When it comes to smartwatches, it really is a wide open world out there. Sure, you can opt for an Apple Watch or any number of Google WearOS devices, but they’re not the only game in town. There are a number of smartwatch brands out there, and one of the latest “independent” ones that hit my desk was the Kospet Tank M2 Smartwatch.
Kospet Tank M2 Smartwatch – Use Case
With any smartwatch – be it the Kospet Tank M2 Smartwatch or another one – you really need to think about what you’re going to be using it for. Yes, you can use it to send every notification from your phone to your wrist (handy if you never feel your phone vibrate), but that’s not the only use. Aside from being a timekeeper, smartwatches have become very handy workout partners, quantifying just how far you ran, how hard your heart worked, and even what your blood oxygen levels are.
Power
That’s where I find myself using a smartwatch. I put it on at night so it can wake me up in the morning (with a silent alarm on the wrist so it’s not waking up my wife), and if it tracks my sleep, bonus. Then, it’s with me while I do my morning walk/jog, and after that it’s put into low power for the rest of the day. For the time I was working on the review for the Kospet Tank M2 Smartwatch, I wore it on my other wrist all day, just to get a sense of what battery life was like with it’s sensors working throughout the day.
The good news is that, even with a smallish 380mAh battery, after a full week of wearing the Kospet Tank M2 Smartwatch, it still had 20% battery life left (this was without it having notifications sent over from my phone, as I just find that distracting). How can it do that? Well, for one, there is no on-board GPS on the watch, which would cut down on battery life.
It also means that it’s distance calculations are a bit vague. While it recorded steps accurately, when I compared it to a watch with GPS built in, it was coming in about 10% lower in terms of the distance it said I went. I did try this as well with the GPS on on the phone and ensuring the watch was connected, but the results were the same.
Alarms
The final nail in the coffin – at least for how I use a smartwatch – were the alarms. You can set alarms on the watch, which is great. However, there’s no way to make it so that they are silent alerts (just vibrations), which means anyone you’re sleeping next to will hear the alarm. I tried a few different settings on the watch, but they were all noisemakers.
Review
At the end of the day, the Kospet Tank M2 Smartwatch was just not for me, and how I want to use a watch like this. That said, if you’re just looking for basic smartwatch functionality, some step tracking, and the additional health monitoring, you’ll likely be good with the watch. Comparing against other devices I’ve got, the heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring was accurate, sleep tracking was as accurate as any other watch that I’ve tried, and the blood pressure monitoring was a new sensor I’ve not seen in a watch before.
Price
So, to reiterate – if you’re looking for a basic smartwatch for day-to-day usage, this could be the one for you. On the other hand, if you want accurate run tracking and silent alarms, and you want to be able to shove that data elsewhere (say, Strava or Apple/Google Health) you’ll be wanting to look elsewhere. If you do decide to pick one up, aside from the built in resistances of the watch, it does come with a screen protector that you can apply, giving you a little more protection as you bang the watch around. While retail pricing is $119.99, we’ve been seeing it for sale for $99.99 for a bit now directly from Kospet or Alixexpress, or $89.99 over on Amazon (with there being an additional 20% coupon at the moment as well). While it’s not a perfect sports companion, this is one of the more affordable smartwatches we’ve seen. kospet.com
Tech Specs from Kospet
Basic Information
- Model: KOSPET TANK M2
- Color: Black / Orange / Red
- Watch Case Material: Metal + ABS + TPU
- Watch Strap Material: Silicone
- CPU: RealTek8763EW
- Memory: 64KB RAM + 128M ROM
- Battery: 380mAh Pure Cobalt Battery
- Standby Time
- Standby: 45-60 Days
- Daily Use: 10-15 Days
- Waterproof: 5ATM & IP69K Waterproof
- Motor: Yes
- Heart Rate Sensor: VP60
- Pedometer Sensor: STK8325
- Bluetooth Ver: 5.0
- Touch Screen Mode: G + F ( Panda Tempered Glass )
- Bluetooth Calling HIFI Bluetooth Calling with One Switch
Connection Assistant
- APP Name: KOSPET FIT
- System Support: Android 5.1 & iOS 10.0 and Above
Display
- Display Size: 1.85 inch
- Display Technology: IPS
- Display Resolution: 320*385
Functions
- Health Monitoring: Heart Rate, Blood Oxygen, Blood Pressure (Via Software Algorithm)
- Function: Bluetooth Calling, Smart Notifications for incoming calls, text messages of Apps (WeChat, QQ, Weibo, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Line, KakaoTalk, Instagram, Skype, etc). Sleep Monitoring, Pedometer, Sedentary Reminder, Alarm Clock, Weather, Music/Music Control, 24-Hour Heart Rate Monitoring, Blood Pressure Monitor, Blood Oxygen Monitor
- Sports Mode: 70 Sports Modes with Smart Recognition
- Watch UI Language: English (Default), French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Turkish, Bengali, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
- APP Language: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Turkish, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Bengali.
- Package
Package
- In the Box: Smartwatch x 1, Magnetic Charging Base x 1, User Manual x 1, Tempered Glass x 1
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