Gadget of the Week: The smartwatch that goes on and on

What is it?

In a smartwatch world dominated by the likes of Apple, Samsung and Huawei, it is either brave or essential for lesser-known brands to enter the fray. Either way, they cannot do it half-heartedly, with cheap devices that can only win the affordability stakes.

In this context, it is startling to see a challenger brand like Vivo going all in, with a stylish – and expensive – entrant in the Vivo Watch 3.

Elegant design, solid health features, and more than two weeks of battery life go some way to justifying its price tag. But is that enough to compare to its top-tier rivals? Let’s see.

To start, the Vivo Watch 3 comes across as a traditional timepiece, with a sleek rounded body made from aluminium alloy. A 1.43-inch AMOLED display (466×466 pixels) is vibrant and crisp, even in direct sunlight. A 13.8mm thickness and 36-gram weight is not quite ultra-light, but remains lightweight and comfortable for daily wear.

The proof of the pudding, or rather burning off the calories from that pudding, is in the tracking. How good is it at health- and fitness-tracking?

It is equipped with 8-channel heart rate monitoring and 16-channel blood oxygen (SpO2) tracking, which positions it right out there with higher-end models, such as the Huawei Watch GT4. It supports auto-detection for various workouts, and is quick to recognise basic activities like walking, which is often a struggle for other watches. It includes 100 sports modes, but does not offer advanced sport-specific metrics found at the top end.

This makes it  suitable for users who want reliable health tracking but don’t necessarily need the complexity of a fully-loaded sports watch.

It runs on Vivo’s proprietary Blue OS, and covers basic functionalities like notifications, alarms, and music control. It lacks the ability to respond to messages directly from the watch, which has come to be expected one would like to see in devices at this price tier. The app’s interface is fairly basic and could do with a more intuitive design.

Such negatives fade in the light of the Watch 3’s battery life, however. With a 505mAh battery, it promises up to 16 days of usage on a single charge, even with always-on display (AOD) activated. It means one barely has to worry about charging, and it just goes on and one. That said, its magnetic charging puck is a little clunky, and a proprietary design means there’s no support for third-party chargers. Fortunately, one deals with that issue only a couple of times in a month.

The Watch 3 offers both Bluetooth and LTE eSIM options, which allow the user to make calls directly from the watch. Speaker and microphone integration mean that audio quality for calls is reasonably good, although not exceptional. If you’re one of the show-offs who likes to make payments from the wrist, the vivo Watch 3 supports NFC for payments – but it’s limited to specific regions and apps, so double-check if you have a specific need in this regard, and it happens to be a dealbreaker. It does support GPS and multiple flavours of positioning technology, anywhere one is likely to go.

My personal bugbear is the crown dial, which is essentially the catch-all control jutting out from the side of the Watch, almost as a tribute to the original design of traditional watches. But there is a danger of going too far in acknowledging the past, and this mechanism weakens the watch by jutting out too far and making it vulnerable to damage.

Ultimately, the Vivo Watch 3 gets the basics right and delivers a well-rounded performance, but does not punch above its weight.

What does it cost?

The Vivo Watch 3 retails for just under R6,000.

Why does it matter?

The Vivo Watch 3 bridges the gap between basic fitness trackers and premium smartwatches by offering robust health monitoring and exceptional battery life. With features like 8-channel heart rate monitoring, 16-channel blood oxygen tracking, and up to 16 days of battery life, it caters to fitness enthusiasts who want solid health insights. It is ideal for Android users looking for a well-rounded smartwatch with core functionalities and great longevity. The last is a good reason to invest in the device.

What are the biggest negatives?

• Basic app functionality.
• A crown dial that sticks out too far.
• No support for direct message replies from the watch.

What are the biggest positives?

• Excellent battery life, lasting up to 16 days on a single charge.
• Robust health monitoring with 8-channel heart rate and 16-channel SpO2 tracking.
• Lightweight and stylish design with multiple strap options.
• Supports eSIM.
• The ability to make calls from the watch.

* Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on social media on @art2gee.