone. The app is pretty essential; you need it to pair the watch and customize settings.
The Pairing Process
This is where things got a little tricky. The app found the watch easy enough, but then it wanted all sorts of permissions. Location, contacts, notifications… the whole shebang. I’m always a bit wary about giving apps that much access, but I figured, what the heck, let’s see what this thing can do. After granting all the permissions and following the on-screen prompts, the watch and phone were finally paired. Took me about 15 mins maybe.
Diving into the Features
- Notifications: I wanted to see if it does notifications well. Messages popped up on the watch face almost instantly. You could read the whole message and even reply with pre-set responses or voice dictation. Pretty slick.
- Fitness Tracking: I went for a quick walk to test out the step counter and heart rate monitor. Seemed accurate enough, but I didn’t have another device to compare it against. It also tracked my sleep, which was kinda creepy but also interesting.
- Apps: The G Wear app store is… limited. There are some basic apps like a calculator, a calendar, and a few fitness apps. Don’t expect to find anything groundbreaking here.
- Customization: You can change the watch faces, which is cool. There are a bunch of free ones available in the app. I spent way too much time trying to find the perfect one.
The Battery Life
This is always the big question, isn’t it? After a full day of wearing the watch and using its features, the battery was down to about 40%. So, not amazing, but not terrible either. I’d say you can probably get two days out of it with moderate use, but you’ll definitely need to charge it every night if you’re using it heavily.
Overall Thoughts
I’m not blown away, but I’m also not disappointed. The G Wear smartwatch is a decent entry-level smartwatch. It does the basics well: notifications, fitness tracking, and customizable watch faces. The battery life could be better, and the app store is lacking, but for the price, it’s a solid option. I’ll probably use it for a while. Now time to go find me a new band for it!