We’re officially seeing a race to the bottom in terms of cheap smartwatches, but it seems US brand Wyze could have grabbed a surprise podium place.
The company started by ex-Amazon employees has released the Wyze Watch, priced at just $20.
It’s a sleek, square smartwatch that looks great from the renders. Yes, it’s Apple Watch-esque smartwatch – that’s certainly not taking the format into new places visually.
Just like the Oppo Watch, Amazfit GTS 2, Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite, Redmi Watch, it sticks to a winning formula.
However, unlike the rest of the super budget bunch, the Wyze Watch is made of aluminum, which should give it a more premium feel, thanks to a reassuring 40g weight.
And it’s not holding back on features. It boasts a nine day battery life, heart rate tracking and even an SpO2 sensor for your $20, making it one of the cheapest options out there.
Sleep monitoring and activity tracking are big on its features list – although it's only water resistant to 2 metres, so this isn't one for the pool.
The Wyze Watch is available in 44mm and 47mm case sizes, which pack in a generous 1.4-inch/1.75-inch display respectively.
And while you’re not going to get the same quality as the Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 at $20, the 41mm gets a 320x320 LCD display, and the 47mm a 320x385 panel.
There’s no GPS, and in a slight departure for Wyze, there’s no Alexa on board.
It’s not the company’s first wearable. The Wyze Band launched earlier this yearat an equally enticing $24, with Alexa on board.
The company is known for its smart home technology, and is closely aligned with Alexa, being founded by former Amazon employees.
And the Wyze Watch adds shortcuts to control your other Wyze devices from the wrist.
Its $20 Wyze Cam has proved popular, and the company certainly sticks to its ethos of solid, well designed products that provide the basics for low prices.
And on paper, it certainly seems to have managed that with the Wyze Watch.
It’s not shipping until Feb 2021, but it’s available to pre-order now. Wyze hasn’t migrated outside the US yet, so don’t hold your breath if you’re overseas.
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James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.