Review Alcatel OneTouch Watch: smarter by the hour

Alcatel OneTouch Watch

Smart" Alcatel OneTouch Watch watches were presented in January at CES 2015, where they became the object of attention. In the first place - because, having rich functionality, belong to the low-end segment. Second, they can work not only with the Android-smartphone, but with devices running iOS. Manufacturers of portable devices often ignore the products Apple. But watch from Alcatel, with its own operating system, it can be a budget alternative to Apple Watch.

Specifications Alcatel OneTouch Watch

• Screen: IPS, 1,22 '' (3,1 cm), 240h204, capacitive; Compatibility: Android Version 4.3 and higher / iOS 7, iPhone 4S and higher; Protected against water and dust: IP67 standards; Processor: STM429, 180 MHz; RAM: 256 KB; Wireless Interfaces: Bluetooth 4.0 LE, NFC; Sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, altimeter, heart rate monitor; Battery: 210 mAh non-removable; Dimensions: shell thickness - 10.5 mm diameter dial - 41.8 mm, thickness of the strap - 3.5 mm, the width of the strap - 20 mm; Strap Length: S - 109,2x41,8x66,74 mm, L - 119,2x41,8x75,74 mm; Weight: 55 grams.

Packaging equipment

Watches packed in a small red box. On the one hand it depicts the white version of the clock, and on the other - black. The clock itself immersed in a dense foam, which occupies two thirds of the box. The remaining one-third takes the little red box with documentation and USB-cable. Cable looks like OTG, ie it has from all over the USB-connectors "dad" and "mom." It allows you to charge the clock from the network using the adapter from any mobile device. It is much more convenient than to charge them, for example, from the laptop.

Outward appearance

Visually, the housing can be divided into two parts: a round frame and mounting strap are made of stainless steel, bottom cap - made of plastic. The bottom of colored black and has a matte finish. The strap is made of thermoplastic polyurethane. The round dial is covered with a protective glass Gorilla Glass. Watch comes in two color versions - white and black. The editors were two, but for the test from a purely subjective reasons, was chosen black. Why is that? Well, the black version looks more expensive, she did not so quickly soiled strap, and the display seems large in size. Despite the round dial, the working surface of the display is not round - it has a bottom section, which is one of control - "Back" button.The black version has a black border around the screen, the white model - white. On edging applied ten strokes and two figures: 6 and 12. On the right side is a metal power button / lock. The top and bottom of the smooth cylindrical surface of the metal fittings are issued for the strap. In the corners of the rear surface are four screws fastening the case. In the center of the bottoms - a transparent plastic insert, which is a heartbeat sensor. Also, below are four more screws (two on each side), with a strap fastener body. Non-removable strap, it can not be replaced. To secure the strap on the wrist using a metal buckle-clip. It connects both parts of the strap together. To expose the USB-plug required for charging hours, you need a little fracture "tail" of the strap. During the hours of wearing the plug "immersed" in the groove at the end of the strap and is not noticeable.

Ergonomics

The lack of easily removable elements turned the clock in almost monolithic structure, and that dust and moisture uneasy. OneTouch Watch protected by environmental influences standard IP67: they can be safely wash your hands, take a shower, walk in the rain, swimming and even diving, if not deeper than a couple of meters. Clasp safely fixes the bracelet on his arm, but for him there are a number of claims. First, the optimal length of the strap can be set only by removing the clock hands. Precise fit bracelet was quite tedious process - had ten times to remove and put back the clock. Although it took five minutes, but the classic strap with holes is fitted in a few seconds. The second complaint - buckle to fit constantly "biting" and painfully pulls the hair on the wrist. In a classic strap no such problems. Selecting zip clip justified by the fact that the clock should be very tight fit to the hand for more accurate operation of the sensor heartbeat. Metal buckle-clip allows you to set the required length to the nearest millimeter, while the strap with the holes does not allow such freedom. However, an hour later the discomfort of the setting of the strap pass and simply cease to notice the clock on the hand.

Screen

OneTouch Watch equipped with a round 1.22-inch IPS-display with a resolution 240h204 pixels. The density of 258 ppi, capacitive sensor reads no more than one touch. Fortunately, there is a very simple interface and multi-touch is not required. The sensor is responsive and accurate. As for the touch "Back" button under-edged display, it is not to be found in the black box of the shotgun.Boldly push on the number "six" on the dial - the sensor is located there.

The screen is bright, the sun can not stare, carefully trying to make the time. The image saturation and contrast, gamma closer to the warm tones than the cold. Of course, when you put in place the dial own image from the gallery of the smartphone, it turns grainy, but the interface clock and in all standard topics looks organically and noticeable pixelation.

Three brightness levels - high, medium, low. During the adjustment corresponds to the corresponding icon in the menu, each press on it changes the brightness level by one point.

