Hi HUC.
There's no catch. It was the best 20 quid I ever spent on a watch for us AFibbers (I bought mine from my local supermarket).
Buckle up - Here is my review. This is based on my personal use of the watch and my experience of using it so far.
The watch is called Watch Pro IP68 (powered by Intech). It's an all-singing all-dancing watch and even makes you a cup of coffee in the morning and does the washing up (OK - Slight exaggeration there!).
Cost £20.
The IP68 can do BT calling and has multi-sports modes and a virtual assistant. However, I'm not interested in the virtual assistant and the AI telling me off all the time if I sit down for an hour (it tells you to get up and walk about) or if I haven't completed my 10,000 steps for the day. I don't want to use it to make telephone calls. I've turned the AI off.
What I am interested in are the other features it has to help monitor my AFib.
Where to start? HR is a good place to kick off. The watch is a touch screen and at the touch of the screen, you get an instant reading of your HR. It's not like using an arm monitor where your HR rate likely goes up anyway if you are anxious about taking it. You don't have time to worry about it. It monitors your HR 24/7. Every morning you can check the app (more about that later) and see the last 24 hours' highs and lows and the exact time it happened. Yesterday my HR was between 63 BPM low and a high of 85 BPM. You can set the watch to alert you if your HR hits certain highs or lows. I go for a low of 55 and a high of 125 BPM. It's pretty accurate - only once did it get it wildly wrong. It was 20 BPM too high. All the other readings have been spot on.
But wait - there's more to come.
The watch reads your BP - again at the touch of a button. Now I haven't found this feature to be entirely accurate. However, I don't like a tight-fitting watch and wear it loose. I like to be able to put my forefinger between the watch and my wrist. Maybe if I tighten it for a BP reading it would be accurate.
The sleep mode is excellent. It tells you what time you fell asleep and what time you woke up. It tells you how much REM sleep you have had, how much light sleep you have had and how much restful sleep you have had. The watch tells you if you woke up during the night. It's all on a graph with the times of all the above. Last night I woke up for a pee. The watch told me the exact time I did so and was spot on. It told me how long I was awake for and what time I got back to sleep. It tells you how long you slept (last night I slept for 5 hours and 28 minutes. 2 hours and 19 minutes of that were REM Sleep. My Sleep Quality Score was 79 which is in the good band. It has a 4 rating for sleep - Poor/Secondary/Good/Excellent.
The number of steps you take every day seems pretty accurate. The distance walked is slightly out by about 0.2 of a kilometre. I checked this on Google Maps to see the distance to my local shop. The watch was a little higher than Google's estimate. In fairness though it wasn't connected to a smartphone at the time - Theres a good chance it would have been spot on if it was connected.
The Blood Oxygen reading is spot on too. ATM mine is 97% out of 100. No worries there.
My weight right now is 75.1 Kg. Put your weight and height in and it tells you your BMI. Currently, mine is 22.7 - Perfect. I can put on a few pounds and not have to worry about it.
It gets better still.
These are the different modes on the watch:
Activity: This tells you how many steps you have taken and how many calories you have burnt off during the day.
Sleep: As above.
Heart Rate: As above.
Phone Call: I'm not interested in making phone calls using my watch. This feature is turned off.
Exercise: Walking Mode/ Running Mode/Cycling Mode/Skipping Mode/Badminton Mode/Basketball Mode/Football Mode/Swimming Mode/Climbing Mode/Tennis Mode/Rugby Mode/Golf Mode/Yoga Mode/Fitness Mode***/Dancing Mode/Baseball Mode/Elliptical Mode/Indoor Cycling Mode/Free Training Mode/Rowing Machine Mode/ Relaxation - if you are stressed or restful.
You set an 'Open Goal' for all these activities. If you have the AL switched on it sends a message to your watch to let you know it needs completing.
***For me the fitness mode is the most useful. It tells me how long I have worked out and how many calories I have lost during the workout. It also monitors my HR during my exercises. If it goes to high it's time to take a rest. 120 bpm during a workout is enough for me. At that point, I would stop.
It also tells you the weather and temperature outside when connected to your phone. It uses Google to do this and is very accurate. There is also a flashlight on the watch - useful if it is dark and you're trying to get your key in the door. Handy for a power cut too.
All of these features can be saved to favourites. You simply swipe the screen and they are all there at the touch of a button.
I suggest turning off the motion detector as this turns the watch on if you move your arm and will drain the battery. Talking of which the battery life is excellent. I've had it for a couple of weeks and only had to charge it once. The charger is included with the watch and you'll need a standard 5-volt phone charger to plug it into.
You can even play a game on it.
You'll need to get the app from Google Play Store. It is called 'Da Fit' and is free. Download it to your phone or computer and you'll be good to go.
I've used a Fitbit watch in the past but this is far better and much cheaper too.
So where can get this modern-day wonder of technology from? I bought mine from my local shop Morrisons. They had a large display by the checkout - You know the type of thing. Impulse buy - Like sweets by the checkout to appeal to kids. Mom, can I have some chocolate? NO, you can't. I give you a smacked bottom instead if you ask again. That's what my mother used to say to me but you can't say it these days. Anyway, I digress.
If you don't have a Morrisons close by you can order one from Amazon or eBay for £19.99p. I would suggest not using eBay as many electrical goods on there are fakes. Amazon is your best bet, Just go to Amazon and put in 'Watch Pro in tech' in the search box. Make sure you pick the right model. I think it's the only one for sale for £19.99. There are a few sellers to choose from. Saying that I would just pick one up from Morrisons if there's a store close to you. Keep the receipt just in case you need to return it.
Just one more thing before I finish this post. The watch works well for me but I make no promises it will work for you. If not give it to your child/grandchild to play with - they will love messing about with it. It takes photos and all types of stuff.
Oh yeah. I almost forgot - You can just use it as a watch and it keeps good time. It will take a day or so to fathom it all out and personalise the settings for your requirements.
Paul
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