The SmartQ Z Smartwatch comes powered by 1GHz JZ4775 CPU with 512MB RAM and 4GB internal storage. This Smartwatch can easily sync with any smartphone running Android 4.0 and above. The SmartQ Z is available for $99.
Box Pack
It is a small box that houses the Smartwatch, USB to 3.5mm cable that can be used to transfer data as well as for charging and a user guide.
Smart Q Z design
The body is made of plastic – available in Black, Red and Blue colors. The watch strap is black color made of rubber. The build quality and the finishing is very good. They have used a standard watch strap and in case you want to change it you can easily do that from any local watch store.
The SmartQ Z weighs about 43 grams with battery. It is 12.46mm thick, breadth is 30.70 and the length is 49.79mm. There are 4 screws on the back in case you want to remove the back cover, though really not needed. On the rear it is clearly mentioned that the watch is water resistant up to 3ATM that is up to 30 feet, but on a safer side avoid any watery encounters.
There are two buttons on the right side – the power and the back button and on the left there is 3.5mm audio jack and built in Mic. There is no built in speaker so you need to either use the earphone connected to the 3.5mm jack or set the watch to vibration mode.
Hardware specifications
Powered by 1GHz Ingenic JZ4775 CPU. RAM is 512MB and internal storage is 4GB of which 2GB is available for user. The SmartQ Z comes with built in music player app and you can store a lot of MP3 files on the 2GB storage (your portable music player watch).
The touch screen is 1.54 inches, is very smooth though it will take some time getting used to it. The TFT LCD screen resolution is 240×240 pixels. The fonts and the icons are clear and the viewing angles are good enough.
Other features are built in Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0 and UBS 2.0. There is a pedometer and motion sensor. This watch supports 4 languages and comes with 300 mAh battery that gives standby time of up to 12 days.
Performance
The performance is good and at times it does lag a bit but that shouldn’t be an issue.
What can you do with this Smartwatch?
You need to download the ZWatch Sync app on your smartphone. The link to the ZWatch app is mentioned in the user guide. Once you install the app you need to pair the handset + watch using Bluetooth and bond it. Once the process is done the time, calendar, contact etc will be synced between the two devices.
You can view contact / details on the Smartwatch however you cannot dial the number from the watch. You can view SMS’s on the watch and reply to the SMS using pre-defined text messages or even call the number.
Incoming call notification along with the contact photo (if any) and number / name will be displayed on the watch with 3 options, mute, call and cancel. If you accept the call you need to use your smartphone or a Bluetooth earphone.
I connected my Bluetooth earphone with (Samsung Note 2) smartphone and the SmartQ Z watch with the same smartphone. So when I got a call I could view the caller details on the watch and when I pressed the answer button (on the watch) the call got connected and I was in conversation using the Bluetooth earphone.
There is built in 2GB space available you can use that to store MP3 and use it as a portable player. Other interesting apps that comes pre-installed are Gofit (pedometer), remote camera (that can be used to control the camera on the smartphone – you need to keep the smartphone on for it to work – it should not be in the sleep mode.), Notify, file explorer, music player, timer, wechat, weather, SMS, phone log, contacts and sleep analysis. The phone (call log) does not work with Samsung smartphones.
Firmware upgrade
Though there is no option to install apps on the Smartwatch using Google play, but the good news is that there are a lot of software development activities happening. The SmartQ developers are coming up with upgraded versions. This watch came with 1.7 versions (based on Android 4.3 – though it seems like 4.1). There is a new 1.8 version available on the smartdevices English website whereas on the Chinese page you can find the 2.3 version. In the 2.3 version the notification support has been added i.e. you can get Gmail, Facebook, Twitter and many more notifications on the Smartwatch.
Gmail / What’sapp and other: You get notification.
Facebook: You can read the text.
Battery
After 8 hours the battery dropped from 89 to 84 percent this was with Bluetooth switched off, and when it reached 84 percent I switched on the Bluetooth and battery dropped from 84% to 20% in just over 24 hours. For normal usage with Bluetooth on the battery should last for 1 ½ to 2 days and with heavy to moderate usage it should be about 24 hours.
Verdict
It is a very good smartwatch with good features and water resistant too. There has been a lot of firmware upgrades and you can expect many more to come with new features / apps. The SmartQ Z is priced at $99 (Rs. 6,200) + $17.74 for Fedex HK express shipping, a total of $117.73 (Rs. 7,300 @ 62Rs.).
The Smartwatch is available online in Black | Blue | Red.
Image Gallery
SmartQ Z unboxing and review video
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