Great Budget Smartwatch
I’m a spreadsheet guy, to a fault, and my wife regularly talks dirty to me by asking me to compare products for her. When my most recent smartwatch finally crapped out on me after 2.5 years (Mobvoi TicWatch 3 GPS), I waited to see what was going to pop up on my radar so that I could get started on my next spreadsheet journey. I am firmly entrenched in the Google ecosystem so it was going to be either the TicWatch 5 or the Pixel Watch 2… but neither of them were really what I wanted. The TW5 is bulky and expensive and the PW2 is too small… and, also, expensive. I knew there had to be a budget smartwatch on Amazon that could get the job done until the next TW and/or PW came out so I started looking. I stumbled on this one, the S4, because I recognized Tozo as a maker of premium quality yet budget-friendly earbuds. So, I took the leap and here’s my review after 10 days. Battery life: When you unbox your watch, there’s a sticker on the face that advises you to fully charge the watch prior to turning it on and using it. I connected the charger and the watch was already at 94%, so I turned it on and let it rip. That was last Tuesday afternoon (January 9, 2024); my watch died sometime in the middle of the night this past Tuesday morning (January 16, 2024) between 2300 and 0630. When I went to bed it was still at 9%. My TW, initially, held strong at about 48 hours before it needed to charge and, eventually, it trickled down to about 7 hours right before it died. This thing does exactly what I expect it to, which is to simply notify me of calls, texts and emails, just like my TW did, and it lasted 7 days strong on one charge. Also, from totally dead to 100% battery only took about 75 minutes. I am very happy about this. *5/5 UPDATE 01/28/24: I have had this watch for almost three weeks and I just charged it for the THIRD TIME today. Changing my battery life grade by giving it +1, so it is now *6 / 5. Accessories: The charging cable that the watch comes with is proprietary (bummer) and measures about 24.5 inches (WTF?). It is remarkably short. For comparison, the Mobvoi charger that my TW came with measures just shy of 36 inches. Additionally, the magnets that keep the charger attached to the watch are laughably weak. I could pick my TW up by the charging cable when it was attached and I couldn’t even MOVE the S4 itself while the charger was connected because the magnets aren’t strong enough to keep it in the right spot. *1/5, a one (1) only because they include the cable in the box, otherwise it would be zero (0). Continue reading to learn about the watch band… Comfort: The S4 comes with a high-quality silicone band with “Tozo” stamped on it. It’s very similar to what you might see on an Apple Watch, down to the band overlap going under the band to get out of the way. The watch itself, however, isn’t the most comfortable on the wrist and sits kind of weird, most likely due to how large it is. It is noticeably lighter than the TW3 though (for those of you who have one, or who were wondering), coming in at 1.4 oz compared to 2.3 oz (almost 40% lighter). *3.5/5 Screen: The 1.78” AMOLED on this thing is bright - like BRIGHT bright. Luckily, it has 5 brightness settings that you can easily select from, either directly on the watch or in the accompanying app. You can also change the screen time-out intervals in increments of 5 seconds, from 5 seconds up to 30 seconds. The colors aren’t oversaturated and they’re quite crisp. You can also turn on Do-Not-Disturb and/or Silent Mode at night to keep it from making noise when it's quiet. There really isn’t anything to complain about here. *5/5 Watch faces: The advert describes 100+ watch faces and as of right now (01/19/2024), there are a total of 246 - 3 of which are “custom,” meaning you can use a photo of your choosing as the background. The other 243 fall into categories titled, “Simple,” “Personality,” “Colorful,” “Pointer,” “Business Style,” and “Festival.” The sheer number is a bit overwhelming, but then again, so are most of the watch faces. It’s a WYSIWYG shop here: there are no customizable complications and the vast majority of the faces are either distractingly colorful or needlessly busy. The one that I’m currently using, called “Intelligence - Future,” has a comparatively subdued black and blue color scheme but there are some confusing inclusions and omissions. For example: there’s a battery icon at the top right of the screen but there’s also a battery percent reading in the face. Additionally, there are three placeholders for complications; two of them are in use (the previously mentioned battery percentage and heart rate) but the one in between them is empty. Again, there’s no way to select a complication to place there… it’s just a black circle. One of the most frustrating aspects of this watch so far (which is relative, of course) is that there is no option to make your own face or modify the ones that are in the Dial Center. I’ve searched far