TicWatch GTH review: Affordable and neat

Fitness trackers and smartwatches are in demand more than ever before. And there is no dearth of options for one to choose from. You have premium ones like Fitbit Versa and Apple Watch. There are non-premium or affordable buys as well from the likes of Xiaomi, Realme and others. The latest to join the easy-on-pocket, high on specs (at least claimed) is the China-based Mobvoi. The company recently launched TicWatch GTH smartwatch in India for Rs 4,799. We used the smartwatch for some days and here’s our review

Design and display

First glance, second or third. TicWatch GTH looks very similar to Apple Watch. The smartwatch has a rectangular case with a single physical button placed on the right side. The similarity in the overall looks and design can be seen in the image below. The duo is placed side-by-side and it is nearly difficult to differentiate between the two without a closer look.

But, once you power up the TicWatch GTH smartwatch, you begin to know the difference. It has very thick bezels that leave it with a smaller screen of 1.55-inch to operate on. The smartwatch comes with a colour display. Edges of the screen are curved which gives a smooth finish to the smartwatch.

On the rear side are two sensors- one to measure heart rate and the other is a skin temperature sensor. Charging pins are also placed on the back. The smartwatch comes with a 20mm silicon band. The box contains a black colour variant of the band in single size only. It feels smooth on your wrist and does not cause any kind of discomfort while wearing the smartwatch.

TicWatch GTH smartwatch is a lightweight device and rests easily on your arm giving all elegant looks. But one may not be impressed by the display quality of the watch. One it’s not AMOLED. Second, the resolution is low. You can choose from four different levels of brightness. We kept the brightness levels to maximum levels and found it adequate enough to use the watch outdoors.

Most of the work is done on the smartwatch using the touchscreen and the physical button. The display is not that responsive. You may have to tap 2-3 times to get a task done. One can change the watch face as per choice. Simply, long press on the display to shuffle between watch faces available on the watch.

Performance
Setting up the smartwatch is easy. Download the Mobvoi app on your phone- Android or iPhone. Scan the QR code displayed on the watch’s screen and it will connect with your device over Bluetooth.

TicWatch GTH offers a host of health features and not all of them are offered by its competitors in the price segment. To begin with, it offers constant heart-rate monitoring which we found were correct most of the time without any deviation in the readings. The watch also shows the highest and lowest heart rate that one may have throughout the day.

There is also a skin temperature tracking feature which offers 24 hours monitoring. It automatically detects the user’s skin temperature and is claimed by the company to alert in case of peaks. During the review period, my skin temperature was always in the normal range. So, we really can’t say about the accuracy of the alert feature.

Another feature is the SpO2 tracking which is buzzing everywhere these days. It is good to have a blood oxygen monitoring feature to constantly track saturation levels and detect any deflection or major changes. It also monitors the respiratory rate of the user. The smartwatch also offers sleep monitoring. So you can use it to track data like average hours of sleep, hours when you were in deep sleep and light sleep.

The smartwatch will greet you with your sleep rating in the morning. But, unlike Fitbit, it will not advise on how to improve sleep quality. TicWatch smartwatch can also be used to track stress levels. But you will have to install another app called TicZen on your device for that. The device also offers guided breathing exercise to help one relax. Again, you will have to download the TicBreathe app to use this feature. Having a separate app for stress monitoring and management is a good choice that Mobvoi seems to have made. It leaves the users with an option to make choices as per their needs. There can be a counterargument saying that this leads to unnecessary app downloads on the phone. But this is purely optional and depends on the user’s wish.

The company says that the smartwatch can auto-detect workouts. During our review, we found that the device does detect physical activities automatically. This is a helpful feature, especially if one forgets to start an activity on the smartwatch. There is no in-built GPS on the smartwatch though. This means you will have to carry your smartphone with you, in case you want to track your cycling/walking route.

TicWatch offers a smart notifications feature. It can show your smartphone notifications on the smartwatch screen. However, you can not reply or even open any of these notifications. Also, we really didn’t like the font used to display the notifications (wish there was an option to change the font). Because of the small screen, the smartwatch shows only two or three notifications at once. You can tap on the notification that you want to read more about.

Lastly, the smartwatch’s UI is neat and easy to get used to. There are four basic gestures that it supports- swipe up, swipe down, swipe right and swipe left. These gestures perform the core functions on the device along with the physical button placed which basically acts as the Home button.

TicWatch GTH comes with multiple sports mode that includes indoor and outdoor run, cycling, rowing, walking and even Yoga. The smartwatch is 5ATM waterproof and can be worn while swimming.

It is backed by a 260mAh battery. The smartwatch ships with the USB charging cable out-of-the-box. The cable has two small magnetic contacts that cling to the device in order to charge the smartwatch. The magnetic alignment breaks off very easily which is irritating to some extent. Talking about the performance of the battery, the battery life is one thing that will impress users. Once fully charged, the smartwatch can easily last a week and a day more.

Verdict

At Rs 4,799, TicWatch GTH smartwatch is a good purchase. With a fairly neat design, the device packs multiple health features paired with long battery life. It competes with Realme Watch, Noise ColoFit Pro 3 smartwatch, Amazfit Bip U and GOQii Smart Vital Fitness smartwatch. Skin temperature and Spo2 are two features that make the smartwatch stand out from its competitors as not many offer them in this price segment.

FacebookTwitterLinkedin