POCO Watch is official, lightweight device comes with built-in GPS
POCO has announced today its first ever smartwatch. The device was unveiled at a launch event alongside the brand’s flagship POCO F4 GT smartphone and POCO Buds Pro Genshin Impact Edition. The watch comes in a lightweight body, it packs the usual set of fitness sensors and built-in GPS.
POCO Watch – standard fitness sensors plus built-in GPS
For those not in the know, the brand belongs to the Xiaomi umbrella. In fact, the company was previously known as “POCO by Xiaomi and Pocophone”. Its first smartphone was announced in August 2018. Since then, POCO has released an additional 10 phones. Now the Xiaomi sub-brand is looking to broaden its horizons with a device simply dubbed POCO Watch.
POCO’s first effort in the smartwatch space takes on a tried and tested look. A product that is very much along the lines of a number of similar looking smartwatches that have recently dropped. Two names that spring to mind are Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite and the Redmi Watch 2 Lite.
The device comes with a 1.6 AMOLED on-board which is off by default but springs to life at the turn of the wrist or press of the single physical button on the right. The screen is of excellent quality, sharp, clear and readable both indoors and out. The very tiny bezel around the edges is hardly noticeable. To help you personalise the look, more than 100 watch-faces are installable through the smartphone app.
At 31 grams, POCO Watch is one of the most lightweight timepieces around. The polymer case is very thin and it is attached to a silicone strap. The latter has a release mechanism so you can change the band as per your preference.
While the 5 ATM rated device is marketed as a smartwatch, this is primarily a health and fitness product. Some 100 exercise modes are available, along with built-in multi-system satellite connectivity (GPS, Galileo, Glonass and Beidou). There’s auto-recognition of activities, blood oxygen tracking, heart rate, steps, sleep tracking and more. Much of this is customisable through the app.
As this is a Xiaomi sub-brand it should come as no surprise that the device uses the Mi Fitness app. In fact, the operating system that is installed on POCO Watch looks very much like the one on Xiaomi Watch S1. We suspect that part of the package is the same. In fact, the recent crop of Xiaomi Watches and POCO Watch share a lot of commonalities.
Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets
Beyond fitness and health tracking, you get some smart functionality. This includes notification support, compass, music control, alarm, timer, weather, remote photo taking and more. A single long press on the physical button opens a shortcut which lists the full range of features.
Despite the small form-factor, POCO Watch offers quite decent battery life – two full weeks between charges. Which is pretty impressive. There’s a proprietary magnetic USB charger in the box that you are meant to use to top-up.
Starting April 28th, POCO Watch will be available for purchase at po.co for €79. This sounds pretty reasonable for something with built-in GPS. We have the POCO Watch in testing right now so will follow this article up with a full review shortly.
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