Let's talk about smart watches!

[edcoolio]

I think I have to clarify my review. It's been over a week since I stopped using it, and I've had a little bit of time to reflect.

To me, the biggest issue with the M26 watch is the lack of software support. Specifically, I'd like to see a legit Play Store app. GearBest has a link to an APK on their website. The watch itself comes with a QR code that links to another APK. Even though these APKs say right next to them "virus free" I'm just not convinced to give them full access to practically everything on my phone.

Because of the above problem, I was using a work-around app.

I think it was namely that which caused my experience to feel like such a clunky hack.

In regards to your question about Bluetooth volume -- I think you nailed the problem. If my BT volume was also down, I doubt streaming music to the device would have been a problem.

The pairing failure rate was an issue, but probably only because of my hackware. It was super annoying. That (and other issues) led me to think of the device itself as a burden rather than a tool which alleviates burden.

Ultimately, my phone (admittedly still running JellyBean) tried to treat the watch as if it were a Bluetooth headset. It would prioritize the watch for phone calls and for music when it was paired, namely because that's the default setting for BT headsets. Back in the JB days, headsets and car stereos were probably 90%+ of what we used Bluetooth for. If there was another set of settings in there where I could elect what data to send to the watch, it'd have been a much smoother experience.

Those are very interesting observations. After all, longer term use is what it is about, not to mention day to day livability. Just out of curiosity, would you consider using the .apk(s) available to see if there is a significant difference? Or are the permissions issues far too dangerous to attempt? Maybe a spare/hack phone is the only way to go for messing around with this...

Most of what these watches do (the pure bluetooth ones at least) can be cool, but if it cannot do the basics, I'm sure it is frustrating. If it cannot keep a proper bluetooth connection, then it is maddening!