The big names of the wearables world are at MWC 2023 in Barcelona – but tucked away in one corner of the main hall is one of the most outrageous Apple Watch clones we’ve ever seen.
Touted by a Chinese brand NJYTech was a series of Apple Watch copies – including the Apple Watch Ultra, and even a round-faced interpretation of Apple's outdoor smartwatch.
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NJYTech has taken the Ultra and totally reimagined it with a round face.
It’s copied the design language of the case, the action button, and the machined digital crown, and delivered what Apple Watch fans have been clamoring over for nearly a decade.
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Nothing about the software or build quality of the so-called Ultra9 or Ultra Pro impressed.
But it's as faithful a copy as you could hope to see – even down to the Ocean strap.
The watch faces have also been cloned, with the Wayfinder face front and center – and even a night-time version in red (below).
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The app icons are also a sight to behold, and of course, it uses the honeycomb layout.
The screen tech is truly awful, and it couldn’t be any more ironic that the party piece of the Apple Watch Ultra has been so poorly recreated.
The company used a 1.6-inch IPS 400x400 display – a far cry from the Retina found on the Ultra.
But with prices ranging between $14-$17 – compared to $849 for the Ultra – what else would you expect?
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The apps themselves are ludicrously basic, but NJYtech has gone one further than Apple and added "ECG and blood pressure tracking" to the watch, according to the brochure.
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In case we need to be clear, we neither endorse nor in any way recommend these knock-offs, and it boggles the mind that they can present them at one of the world’s biggest trade shows, alongside the original brands.
But we doff our cap to the hustle, the intent, and even the skill in bringing this to market just five months after the Ultra launched.
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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.