How I chose a smart watch: Omate TrueSmart vs ZGPAX S5

Today, the market is quite actively filled with various options for smart watches. Each manufacturer considers it his duty to show their own version of such a device. We have already seen ready-made options from giants such as Sony, Samsung and Motorola. We saw startups like Pebble or Neptune Pine.

At the moment, there is already a clear separation of such watches according to the method of use: some serve as a second screen for a smartphone (display incoming calls, SMS, etc.), others are able to work autonomously, like a fully self-contained phone. Obviously, the second type of device has a wider range of capabilities, but few manufacturers supported this venture and the choice of finished products in this group is very small. In this article, I would like to tell you about my experience in using two models of similar devices and the intricacies of each of them.

I personally picked up the device for my child. I wanted to give him a new interesting gadget, with which I could at the same time be able to follow his movements (he constantly forgets the phone). After spending some time searching the net, I found several options:Samsung Galaxy Gear , Sony Smartwatch , MOTOACTV and Pebble . None of them suited me with their characteristics, because they do not have a GSM module, which means they can only work as an accessory to the phone. I continued the search and finally went to the Omate Kickstarter page. I did not find other watch models with a GSM module then. For all the stated parameters, the device more than suited me. In addition, the site indicated that this watch has a degree of protection IP67, which indicates their resistance to moisture and dust, and the sapphire crystal installed on them gives them more chances to “survive” possible bumps and avoid scratches - ideal for a child. The developers offer a choice of two models: one with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory, and the other with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal. Without thinking twice, I ordered a younger model. The project was fully funded on September 20, 2013, after which all enthusiasts were assured that the watch would be delivered to them by the end of November. I enthusiastically followed the development of the project and looked forward to the package. My interest grew every day, and I already began to forget,

It was the end of November, but there was still no package. On the Omate forum and in the comments on Kickstarter, angry posts from disappointed users rained down. Developers cited certification and mail issues. At first I took this with understanding, but after a month I despaired and resigned myself to wasting money. However, the desire to please the child with an unusual toy remained. Then I again went in search of the coveted “toy” on the net. It is worth noting that by that time, Chinese manufacturers had taken up the matter and Omate had full competitors. Guided by the price / quality criterion (this time I expected to pay a smaller amount). I opted for the ZGPAX S5. The main parameters of this watch were the same as those that I ordered with Kickstarter - 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal memory. What was my surprise when, after about a week, I received my Omate! That's how I became the owner of two models of “smart” watches. Taking the opportunity, I decided to compare these two devices. I think for those who are just about to purchase something like this, this may turn out to be useful. So let's get started.

Contents of delivery

Omate TrueSmart:

• Clock
• Charging device
• USB cable
• Screwdriver
• Replacement battery
• Spare Bolt Kit
• Documentation

ZGPAX S5:

• Clock
• USB cable
• Headphones
• Fork

Design and construction

We will not talk about the appearance. Here, as always, the taste and color. But the location of the buttons, case materials and the overall ergonomics of the devices are definitely worth discussing.





Omate watches have only 2 buttons and are located to the right on both sides of the camera. One of them is designed to lock / unlock, the other is a standard Home button. There is a speaker on the strap under the case. On the left side of the watch is a micro-sim tray, covered with a lid, which is fastened with two bolts. To the left of the tray you can see a small hole in the microphone. Its location on this side is quite controversial, because to answer the call you will have to completely release the clock from under the sleeve. The flash drive tray is under the battery.



ZGPAX S5 also equipped with 2 buttons, but placed them on the left, which was no less convenient. Between the buttons placed a micro-USB connector for charging. The microphone is located to the right of the back button and also on the left side. The speaker is located above the display. Trays for SIM and flash cards are located under the battery, and access to them is easy: you just need to “tuck” and remove the battery. Omate will have to work with a screwdriver (and this, by the way, is not so simple. It took me about half an hour to remove the back cover).



Another important point is glass. Omate uses sapphire crystal, which is famous for its resistance to shock and scratches. In ZGPAX, glass is common and should be handled more carefully.

Communications

The watches of both companies are armed with GSM, GPS and Wi-Fi modules. Omate also support 3G, for which they are a fat plus.

Dimensions and Weight

The first thing you feel about wearing an Omate watch is its weight. On the official website it is indicated that it is about 100 grams. It immediately feels that the hand is not just a watch, but a full-fledged smartphone, possibly even with a small stone inside. I immediately felt like a prisoner, who was attached a bracelet to his hand and allowed to move within a radius of 100m. Attach such a burden on a fragile children's hand is possible only as a punishment.