and wide to see if any savvy devs out there have figured out how to jack into this OS, or even knows what type of OS this thing runs, but so far it seems like no one has had any luck. Hey Tozo - give us a watch builder or at least the option to add/modify complications! *3/5 Processor and OS: Tozo advertises the S4 as having a “high-precision wear chip,” but there doesn’t seem to be any indication of what type of chip is actually running the watch. The same goes with the OS - my assumption is that it’s some kind of RToS, similar to what the One Plus Watch runs/ran, which explains how/why it's so responsive. Honestly though, it doesn’t really matter because it’s snappy and rarely stutters in day-to-day use. *5/5 Intelligent Message Notification: Coming from a WearOS device, I guess I was accustomed to a more robust notification system. Not that the S4 is lacking, because it will definitely let you know when you’ve received a message or email or phone call, but not being able to respond directly from the watch is kind of a bummer. It’s definitely not a deal breaker, but it would be nice to be able to use an on-screen keyboard or voice-to-text to quickly reply to texts and instant messages. In the Tozo Health app, you can create a few canned responses if you decline a call but they can’t be used to respond to any other type of communication. Additionally, you need to be sure to go into the Notification and Reminders section of the app, select “App messages,” then manually select which apps you give permission to notify you otherwise you’ll likely miss them until the next time you look at your phone. Another aspect that took some getting used to is the notification icons that the watch uses. It recognizes FB Messenger and shows the blue bolt-looking thing; it also recognizes Outlook and shows the blue email icon, but it uses a generic one for text messages that looks like a 4-leaf clover. This is just me being picky, I suppose. The main factor to remember here is that this thing concurrently notifies you when notifications come in. My watch vibrates, literally, at the same time as my phone. Also, the vibration motor in this thing is SUPER strong so you will definitely know when it’s going off. I couldn’t say that about my TW. *4/5 Bluetooth Calling: I’ve only used this feature once so far, and it didn’t sound great (the caller’s voice was tinny and distant), but I was outside and the ambient noise level was pretty high. Obviously, this isn’t going to replace a BT or wired headset, or the speakerphone on your device - but to answer a call in a pinch until you can get to your phone, it is totally passable. You can add up to 10 frequent contacts in the app which will sync to your watch so that you can initiate a call if your phone is close by but out of reach. That’s a pretty cool feature that I don’t recall my TW having. *4/5 Fitness Features: Gonna be totally honest - I didn’t buy this watch for the fitness features so I haven’t tested them, nor do I suspect that they would be accurate anyways. Standard on the watch, when swiping right to left, are the HR monitor, Sleep monitor, Stress monitor, Weather screen, and Activity monitor. Based on the comfort of the watch, I’m not interested in wearing it to bed to test the sleep monitor nor would I trust it to keep track of my HR. *X/X Software quirks: Some of the stranger software quirks that I’ve noticed so far are… *The rotating crown employs a satisfying mechanical haptic "bump" when you rotate it, and it does a serviceable job of assisting with menu and screen navigation but when the display is on, rotating the crown will cycle through the five watch faces that live on the device. So, if you’re wearing a long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, or have short hands and put them in your pockets, you may inadvertently swap your watch face. I’ve done it a few times and it’s becoming quite annoying. *The screen has to stay on, and on the timer module, for the timer function to continue counting down. I recently set a timer for 5 minutes then clicked on the crown to return to the home screen and went about my business. It took me quite some time to realize that the timer should have gone off long before then and when I went back into my watch, the timer had reset / the function ended. Overall: For the price, and the features, I couldn’t be more pleased with this purchase. The S4 does exactly what I need it to, which is to help me keep my eyes off of my phone - and tell me the time every once in a while. It’s taken a little getting used to the shape (i.e., rectangular [APPLE - BARF!!!] vs circular [Google - HOORAY!!]) but, to be honest, it works much better for reading notifications and not having to worry about square notifications getting cut off by round bezels. The battery life is INSANE, the screen looks great, and it stays connected to my phone consistently. Anyone looking for a high-quality, budget smartwatch, should definitely consider this one. Read more