TCK Movement is looking to be the face of budget hybrid smartwatches

Meet the one-man startup looking to make a splash
26546-original
Wareable is reader-powered. If you click through using links on the site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

The hybrid smartwatch market is growing. Fossil Group continues to launch a mountain of wristwear from designer brands, Nokia is in the process of relaunching its hybrid collection and Garmin is bringing a hidden screen to the market with the Vivomove HR.

We've even seen Swiss startup MyKronoz innovate with its mechanical hands-packing hybrid and raise millions of dollars through crowdfunding in the process. But while there are plenty of options out there for hybrid fans to choose from, the number of truly budget devices is limited.

Read this: The biggest crowdfunding success stories

Enter the TCK Movement – a hybrid smartwatch that's not by a major wearable maker, or even a small team. Instead, it's the work of just one person, Rhys Birkinshaw, a computer science student at Durham University looking to bring a brilliant budget design to the market. After some time developing his idea, the 19-year-old's watch is now doing the rounds on Kickstarter, available from £59 (around $77), hunting down a funding goal of £20,000.

"I suppose it all started around two years ago," Birkinshaw told us. "I was discussing with a friend what we expected to become popular in the future and with the declining price of technology and the ability to manufacture smaller and smaller devices, it made sense to me that every watch on the market would have smart tech. Two years later, I've seen some upmarket options, but none that look that good below the $100 mark.

"I got to the point where I realised nobody had done this yet. I sat there and said to myself, 'I'm a computer science student, I took electronics in school, I'm okay at CAD (Computer Aided Design), I'm okay at circuit design and I'm going to take the opportunity and dive in'. So this time last year I said to my flatmates that I was gonna make a watch – they kind of rolled their eyes – and I went through a lot iterations and came back from that summer break with a working design."

That design is a minimalistic-looking hybrid smartwatch packed with the standard features – up to a year's battery life, tracking for activity and sleep, notification buzzes, waterproofing – as well as a number of interchangeable straps and styles available.

While the device is already gaining some traction within the crowdfunding community, it's not the first venture Birkinshaw has embarked upon. At just 16 years old, he ran a small t-shirt business, at 17 he launched an anonymous social media network, and in his spare time he currently helps develops apps for iOS – something which also helps fund the TCK project. This, of course, is all alongside the second year of his university studies.

TCK Movement is looking to be the face of budget hybrid smartwatches

His time producing t-shirts also helped him gain experience with outsourcing to China, something he notes has helped assist him with finding a manufacturer overseas.

"I initially tried to get it made at Durham University, then later just manufactured in the UK, but every time I did that it would wind up being £500-£600," he explained. "So now we've got production in China and will be looking to turn the product around, providing we reach our goal, before Christmas."

Read next: Every Fossil Group wearable coming in 2017

While Birkinshaw has his sights firmly set on delivering a quick turnaround with the TCK Movement, there's also plenty planned for the future. Not only is he aiming to offer different priced models as well as a more premium version with additional features, but more advanced software is in the pipeline for future iterations.

"I've developed a piece of software that can recognise anaerobic exercises, so the watch would be able to understand push-ups, bench press – every exercise you have in the gym," he said. "It logs what you've done, how many times you've done it, and in the future that's something I'd like to incorporate into our watches. I'd also like to add posture into that and have the watch be able to track whether you performed a certain movement well, so hopefully that can come next time around."

Crowdfund this?

There's no doubting the TCK Movement is a great story, but is the device worthy of your consideration?

Well, the headline act here is the cheap price tag. The hybrid market itself isn't wildly expensive, though this project does allow you to access much of the same functionality in a neat-looking package for around half the average price. Nothing pops out when you look at its list of features, but it does tick most of the boxes you would want from a basic fitness tracker.

Our main reservation here is the shipping date, which is scheduled for around a month's time. It isn't impossible, with Birkinshaw noting that everything is ready to go once funding is in place, but rarely do we see projects roll out in such a small timeframe.

If you can live with potentially waiting a bit longer than promised, and don't want to wait for the extra software smarts seemingly coming down the line, then we'd suggest the TCK Movement is a solid hybrid smartwatch for those looking for something that doesn't hit the wallet too hard.




How we test



Conor Allison

By

Conor moved to Wareable Media Group in 2017, initially covering all the latest developments in smartwatches, fitness trackers, and VR. He made a name for himself writing about trying out translation earbuds on a first date and cycling with a wearable airbag, as well as covering the industry’s latest releases.

Following a stint as Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint, Conor returned to Wareable Media Group in 2022 as Editor-at-Large. Conor has become a wearables expert, and helps people get more from their wearable tech, via Wareable's considerable how-to-based guides. 

He has also contributed to British GQ, Wired, Metro, The Independent, and The Mirror. 


Related stories