ZGPAX by weight is much closer to ordinary watches and does not cause any discomfort.

Device Dimensions:
ZGPAX - 55x40x14mm
Omate TrueSmart - 45x45x14mm

Screen

Both models are equipped with displays with a diagonal of 1.54 inches and a resolution of 240x240 pixels.

According to AnTuTu Tester, the Omate screen supports up to 4 simultaneous taps, ZGPAX only 2.

The viewing angles are excellent, no distortion was noticed, but Omate wins noticeably in the sun.
Despite the fact that according to the technical documentation, the screen resolution is the same, it seemed to me that the picture on the ZGPAX is more grainy.

Camera

Camera interface:



A photo:


Omate's photo quality is noticeably better, however, and it can hardly be called good.

Video:

During testing, the video quality seemed to me about the same. Frankly, it leaves much to be desired.

Interestingly, with the location of the camera, manufacturers went in completely different ways. At Omate, the camera is located on the side, between the control buttons. This arrangement in theory allows you to take pictures of everything around, i.e. use the watch’s camera like we used to use the phone’s camera. And it turned out almost conveniently. The camera takes everything that is in front of your hand ... including the hand itself.



But, of course, if you get a hold of it, getting your hands in the frame can be avoided.

ZGPAX developers approached the issue in a different way and, to the delight of fans taking selfies, installed a camera directly under the display. This makes it possible to answer video calls in Skype and similar applications. Unfortunately, the location of the camera (if you talk without removing the watch from your hand, as expected by the developers) allows you to remove only the lower part of the face.

Performance

The ZGPAX S5 is based on the MediaTek MT6577 processor with a clock frequency of 1 GHz. Omate has a more powerful MT6572 with a frequency of 1.3 GHz. The RAM capacity of both devices is 512MB.



For the test, I used the Quadrant Standard application . ZGPAX S5 scored 3188 points, TrueSmart - 3792. Omate were more productive, which, in fact, was obvious from the fact that they have a more powerful processor.

In addition, ZGPAX periodically hang for no reason. Apparently, the developers did not pay enough attention to the work of the OS itself.

Battery

According to official data, the Omate battery capacity is 600 mAh, ZGPAX is 500 mAh.
With quite active use with all the means of communication turned on, both devices lasted all day. Omate "lived" a little longer.
But, as always, it all depends on the intensity of use. If you “play” with them without a break, then, probably, the charge will last only for a few hours.

As for the battery indication, Omate were, frankly, unpredictable. They can show 70% and turn off after 2 minutes. There are no complaints about the ZGPAX in this regard, the charge level is displayed fairly accurately.

Charging

In order to charge the ZGPAX, you just need to connect the cable to the micro-USB port. Nothing unusual.

But to charge Omate, you need to do something more. I don’t know what the developers were thinking, but it seems they managed to invent the most inconvenient way to charge. The watch comes with a special device, which is a box with contacts for connecting to the device and a micro-USB connector for connecting to a computer. So, you need to insert the clock into this box, close it (!) And connect it to the computer via cable. Using a watch in this condition is almost impossible. There are no other options to charge or copy files from / to the device! Those. if something happens to this box or you just don’t take it with you, you will never be able to connect the clock to a computer and charge it again. In the competition of the most unsuccessful decisions, Omate would have every chance of winning.

Water resistant

Omate says its watch is waterproof. There are no ports on the surface of the case. The SIM card tray is covered by a lid, which is fastened with two bolts. The back cover is tightly closed with 4 bolts. Between both covers and the case there are special rubber gaskets that should prevent moisture from getting inside.

In fact, this whole construction of trust does not inspire. Most likely, the watch will withstand the splash, but I did not dare to completely dip it in water.

Interface

Both devices are based on Android. Omate has Android 4.2.2 (it is planned to upgrade to 4.3, although no one has yet set a date), and ZGPAX - 4.0.4.
OS functionality in these practical models is not limited. The only upset was that you can not add widgets to the desktop.
In both cases, you can install Google Play and download any application (In ZGPAX, the market is carefully installed by the developers and is available out of the box, in Omate I had to drop the apk. Of the market manually). Almost all applications started without problems. Only some games did not work, for example, Angry Birds. In addition to this, Omate also has its own Ostore, from which you can download watch skins and applications written specifically for them.

Control

Getting used to managing ZGPAX will take quite a while. Swipe right or up from the "home" screen to open the phone, down - the music player, left - the menu.

On the left side are the power / lock button and the back button.

