Realme announced its latest smartwatch devices under the Watch S series, the realme Watch S and Watch S Pro alongside the realme Buds Air Pro wireless earbuds. Aside from its smartphones’ division, realme is also moving towards the wearables category, we have seen fitness bands and smartwatches from the brand and now, the second-generation smartwatches are released in India.
The realme Watch S is an entry-level smartwatch featuring an Aluminium Alloy IP68 design, real-time 24-hour heart rate monitoring, SpO2 sensor, with all the necessary fitness perks and runs as much as 15 days on battery. But how good is the watch? Take a look at our review of the realme Watch S.
realme Watch S Specifications
- Model: RMA207
- Display: 1.3-inch (3.3 cm) Auto-Brightness touch display, 360 x 360 pixels resolution, 278 ppi, Corning Gorilla Glass protection
- Software: realme’s custom OS, realme Link app
- Protection: IP68 dust & water-resistant
- Sensors: 3-axis Accelerometer, Heart Rate Sensor, Photosensitive Sensor, Wearing Monitoring Sensors
- Features: 24-hour Real-time Heart Rate Monitor, Blood Oxygen Measurement, 16 Sports Modes, 100+ Watch Faces, Heart Rate Alert, Idle Alert, Steps, Distance, Calories, Sleep Detection
- Sports Mode: Outdoor Run, Walk, Indoor Run, Outdoor Cycle, Aerobic Capacity, Strength Training, Football, Basketball, Pingpong, Badminton, Indoor Cycle, Elliptical, Yoga, Rowing Machine, Stationary Bike
- Other Functions: Music Control, Camera Control, Find Phone, Meditation, Stopwatch, Cloud Multi-Dial, Data Storage, Call Notification, Message Reminder, Alarm, Brightness Adjustment, Wear Monitoring, Lift Wrist to Wake Screen, No Disturb Mode
- Wrist Strap: 22 mm removable wrist strap, 164 mm to 208 mm adjustable
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0
- Battery & Charging: 390 mAh, 15 days runtime, USB Magnetic charger
- OS Compatibility: Android 5.0+
- Box Contents: realme Watch S with Strap (22 mm), Magnetic USB Charging Dock, User Manual
- Colors Variants: Black
- Strap Colors: Blue, Green, Orange (Liquid Silicone); Brown, Black, Blue, Green (Vegan Leather)
- Dimensions: 259.5 mm x 47 mm x 12 mm (with strap)
- Weight: 48 grams (with strap)
- Price: Rs 4,999 (Rs 5,999 for Master Edition), Rs 499 for Liquid Silicone Strap, Rs 999 for Vegan Leather Strap
- Availability: First sale on 28th December, 12 PM, available on realme.com and Flipkart.com. Silicone Strap sale starts from 5th January, 12 PM.
Design, Display, & Build
Unlike the predecessor realme Watch which appeared to be a spin-off of the Apple Watch design, the second-gen realme Watch S seems far better in terms of looks and feel. The realme Watch S has a sleek and matte finish surface with an Aluminium Alloy frame, the overall design is stylish and looks classic.
The smartwatch uses a round face instead of a square-type. You will find two buttons on the right side, one for the App drawer (or Home button) and one for the Sports mode. The watch is rated IP68 meaning it’s water-resistant with up to 5ATM, but realme says it’s not suitable for swimming and shower.
It is light in weight 48 grams and can be secured using the buckle strap, had no issues in wearing it on either hand. Due to its classy looks, it also blends with different styles be it casual wear, sports, or any other.
The front has a 1.3-inch (3.3 cm) display with 360 x 360 pixels resolution and 278 ppi protected by Corning Gorilla Glass. The display is flat and offers an IPS LCD panel, unlike the Watch S Pro which uses an AMOLED display. What’s new in the display is its automatic brightness adjustment which is cool.
The back is made of plastic with two charging pins and a heart rate sensor, just on the side, there’s a SpO2 sensor for Blood Oxygen measurement. The charging dock is magnetic and can be plugged into a USB charger or any USB port that allows charging.
It comes with a 22 mm Black colored strap with a buckle, the liquid silicone strap is relatively comfortable on the skin and not at all itchy. It can be easily removed using the slider pin on the backside.
realme offer three silicone strap colors – Blue, Green, Orange, and four Vegan Leather Brown, Black, Blue, Green. The liquid silicone strap is priced at Rs 499 and Vegan leather is priced at Rs 999.