Also in the settings you can change the color scheme. Changes, however, are not very serious - white color icon changes to black, it turns a kind of negative. Also settings allow you to change the dial and wallpaper. Choose between three dials: classic, minimalistic (only arrows) and digital. The substrate can be used in a standard image (of 24), monochrome wallpaper (16 colors to choose from), and any picture from the gallery of your smartphone, whether it's a photo or uploaded image.

Interface

Alcatel OneTouch Watch running its own operating system. Its interface is very simple and straightforward. It amounts to a horizontal menu of 10 icons, each of which has a clear, understandable without a signature feature. The first icon can be called "Weather": the clock using the internet connection of the smartphone, the weather forecast for five days, and show it to the user. Next icon - "Fitness".It contains information about your daily activity: the number of steps passed and calories burned, mileage and time distance, the information about the phases of sleep. This information is completely duplicated in the companion application. A separate icon received the "Heart Rate Monitor" (everything is easy) and "running around", which is calculated for each separate circle time, speed, distance and number of steps. Then there is "Stopwatch" and "Remote control player" (on, switch tracks, volume adjustment), "Compass", "Camera Control" (on the clock, you can remotely turn on the camera and press the shutter button), "Select Dial", "Search for smartphone "(by pressing the smart phone will emit a loud beep)," Turn on / off vibration, "" Airplane "," Brightness Adjustment "and" Changing the colors in the design of the menu. All management interface is reduced to a couple of gestures. Unlocking the screen occurs by pressing either the usual gesture when you throw up a hand to see the time. Enter the menu by pressing the center of the screen. Navigation through the menu takes swipe left and right scrolling icons are not cyclic. These notifications can be viewed by making swipe from the bottom up on your desktop.Going back to the level of the menu by the button under the display edged. That's the whole interface. On the one hand, it greatly simplifies the interaction with the clock, but on the other - if the clock does not understand you when you tell them "OK, Google ...", they seem to be not quite so, and "smart".

Appendix companion OneTouch Move does not have in its arsenal a number of additional options. All that you can in the application and can not in themselves hours - it set the alarm, change the wallpaper of the dial, select a language, set the time off the clock screen, enable notification of incoming calls and warning of "loss." In the latter case, the clock will start to vibrate at a distance from the base unit. The application interface is a five tabs (steps, calories, distance, time, sleep), under each of which the user can find detailed information on daily physical activity. Same for the clock, only details.

Apparatus in

For computational processes responsible microcontroller STM429 based on 32-bit core ARM Cortex M4, operating at a frequency of 180 MHz. The memory volume is 256 KB. The available processing power is sufficient for quick and smooth operation of the simplest interface Alcatel OneTouch Watch. Weak hardware "stuffing" certainly limit the functionality hours, but at times increases the battery life. To pair the watch with a smartphone should download the application OneTouch Move, register and create an account in the application. The first pair comes with Bluetooth or NFC, next - automatically when the clocks are in range of Bluetooth-connection. In order to "decouple" the clock on the device, you must use the corresponding option in the settings menu application companion. Construction hours does not provide for an external speaker or microphone. Because the signal is present only the vibration stimuli. It's pretty strong, but not annoying. It allows you to adjust the intensity is not any interface clock or a companion application, you can only turn off the vibration.
The clock shows the notification e-mail messages, various instant messengers and social networks. The maximum message length is 10 lines. Then there is an ellipsis to indicate that this finish longrid have on your phone. Also watch warn you of incoming calls that you can either reject or remotely transfer the smartphone to silent mode.

Autonomy

The gadget is installed battery capacity of 210 mAh. Given the undemanding processor and small screen, this volume is enough for two and a half days of work. And many hours worked in maximum load. This means that they have always been associated with the smartphone to give him a lot of different notifications throughout the time of use. Notifications disconnected only at night, but instead they included sleep tracker, which is activated by the clock manually. If you disable notification and vibration, Alcatel Watch will be able to spend three and a half, and even four days. On a full charge the device from a laptop takes about 40-45 minutes.

Results

Alcatel OneTouch Watch definitely find a buyer, because this device has a serious potential for combating prohibitively expensive competitors like Apple Watch. For a reasonable price you get a "smart" watches, capable as a companion for your smartphone to spend two or three days without recharging (which in itself is already a good result), fitness tracker and heart rate monitor. The metal case is not afraid of dust and water. Offering a wide feature set (of course, smaller than the Android Wear, but quite decent), they are compatible with the majority of Android- and iOS-devices. Good value for money, making Alcatel OneTouch Watch the perfect choice for those who want to get acquainted with "smart watches" as such. And most importantly - this acquaintance did not disappoint.

Pros:

• sturdy metal housing;
• protection against dust and moisture according to the standard IP67;
• long battery life;
• a built-in pulse sensor;
• simple interface proprietary operating system from Alcatel.

Minuses:

• lack of third-party applications for the operating system from Alcatel;
• no removable straps;
• a small selection of dials.