It is surprising that if you go to the phone or music. player from the lock screen, you can’t exit the menu. You can only return to the lock screen. The Home button is really missing. And to call the application menu, you need to get exactly into the small icon in the upper right corner, which is slightly larger than the battery indicator. For the first time in a very long time, I regretted that there was no stylus. The watch sometimes does not allow you to exit the phone application. In such cases, the application works, you can make a call, nothing slows down, but you cannot exit the menu. Returning to the lock screen also does not save, the only solution to this “stupor” is rebooting. In general, in terms of management, the ZGPAX S5 is an ideal tool for training the psyche.

In Omate, management is implemented much better. The developers really managed to make it intuitive. To unlock, you just need to swipe your finger across the screen in any direction. Swipe to the left at the top or bottom of the screen replaces the back button, and swipe to the right in the same areas opens the application menu. On the right side is the screen lock button and the Home button.

Keyboard

This is a very important aspect, because in order to make full use of the watch’s functionality, you’ll have to use the keyboard from time to time (when searching for applications in the market, working in the browser, or for a short reply to a message). The keyboard was surprisingly very usable. Accidental clicks, of course, can not be avoided, but they are much smaller than I imagined.

Moreover, Omate comes with an optional Fleksy keyboard . It looks very interesting, gestures control it: swipe left - erase one letter, swipe right - spacebar, two-finger touch - insert character, etc.



One minus, the trial version of this keyboard is installed and after a while it is offered to buy for 131 rubles.

As for ZGPAX, manufacturers here, unfortunately, were not so pleased. Typing on this watch requires thin fingers and nerves of iron.

Telephone

Actually, one of the main functions of these devices is the ability to make calls. Is it so convenient? A man talking to a watch is not a very common phenomenon yet, so he himself does not leave the feeling that he is a colleague of James Bond. Passers-by begin to squint and pass around uncomprehendingly. Although, for sure, someone will like this attention.

Be that as it may, there is a function, so you need to use it. Dialogue on the ZGPAX device turned out to be quite real. The speaker transmits the interlocutor's voice quite loudly, and the microphone copes well with the transmission of the speaker's voice. In addition, a headset with a microphone can be connected to the micro-USB jack. So it will be more convenient for you to speak in noisy places or on the go and remain normal in the eyes of others.

Omate showed worse in this regard. The quality of the speakerphone is about the same, but the microphone let us down. The interlocutors constantly complained that I was hard to hear. The problem can be solved by connecting a Bluetooth headset.

Skype

The quality of communication when talking on Skype without video on both devices is no different from a regular telephone conversation.

Pay attention to the video chat. At ZGPAX, a camera is graciously mounted under the display in order to capture the speaker's face. As mentioned above, to remove the face completely you need to have a fairly long arm. But, in any case, at least something is visible.

Omate completely eliminate the possibility of video chat. With this watch you will have to be content with only demonstrating the surroundings to your interlocutor.

As for the application itself, it works quite stably. The only problem I encountered was adding a new contact to Skype on ZGPAX. To do this, you need to call the application menu, which is possible only if you manage to get your finger into the very small icon in the upper right corner.

Satellite monitoring

A very important function for which I, by and large, bought this watch - the ability to remotely track their location. The child - joy, I - peace. In order to test them as a GPS tracker, I used TrackerPlus .
Installation problems in both cases did not arise. The watch connected to the service and after a few minutes, I was able to see it on the map. It is worth noting that ZGPAX connect longer, but after that they work quite stably. I have no complaints about the work of Omate.
When monitoring the location on Wi-Fi points (with GPS turned off), the devices performed equally well.
In general, the Omate GPS tracker performed a little better. I think this is due to the presence of a 3G module.

Work in tandem with the phone

On the part of the developers, it would be logical to leave users the opportunity to use the watch as an accessory to the phone. Unfortunately, this feature is not implemented in either watch.
Omate released an application that should connect the watch to the phone, but, alas, it does not work yet. I hope this issue will be resolved soon.
From the side of ZGPAX no movement towards the embodiment of this function occurs.

conclusions

The smartwatch market is still developing and I’m sure that in the near future there will be many more interesting options.

ZGPAX is a great option for those who have not yet decided on their attitude to the smart watch segment and want to try, while spending as little as possible. This watch is one of the most budget options among competitors with similar functionality. On the official website, they cost $ 165. The option is also great for those who, like me, decided to buy an interesting toy for their child.

In almost all respects, Omate TrueSmart won. They are more convenient, more pleasant to use, made of better materials and have a more serious filling. But they cost, of course, more expensive: $ 250 for the younger model (512MB / 4GB) and $ 300 for the older model (1GB / 16GB). This option is suitable for those who want to get a full-fledged, modified device with all of the above characteristics and is ready to pay a slightly larger amount for this.