SMA-Q Bluetooth Smartwatch Features a Color E-Paper Display, an Heart Rate Monitor… for $56 and Up

My Vidonn X5 activity tracker died on me a few weeks ago about over a year of service. While it was useful to keep me active thanks to its “steps” counter, I realized I was not a big fan of OLED displays as they aren’t turned on all the time in order to save power, and are hard to read when there’s a strong sunlight, the battery did not last that long (about 2 days), and using motion sensors to evaluate activity is not that accurate. So I’m interested in wearables with always-on displays, readable in sunlight, that don’t suck too much battery (e.g one charge per week), and with a strapless heart rate monitor.  The first three are normally only achievable with E-Ink or E-Paper displays and the latter have become much more common thanks to electro-optical heart rate monitors. I’m also a budget conscious guy, so I’d like a product matching my requirements for less than $100 shipped.

And it looks like SMA-Q smartwatch may fulfill all these requirements:

• SoC – N/A
• System Memory – 128KB RAM
• Storage – 512KB flash (for firmware)
• Display – 1.33″ color E-paper display by Sharp with 6 different clock interfaces
• Connectivity – Bluetooth 4.0
• Sensors – Heart rate monitor, likely some motion / gyro sensors to act as a pedometer and sleep monitor
• Misc – 4 buttons, vibrating motor
• Battery – Polymer battery (capacity not specified); Up to 30 days standby time; Charged with magnetically attached cable
• Dimensions – Watch face 4.3 x 3.5 x 1.0 cm; Watch band: 14 to 21 cm wrist circumference (TPSiV material)
• Weight – 45 grams
• IP Rating – Not specified but is said to be “30 meters water resistant”, i.e. usable while “washing hands and face”.

The watch can also pair with Android or iOS mobile devices to display incoming and missed calls, messages, and be used a camera remote control. Phone independent functions include health tracker with sedentary reminder, 24-hour heart rate monitor, sleep monitor, pedometer, as well as alarm and calendar. The watch firmware is said to support both English and Chinese languages.

You can also download SMAlife app for  Android 4.4 or greater, or iOS 7.1 or above to keep track of your fitness data, and sleep patterns over time. I’ve tried for Android, and permissions include making phone calls and sending SMS, and once you start the application, they’ll ask you to register using your mobile phone number, which is quite annoying and should be unnecessary…

The package includes SMA-Q Smart Watch, a pogo pin charging cable, and a Chinese and English user’s manual. The watch is available in four colors: black, khaki, blue and red. The color is somewhat important as the khaki version sells for $56 on GearBest, while if you select the other colors the price goes up to $78.22… People who live in China could also purchase the watch on Taobao (I can’t see the price as the page won’t load here). More details may also be available on SMA-Q Watch product page.

Via Gadgeto Adicto

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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