Strapped for cash?
Misfit’s first Android Wear watch has a nifty ‘virtual bezel’… and an even niftier sub-£200 price
£185 / stuff.tv/vapor Q Misfit used to pump out trackers that looked like jewellery, but now it’s competing with the big players. Looking to try Android Wear 2.0 for under £200? You’ll want to read on.
Q First, the clever bit: the outer part of the Vapor’s touchscreen acts as a touch-ring. Run a finger around it and you can scroll through notifications, messages or apps. It’s neat… but few apps seem to have added support for it so far.
Q This is one of the thicker Android Wear watches – nothing like the dainty trinkets we’re used to from Misfit. Still, it’s quite comfortable on the wrist for a biggish watch, and is 5ATM water-resistant.
Q The 1.3in AMOLED screen is sharp and colourful, and brightness automatically changes to suit the ambient light. It also responds well to wrist flicks – no crazy arm-jiving or button-hammering required to wake up this watch.
Q There’s only a handful of custom watch faces, but they’re generally good. The default face makes good use of the OS’S clock complications: you can fire up the heart-rate reader, start a run or check for April blizzards with one tap.
Q Battery life isn’t great at 24 hours tops, and then you’re stuck with a fiddly non-wireless charging system that relies on magnets. Half an hour of wrestling with this is not what you want after a run.
Tech specs
Screen 1.3in AMOLED, 326ppi Sensors Accelerometer, altimeter, gyroscope OS Android Wear 2.0 Storage 4GB Connectivity Bluetooth, Wi-fi Battery life 1 day Dimensions 44x44x13.5mm, 73g