Screen, battery, comfort and happiness monitoring
As we know, what people think of as "smartwatches" actually range from what are really pretty basic step counters to deluxe Apple Watches clad in gold. For the record, here's what they really are.
The latest wearable from Asus looks like a watch, but is really more of a fitness tracker… But with a twist.
It's also compatible with iPhones for the first time, because unlike the previous Asus ZenWatch, it doesn't use Google's Android Wear software.
In addition to the usual step and sleep monitoring, with heartbeat tracking like the Fitbit Charge HR and Jawbone UP3, the VivoWatch counts heart beats. However, this also has a USP: it wants to track your happiness and well-being. It doesn't claim to actually make you happy, mind, just measure it.
Is that worth the £100/$150 price of admission? Let's find out, merry chums!
Screen and battery
The VivoWatch has a square screen that is no match for, say, the Apple Watch. This one is low resolution and monochrome. The main screen shows the time and battery life, though the low resolution means the digital displays are clearer than the analogue option. As with other features on the watch, you change faces via the companion smartphone app.
Even better, the time is always on, like, you know, a traditional watch. So you don't need to press a button to wake the display. It's clear and easily visible even in bright sunlight and there's a gentle backlight for night use.
Despite always being on, a considerable advantage of the Asus VivoWatch's relative lack of screen resolution and features is that it lasts up to 10 days between charges. A chunky plastic lozenge clips on to the back for charging, and it handily uses a regular microUSB cable.
Comfort, look and build
The watch's square display sits inside a chrome oblong with rounded corners, which looks classier than the VivoWatch's relatively low price suggests.
The back of the watch is less persuasive, with a textured plastic that feels pretty average. It's dominated by the charging connector and heart rate monitor.
The strap is rubber – this is an IP67 water resistant watch, so the strap needs to be as sporty as you plan to be. You can plonk it in water one metre deep for half an hour, too.
And though it's a conventional watch strap width at 22mm, it's not removable, so there's no swapping it out. The strap is okay, but there are other fitness gadgets that feel much more comfortable.
Happiness monitoring
So far, I'd say I'm reasonably happy with the Asus VivoWatch, but it claims to be able to give a more scientific assessment of my glee. The happiness measurement is the VivoWatch's special attack, you see.
It actually gives you a score from nought to 100. Being at the lower end, you'll be unsurprised to learn, is glum beyond compare while nearing 100 means you're so happy you'll be dancing giddily. That's the theory and it calculates it based on a combination of exercise and sleep quality.
The logic is this: it tracks your activity and sleep, then makes the assumption that if you're well rested and active enough to experience a pleasant endorphin rush, you're likely to be on your way to happiness.
I'm a very uncynical person so this seems fine to me, but some of you may feel that's a pretty surface definition of happiness. If you've just had to flee bandits across miles of inhospitable country, then collapsed and slept for eight hours, you've definitely been active and then rested, but are you happy?
You find your Happiness Index (HI) by unlocking the watch display (done by pressing the side button) and swiping down on the touchscreen.
Your numerical score is accompanied by a description of your state of happiness: under 60 encourages you to beat your score with the words "Keep trying", more than 60 is "Fair" and over 85 is "Excellent".
Let's be grateful it's not more direct – a rating of 40 and the words, "Cheer up, for god's sake" would hardly be inspiring, after all.
There is something pleasing about checking your HI and finding it's going up, but come on – this is a bit gimmicky. If you have to ask a watch how happy you are, it could be said that something's gone wrong, too.
Fitness monitoring, app, functionality and verdict
Other elements are more successful. The optical heart rate monitor is accurate enough for low-level activity and wellness monitoring, though not for runners who want to get into zone training or anything like that. The Asus VivoWatch checks your pulse periodically. Worn alongside an Apple Watch to test the readings, the two devices were within one beat per minute of each other.
When you're exercising, the watch steps up its reading frequency to continuous. This exercise mode can be activated by holding down the side button. The watch displays time elapsed with the BPM below.
If that's not enough detail, exercise mode has four other displays you can swipe between: calories burned, steps taken, heart rate since you started exercising, and distance and speed stats. All the screens are highly readable.
More data is available when you're not running, which is the only exercise it really counts. As with rival monitors, it counts your steps and calculates calories burnt from this. The totals were pretty similar to those on a Jawbone UP3 worn at the same time.
Overall, the VivoWatch seemed as accurate in its measurements as its main market rivals. Which is to say "Not totally, but hey, it's good enough to get an overview."
The watch shows your total exercise for the day and how much of that was aerobic exercise. There's also a UV sensor which measures the sunlight and tells you if you're in baking sun or grey daylight. It doesn't tell you to get out of the sun if you're being over-exposed, so again, that's of limited use.
App
The HiVivo app has a clean design, but is quite basic. For instance, the sleep monitoring information is a lot less detailed than on a rival gadget like the Jawbone UP3. Analysis is limited, too.
More context and insight about the data would have been useful and arguably more valuable than a happiness quotient.
Since there's no GPS in the watch, unlike the Sony Smart Watch 3, distance data is based on your height and weight details entered into the app.
Notifications, sleep monitoring and other features
Although this looks like a smartwatch, in a certain light, it's really not. Notifications are limited to being told you've received a call, nothing more. The watch's alarm function can wake you up after counting your sleep.
You can set the watch to give you a nudge when you've been sitting too long and there are also lights that come on when you're exercising to congratulate you on being in the "correct" heart rate zone. If you work too hard and your heart rate is "too high", it turns red, however.
Like many fitness monitors, the Asus Vivowatch calculates sleep. Unlike some, it does so without having to tell it when you're nodding off. The information it captures includes how much sleep you had, how many times you turned over, and what your "comfort percentage" is.
The app says that good sleep is between 30 and 40 per cent on the comfort scale. I scored 36% and immediately felt better knowing this was in the comfort range, so maybe there is something in this Happiness Index after all.
We like
The Asus VivoWatch has several things in its favour. The screen is large and easy to read, the battery life is class-leading for a fitness tracker with a screen, and you can't accuse it of trying to do too much.
It's also on the cheap side for a tracker that's both waterproof and has heart rate monitoring built on.
We dislike
The useful fitness tracking is limited to walking - it has a stab at tracking your runs but without GPS it doesn't make an amazing job of it. There are lighter sporty-smart watches on the market, too.
The design won't be to everyone's taste, either of the watch or its strap, and the app leaves a certain amount to be desired as well. I'm also not at all convinced by the 'Happiness Index', but maybe that's just me being grumpy.
Verdict
Where the Asus VivoWatch shines is in its battery life and having a clear watch face that's always on and easily read in any light. The heart rate monitor lets you track your resting heart rate and has some use for running and other exercise, although the app doesn't really want to track anything other than walking and sleep.
Overall, this is a fun fitness watch with a curious 'wellness' addition in the form of the Happiness Index. It's well priced and capable, but it's less impressive as a lifestyle fitness tracker than the Jawbone UP3, more expensive than the much neater looking Garmin Vivosmart, and can't be remotely compared to a "proper" exercise watch such as the Fitbit Surge or a Garmin Forerunner.
It's a reflection of how over-stuffed this sector now is that, while the VivoWatch might have got 3.5 to 4 stars a year or so ago, it's now only recommendable if you must have a big screen and heart rate monitor but don't want to track anything more tiring than walking and sleeping. That seems like a fairly small niche.
from TechRadar: Technology reviews http://ift.tt/1EmPgDk
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