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Smartwatches have become a dime a dozen in 2022. That means they’re available at never-before prices while amazingly offering quite a bit of basic functionality. We had a look at a few of these, starting with the ColorFit Pro 4 to see if it would do the trick for someone who really wants a smartwatch but is not willing to spend a whole lot on a gadget they don’t even know will suit them in the first place.
ColorFit Pro 4
The ColorFit Pro 4 is quite an Apple Watch look-alike. It comes to your from Noise, the company that’s been really successful at the hearables market in India. It has that rounded-square screen that tapers in on the sides. The frame is metallic. The unit I got for review is in rose gold, one of Apple’s favourite colours at one time, and a deep wine coloured strap. The watch even has an Apple-style crown. The strap is meant to be changeable, though not with the extremely clever method used by the Apple Watch.
The back of the watch has the little pogo pins that will connect it to its tiny charging cable. That’s where all the sensors are as well, of course. The resemblance to the Apple Watch ends here. The build is entirely different and much lighter though it certainly doesn’t feel cheap or flimsy. It also happens to be very comfortable. The silicon strap is good quality and doesn’t feel sweaty or hot to wear, but in any case the watch is sweat and splash resistant though I wouldn’t recommend outright immersion in water.
The ColorFit Pro’s 1.7-inch display isn’t AMOLED, but it’s a nice bright LCD with a 60Hz refresh rate. It goes up to 500 nits of brightness and has a 311ppi resolution. I found it responsive enough though not blazing fast. I did have the occasional stutter, but it’s workable. The screen is not an always on, but has the raise-to-wake feature. It’s otherwise large and visible in different lighting conditions.
Dashboard app
To connect, you download the NoiseFit app where you enter your statistics and where you can see all the data gathered. It’s also where you can select from a bunch of watch faces. Step count, sleep data, heart rate data, distance walked or run, and blood oxygen are also echoed and in detail in this app. You’ll find, among other things, a stress measurement, which I have quite a quarrel with, specially as someone who worked with psychology for a long time. First of all, measuring stress is not easy, specially casually from a wearable. Secondly, it has little value since people who tend to keep checking their stress levels in some way are already a little anxious and seeing what seems like validation from a device is hardly going to reduce stress. True, you can choose to leave the situation but that’s neither good for developing coping with life’s many issues and nor is even always possible to get up and leave.
Tracking now
The ColorFit Pro 4 tracks a suite of 100 workout types. How accurately it does this for each is very difficult to say. Many watches just track overall movement but the nuances and differences between one type of exercise and another would not be picked up. For example, can a watch tell the difference between gentle yoga, general stretches and slow modern dance moves? It’s a little difficult. However, this watch does have GPS and tracks your run or walk and lists other activities such as hiking, biking, treadmill, etc.
Clear calls
The one reason users may find this watch nice is because calling from it is so easy. And yes, also receiving and rejecting calls. All you have to do is use the dial pad or pick from contacts and go ahead and call. The watch sets itself up for this more or less on its own with just minimal effort needed from you. Connection lasts well and the voice quality at both ends is nice and clear. There are only some conditions when this will be useful, of course, but some people like the idea of not taking their phones out of their pockets. Remember that others can hear the call, if you’re around people.
The ColorFit Pro 4 has a Max version that also connects with virtual assistants. It isn’t in itself a really unique watch, but a good example of what you get now for quite a low price. It costs ₹ 3,499.
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