You may remember WatchOut as the smart wearable brand that made an appearance in Season 2 of Shark Tank India. The brand is known for wearables that cater to different age demographics. Its smartwatch for kids is focused on parental control and two-way communication. The ‘Guardian’ smartwatch for senior citizens offers GPS live tracking as well as round-the-clock health tracking. For Gen Z, WatchOut offers an exciting fusion device called ‘WearPods’ which converges wireless earbuds and a smartwatch into one device. If you remember Huawei’s Watch Buds from last year you will know exactly what we’re talking about. What works for WearPods is its pricing. You can get your hands on this piece of tech for just Rs 5,000. We’ve been using the WatchOut WearPods for the last week and here is our comprehensive review of the device.
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In This Article
WatchOut WearPods review: Design and Display
Here’s what you get inside the WatchOut WearPods retail box:
- Smartwatch with earbuds
- Charging/data transfer cable
- Screen protector
- User manual and warranty card booklet
For a tech outfit that’s new to the market and putting out its first fusion product, WatchOut has nailed the design of the WearPods. Given the nature of the product, it wasn’t going to be sleek and compact. WatchOut has used this to its advantage and given the smartwatch a ‘rugged’ look. The squarish dial is undeniably thick, housing the earbuds on the right edge of the frame. Since it is made out of plastic, the smartwatch is not as heavy as it looks. There are two textured buttons on the left corners of the dial. The Military Green colour variant of the WatchOut WearPods we used for this review adds to its ‘rugged’ aesthetic. The wearable is also available in Orange Army and Black Commando shades.
The earbuds are firmly locked in their cutouts with powerful magnets. Even after shaking and yanking the smartwatch with immense force, the earbuds remained in place. Surprisingly, they are easy to pull out, which speaks to the ingenious design of the device. The ‘bullet’ earbuds are compact and fit nicely in the ear. The earbuds have no ear-specific design, meaning you can insert either earbud on any side.
The 1.93-inch HD display has a resolution of 240 x 296p. This display is bright enough for outdoor use. However, when it comes to the touch response, it leaves a little more to be desired. While using the touch gestures, it felt like the watch always needed to catch up. Perhaps an AMOLED panel would have been the better choice. There is also a 0.75W speaker on this smartwatch, located on the bottom frame of the dial. It is optimum for audio calls, but not the best for listening to music.
The silicone straps of the smartwatch are comfortable and do not cause any annoying itches. Wearing the smartwatch while working out did not present any issues whatsoever. The strap remained secure and the smartwatch and earbuds were unfazed by excessive sweat.
WatchOut WearPods review: Performance
The WatchOut WearPods are equipped with an array of features, some more reliable than others. The smartwatch can track your heart rate, blood oxygen, blood sugar, and blood pressure. While the heart rate and blood oxygen measurements were on point, we wouldn’t recommend relying on anything but medical-grade equipment for blood pressure and sugar readings.
The smartwatch also supports over 100 exercises and workout routines. You can use it to track everything from hikes and runs to bench presses and push-ups. Before starting an exercise you can set a time or calorie target on the watch. As is the case with every smartwatch, the calorie-burning of this device should also be taken with a grain of salt.
Moving on, the wireless earbuds that come along with the device offer a decent listening experience and a passable audio output, but they lack the clarity offered by other TWS devices in this price range. We were expecting this as the WearPods are limited by their compact form factor and the nature of the device. The overall output seems a little tinny and lacks details. This is largely due to the small audio drivers inside the earbuds.
If we take the functionality aspect into account, we’d say the WearPods get the job done in style. If minimalism and tech convergence are your biggest priority, then this is the ideal device for you. The smartwatch has a built-in GPS and an internal memory of 4GB. If you’re going on a run and don’t want to take your smartphone along with you, this smartwatch will take care of all the essential things. Its inbuilt GPS will track your run and you will be able to enjoy your local library of music using the WearPods.
The WatchOut WearPods also support Bluetooth calling. You can make and accept calls using the smartwatch and channel the audio output through the earbuds or the built-in speakers. The call quality was fine in an indoor setting, but we switched to our smartphone in noisy surroundings.
You can access the health and fitness data on your smartwatch using the V Band companion app for WearPods. This app has a good collection of dial faces and wallpapers for the watch. The downside is that you can’t store multiple watch faces on the watch itself. Another underrated feature of this app is the ‘Receipt code’, which binds your UPI QR Code to the watch so you don’t have to open the payment app to access it.
While the app handles the basics very well, WatchOut needs to work on its UI. If we hadn’t used the QR code on the watch to download this app, we would be very sceptical of its legitimacy. Upper case and lower case letters are used seemingly at random throughout the app’s interface and the text does not align with the layout in some pages. We also spotted a few typos on the app. We hope the company patches these errors with a swift update.
Ending things on a good note, the battery life of the WatchOut WearPods is very versatile. The smartwatch is equipped with a 400mAh battery pack and the earbuds have additional 35mAh batteries inside them. We were able to get more than 5 hours of playtime out of the earbuds in one go. The smartwatch lasted us an entire week with frequent TWS use, Bluetooth calling, and regular fitness tracking.
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Verdict
As a sum of its parts, the WatchOut WearPods is a wonderful product. For Rs 5,000, it is a bargain. Sure, the audio quality of the WearPods may not match up to its standalone TWS rivals, but we highly rate its functionality and ease of access. The option to store music on the smartwatch and listen to it using the WearPods is a nice touch. Paired with the built-in GPS, it reduces your dependence on your smartphone while running or working out.
WatchOut WearPods: Pros
- Good design
- Comfortable fit
- Built-in GPS
- 4GB internal memory for music
- Versatile battery
WatchOut WearPods: Cons
- Average audio output
- V Band app needs work
