iBerry Auxus Rist R1 smartwatch review – dual core Smartwatch

The Auxus Rist R1 is a smartphone packed in a smartwatch. It is powered by a dual core MediaTek 1.3GHz processor running Android Jelly bean with 512MB RAM and 4GB internal storage. There is a single micro SIM slot and a micro SD card slot too.

Inside the box
The watch, user guide, warranty info, instructions on how to open up the watch, charging dock, data cable and a mini screw driver with extra screws.

Design, Display and OS
The watch is bulky it’s weight with battery is 90 grams and it is 14.95mm thick. This watch is designed and developed by iBerry. Rist R1 comes packed in a plastic body with metallic finish. Watch is IPX7 certified water proof up to 1m for 30 minutes.

Build quality and the finishing is very good. It is not easy to open up the back cover, there are 4 screws – you will need to use the mini screwdriver. Power button, 3MP camera and back button are placed on the right side. On the left side you will find the micro SIM cover secured with 2 screws.

There are 4 screws on the rear, you will need to remove them to get access to the micro SD card slot and the battery (micro SD card slot is placed below the battery). The straps are made of good quality rubber. There is a microphone on the left side and speaker out vent on the front bottom where the strap is connected (check image / video).

The screen is 1.5 inches supporting 240 x 240 pixels resolution. The screen is slightly curved on the edges and scratch resistant to some extent. Viewing angles are not that great. Touch is smooth and responsive but because of a smaller screen it is not that comfortable when composing messages using the on-screen keyboard. There is only one sensor – accelerometer.

This Smartwatch is running Android 4.2.2 and you get near about the same handset experience on a smaller screen.

Memory and Storage
There is 512MB RAM you will get around 249MB free on first boot and of the 4GB internal storage 1.2GB is space allocated for apps and another 1.2GB as the phone storage. Apps will get installed on internal storage.

Performance
The hardware is MediaTek MT6572 dual core cortex A7 processor clocked at 1GHz (as per CPU-Z app) and coupled with Mali 400 MP GPU.

Benchmark

Camera
There is a 3MP fixed focus camera on the right side between the power/menu and back button. The camera quality is okay; check the sample images at the end. The camera can also shoot videos in 864 x 480 pixels resolution. There is no flash.

Gaming
Though the hardware is capable of playing many games, it is difficult playing it on a smaller screen. Do note that apps will get installed on internal storage and there is just about 1.2GB space available.

Others
The watch is running Android Jelly Bean and you can download apps from Google Play. There is built in speaker, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth. A 3.5mm audio jack is missing. In case you want to use a headset / earphone you will need to use a Bluetooth compatible one.

The screen will not auto switch on when you twist your wrist, you will need to press the power button every time. When you press the power button you will get a watch face (you can select default face from limited options), swipe it to get the menus.

The charging dock can be used to charge the Rist R1 battery or to connect it with a PC and access the internal and external storage as a storage drive.

This watch can be used for making and receiving calls, in fact you can do almost everything that you could on a mobile phone (the only issue is the small screen).

You can use health related accessories (sold separately) to monitor your physical activities.

Battery
There is a 600 mAh battery, it can be removed. Battery backup for moderate to heavy usage is over a day.

Verdict
This is a Smartwatch with almost the same functionality that you would get on a smartphone. The main issue however is the size, it is not that easy reading and tying data on this Smartwatch, you can use voice input but that may not be that effective in noisy environment.

Overall it is not a bad option but not really feasible for daily usage, the screen is small not good for long time browsing, chatting and watching movies. And in case you want to use it for receiving and making calls better get a Bluetooth earphone.

Rating 2.5 out of 5 {decimals not supported in the rating box below}

iBerry Auxus Rist R1 is available for Rs. 9,999.

Image Gallery

Sample Images shot using the Rist Watch