If you’re looking for an affordable fitness tracker that has a more classic watch design to it there are options. I recently reviewed the V11 smartwatch that I found on Amazon and there’s a lot to like about it. It has a round face, a thin profile, and comfortable fit. If you’re wanting to track your steps daily with an easy to use smartwatch that looks good on your wrist then this might be what you’re looking for.
Features of the V11:
- step tracking
- sleep tracking
- heart rate monitoring
- blood oxygen sensor
- blood pressure
- activity tracking
- weather
- music controls
- remote camera control (for your smartphone)
- stopwatch
- notifications (text messages, Facebook, etc)
- IP67 water resistance rating (okay for rain or splashes of water; not for swimming or wearing in shower)
The watch uses the mobile app Da Fit which is available for iOS and Android. Setting up the watch was quick and easy – download the app, have it search for your watch using Bluetooth and follow the on-screen prompts. I have it connected with an iPhone XR and connectivity has been very good. I receive my notifications reliably. No Bluetooth issues. Syncing with the app has been reliable too.
The watch has haptic feedback (vibration) to let you know when you’ve received a notification and also features a light indicator. A small blinking green light activates on the top of the screen. You can also see the number of the person calling you. While you can’t answer through the watch since there’s no mic or speaker it is nice to know who’s calling before picking up your phone.
Operating the watch is simple. There is a touch sensitive area at the bottom of the screen and it’s quite responsive. Some other budget friendly trackers I’ve reviewed haven’t been so great at this but this one is good. It’s also a fairly large touch sensitive area so you don’t have to struggle finding the right exact spot.
There is also a physical button on the right side of the case. This button will take you back to the main screen. It’s a nice feature to have and is rare on smartwatches in this prince range.
The first screen is the watch face and there are three watch faces to choose from. One is customizable in that you can upload your own image and choose what location and color you would like the time and step data to appear. Right now I have Mickey Mouse (clipart I downloaded) as my watch face but I could choose any photo I have on my phone.
Other screens on the watch are:
- steps
- sleep data
- heart rate (long press to measure your heart rate)
- training (long press to bring up available activities – walking, running, cycling, skipping, badminton, basketball, football aka soccer
- weather (can display in F or C)
- messages (long press to view messages, 3 are stored in the history at one time)
- blood pressure monitoring (long press to measure)
- blood oxygen (long press to measure)
- remote camera
- music player (controls music playing on your phone – pause/play, back/forward)
- other (long pressing will bring up other screens – change watchface, stopwatch, mute, reset, power off, and brightness)
Pros:
- Step tracking works well- it’s on par with most trackers I’ve tested.
- Resting heart rate is accurate. The watch will measure your heart rate through the day and night and you can view this data through the app. It’s not second-by-second or minute-by-minute tracking but it appears to measure once every 30 minutes. During training it does measure much more frequently.
- Battery life is good so you don’t have to charge it multiple times a week. It lasts between 5-7 days and comes with a charging cable.
- Blood oxygen readings appear to be accurate
- Sleep tracking is decent
- Music controls work.
- Remote camera feature works.
- Weather app updates reliably and temperatures can be shown in Celsius or Fahrenheit.
- Time can be displayed in 24 hr or 12 hr formats
- You can choose between metric and imperial formats for distance data.
- Full color screen.
- Haptic feedback is helpful for notifications and when long pressing on the watch to start blood pressure, blood oxygen, training activities, etc.
- Notification light is a nice feature if you happen to miss a notification.
- The side button is convenient to have to quickly take you back to the home screen instead of having to scroll through the entire menu of screens.
- Screen brightness can be adjusting as well as the time of day you want tilt-to-wake (Quick View) to function. Screen brightness is adjusted through the watch and tilt-to-wake (screen turns on when you tilt the watch towards you) options are found through the app.
- Comfortable and stylish. Nice enough looking to wear to the office, church, etc and it doesn’t look like a fitness tracker. The size and weight of the watch is great for even smaller wrists.
Cons:
- Blood pressure monitoring is inaccurate. I wouldn’t use the watch for this purpose.
- The heart rate sensor struggles during activities. At times it’s accurate but it’s definitely not for hardcore activity tracking. It does estimate distance and steps well during walking and running activities but the heart rate sensor can be a bit erratic.
- Even at the highest screen brightness setting it can be difficult to view in bright sunlight. I can still see it but you might have to shade the screen with your hand.
Conclusion
The bottom line with this smartwatch/fitness tracker is that it’s very good if you’re just wanting to track your daily steps, get a good picture of what you’re resting heart rate is, have basic sleep tracking, receive your notifications throughout the day, and just have a step tracker that looks nice on your wrist. You also don’t have to charge the watch that often. If you’re wanting a fitness tracker to track your fitness activities then you’ll want something more robust like a Fitbit Charge 3, Garmin Vivoactive 3 (see on Amazon), Samsung Galaxy Active (which is also a very nice looking watch that doesn’t look like a fitness tracker), or Apple Watch Series 4.
Of course, all those other options costs quite a bit more. On a more budget friendly level you might want to check out the Amazfit Bip. So far, it’s the best budget fitness tracker/smartwatch that I’ve tested.
But if you’re wanting to stay at or below $50 then this is a good option if you’re mainly concerned with step tracking and you want a more classic looking watch. It’s definitely one of the best looking budget friendly fitness trackers I’ve reviewed. I also appreciate that I receive my notifications reliably, resting heart rate is accurate, sleep tracking worked well (not as good as Fitbit but not bad either), and the app is easy to work with too.
