Upon opening the box, I found exactly what I expected a good-looking (albeit very large) geeky watch. It came with extra screws and rubber O-rings, and ear buds with a mic. They even include a tiny screwdriver for putting the back on after you install your SIMM and Micro SD, and the battery. It also includes a spare battery. So far, great!
The case and band appear well-made. Strong, with no sharp edges. There are panels on the ends of the watch case that are jewler's chrome rather than stainless, so they don't quite match the rest of the watch, but they look OK. The clasp is smooth and works well, but is not adjustable, and the links in the band are held together with press-in pins rather than screws, so plan on spending another $15 at the jeweler getting the band fitted unless you have jeweler's tools.
It came with the expected user manual a very tiny print manual with no illustrations. The manual was obviously made from the Chinese version with translation software. Many of the sentences don't really make any sense. That is not a problem, however, as the device uses very standard cell phone menus with easily recognizable icons, so there is no real problem navigating the menus and finding things without any need for a user manual.
The camera and video capture work, and are about what I expected in a unit this size. Pictures similar to the ones you get with those $5 key chain digital cameras. That was what I expected, so no complaints about the camera, but 1.3 MP? I don't think so. On `good' quality setting, the watch says that picture files are only 9kB jpgs, and that is about what they look like. 0.13 MP maybe.
FM radio works. Gets a few channels that fade in and out to static as you move your hand and change the orientation of the device. Again, pretty much what I expected for a novelty watch, so no complaints.
The display looks good. The touch function is a bit slow but works well. For selecting from the menus it works better with my fingertip than with the rubber tipped stylus that came with the phone. The stylus is needed only for typing numbers and letters from the keypads in the screen. If you go outdoors in the sunshine, the display is completely wiped out, regardless of which display setting you choose. You have to cup your hand over the display tightly and put your eye up to your cupped hand to make out anything on the screen when you are outdoors. This means that you can accept, but not make, phone calls when you are outdoors.
The big problem, and the reason that I am sending this thing back, is that there is no volume control on the phone. When you answer a call, whether you use the speaker on the phone (which sounds awful) or the included ear buds (which sound better) you can barely hear the incoming caller. My callers said that they could hear and understand me whether I used the speaker in the watch or the speaker on the ear buds, but I had to go into a completely silent room and close the door in order to hear my caller. I would never use this thing while in a car, or anywhere that has any level of background noise. The beeps with button presses and camera use are a comfortable volume.
I tried a Motorola Bluetooth with volume control to see if I could use the phone exclusively with the Bluetooth. No luck. Max volume on the bluetooth is still barely audible in a quiet room.
I looked through the manual and all the menus twice, and I found no volume control on any function other than the FM radio and the ringer, and the radio volume control does not work well. There may be a bad spot in the touch display around the `+' button on the FM radio screen. It would turn the volume down, but not back up.
All I really wanted was a novelty and a conversation piece to use for a while and then add to my collection of geeky watches, but to be a good novelty and conversation piece, I need to be able to carry it and use it as my cell phone for a while, and for that it needs to be usable.
I think that if they improve the built-in speaker so that you can understand human speech through it, and give it a volume control on calls, this will be an amusing gadget. An updated sunlight-visible screen would be really nice, even if it added to the price.
HANG ON....Because this is a bit complicated.
First, I have wanted a wrist-watch-phone for years...It just seems like such a no-brainer of convenience to me...No forgetting or losing your phone, no digging it out of a pocket in a hurry to get a call, or missing a call through distraction, etc....
Add to that, I am not interested in going online from a hand-held device, or playing games, etc...I just want to send and receive calls...I just want a handy TELEPHONE....
A phone that is right there, on my wrist, ready to use.
I chose this model due to the rugged steel construction and water-proof description...I lead a fairly active lifestyle, and having my phone on my wrist presented obvious hazards to the technology.
NOTE: Here is where we get complicated....