User Interface, Performance & Features
The realme Watch S connects via Bluetooth 5.0 via the realme Link app on Android, it doesn’t support the iOS platform, you won’t be able to use it if you have an iPhone. Pairing is easy, you need to download the realme Link app on Android and login or register an account, it took us less than a minute to pair the watch which is great.
The user interface on the realme Watch S is plain and basic with 14 built-in apps that can be accessed by swiping from the bottom or pressing the side key. You do have the realme Link app that shows you more details about the activities with color-coded graphs. No third party apps supported, the realme Watch S uses a custom OS that connects with the realme Link app.
Measuring the SpO2 and heartbeats are quite easy, they have dedicated apps for it. Unlike the heart rate monitor app, the SpO2 measuring is manual and doesn’t track your Blood Oxygen automatically. We got around 97% Oxygen levels in our test which is very good.
The performance of the Watch S is good and responsive, we didn’t find any huge performance lags in our use. The interface lacks various transitions and animations which makes it a little dull while interacting, but you do have a long-lasting battery life due to it. Rival, Mi Watch Revolve offers a better user interface and overall performance if we compare albeit it’s priced a tad higher.
You will find a 3-axis accelerometer, heart rate sensor, photosensitive sensor, and wearing monitoring sensors on the watch. The photosensitive sensor is used for the ambient light and intensity of the environment to control the auto-brightness. No dedicated GPS found on the watch, no Wi-Fi, no NFC, as well as loudspeakers for calls and music.
When it comes to the features, you have 24-hour real-time heart rate monitoring, SpO2 Blood Oxygen measurement, along with the fitness perks with a total of 16 sports modes, 100+ Watch Faces, heart rate alerts, idle alerts, step counter, distance, calories burned counter, and sleep detection.
The 16 Sports Mode include Outdoor Run, Walk, Indoor Run, Outdoor Cycle, Aerobic Capacity, Strength Training, Football, Basketball, Pingpong, Badminton, Indoor Cycle, Elliptical, Yoga, Rowing Machine, Stationary Bike.
Other functions on the watch are the ability to control the music as well as control the Camera. You can change the music from your watch and click images using the watch without pressing the shutter on the phone. Aside from these, the watch has Find Phone, stopwatch, call notifications, message reminder, Alarm, Meditation, wear monitoring, Lift Wrist to Wake Screen, No Disturb Mode.
Battery Life & Charging
On the battery side, the realme Watch S equips a 390 mAh battery, much higher than its predecessor, the realme Watch (160 mAh). The battery life is claimed up to 15 days o a single charge and it looks like the realme Watch S does have great battery life.
In the first two days of usage, the battery didn’t rain significantly, you can expect the watch to run two weeks on average use. You can make use of the power-saving mode that disables most features and turns into a typical watch that shows you the time.
The realme Watch S can be charged via the USB dock charger that charges from 0 to 100% in about 2 hours for a battery sized 390 mAh capacity.
Verdict
The realme Watch S does offer a classic-look, durable casing, and well build metallic design, a bunch of fitness perks for all your fitness activities, 24-hour real-time heart rate monitoring, and shows you the Blood Oxygen levels with its SpO2 sensor.
The display has an auto-brightness feature that worked out well but the LCD may not seem as good as those AMOLED ones, but that’s all you have for this price. The realme Watch S won’t let you pick up calls, reply to messages from the wrist, you will need the smartphone to do that, if you want a fully-featured smartwatch, you can opt for a WearOS-powered smartwatch at a higher price.
It is worth mentioning that it runs as much as 15 days on battery. This is significantly better when compared to the WearOS powered smartwatches and notably reliable in its segment.
For those who are looking for a smartwatch on a budget with a great design and long-lasting battery life with all the necessary fitness features, the realme Watch S would be a sweet deal for a price of Rs 4,999.
Strength
- Stylish and classic look, good build quality and finishing
- Light in weight
- 24-hour Heart rate & Blood Oxygen monitoring
- A bunch of fitness perks to offer
- Notifies about calls and messages
- Bluetooth 5.0
- Reliable battery life (15 days)
- Vegan Leather Straps
- Value for money
Weakness
- No iOS support
- Lacks built-in GPS
- No third-party apps support
- Can’t reply or answer calls right from the smartwatch
- Lacks microphone, loudspeakers, and Wi-Fi