I first saw this on a website being referred to as 'The Commando', and it had a price of $185. ('On Sale' supposedly, from $275.).... and I would have purchased that $185 watch-phone..Had I not noticed the EXACT SAME device priced at $93 on another site ( called there 'the w818' ...I`m not sure if Amazon allows me to 'name names' here, or I would name the site)...Then, to make matters more convoluted, I saw it here on Amazon, for $120...called 'the MW08' AND the 'W818'/ 'WATERPROOF MOBILE WATCH PHONE' in seperate listings...All of the listings for this same watch-phone on every site use THE SAME promo pictures and list the same features, no matter what it is being called and priced at.
Well of course, I went for the cheapest price, at that other companies` site ...and man, am I sooo sorry that I did !
The watch-phone I received was nothing but trouble...Incomplete package, defective phone that would not read the new, activated T-Mobile SIM card I had bought...and worse, the customer service from this company was TERRIBLE. No response to emails or calls and a 'returns request' page that was actually designed to prevent the customer from submitting a return !
(Again, not sure if Amazon would allow me to name them, as much as I want to warn you...if interested, post a reply to this review and I`ll post the names of all companies I found serious fault with, that way if Amazon objects and removes the reply, at least this neutered review will remain active to caution others to BE CAREFUL)
Anyway, not willing to give up, I filed complaints and disputes and opened cases to get my money back from the thieves...
... Then, I went ahead and purchased the $120 version offered here, by VICTOR, LLC.
I have faith in Amazon`s Returns Policy, and I should have gone with that faith in the first place, instead of trying to save a big $25 and ending up buying a load of aggravation with the savings.
The 'MW08' purchased here came swiftly... At first, the device gave me some hassles--the same non-recognition of SIM card--then I tried something that I had previously attempted with no result in the defective one; I placed a bit of foam material under the watch-back cover so that the battery would press onto and hold the SIM interface a bit more securely...and EUREKA ! IMMEDIATE SUCCESS !
The Amazon-Victorpurchase 'MW08' watchphone came to life without a problem and has functioned normally and well since. (Should this status change, I will update this review accordingly)
Just an F.Y.I.: These are all made in China. The Chinese electronics industry is a cut-throat business wherein the reliable mixes with the fraudulent, and the quality can be both variable and questionable... Assorted manufacturers --both reputable and disreputable-pirate each others` designs and crank these things out through assorted selling companies, some of them little more than fronts for shady dealings...They will slap different names and numbers on the same model and describe it in glowing terms of purest HYPE. The widelyvarying prices are not representative of quality, but avarice.
Bottom Line: You have to BE CAREFUL.
My advice for getting a wrist-watch-phone is to purchase either here on Amazon, or on a certain notable online auction site (where the threat of a negative feedback and an in-house payment service can offer you some recourse if you get a bad device.)
The wrist-watch-phone IS a great idea....Hopefully, some of the better electronics concerns will get into the field with a superior model, instead of just pushing one more smartphone/tablet device after another in an already glutted field.
There ARE people who, like me (and high-probability, yourself, if you have read this far) who would just like to have a quality phone on their wrist.
The existence of these here and elsewhere proves they can and do work.
Until we see something better...Best Of Luck to you !
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I love this phone! I can tell you a few negatives and I will, but let me first say this phone works really well and is a lot of fun.
I initially bought this very model of watch from this vendor about six months ago. I was using a different model before this with fewer features and I wanted to use this one instead, but it took me a while to figure out how to change the size of the band. When my other wrist phone suddenly died I need to figure it out and I did. (PS, I saved the old links from the band so if someone buys this phone and needs a still larger band, I suppose you could contact me and I'd probably send you the links for the cost of shipping)
The great things about this phone are obvious. You don't need to worry that you'll lay it down anywhere and forget it. You won't accidentally drop it in your laundry because you left it in a pocket. It is expected to work with a wireless headset (I recommend a Plantronics with noise cancelling dual microphones), not included. However, should you leave your headset in the car, say, and you need to take a call, just slip it off your wrist, slip your hand through the band so the speaker is by your ear and talk into the band. The sound quality is great both ways. Nobody will believe you are talking on a wrist phone except for those around you, and their jaws will be on the floor.
Also this phone sends texts. Now texts are nothing amazing with today's phones but that this tiny phone is pretty easy to send texts from also impresses others. I mostly like that the phone is out of sight, out of mind, most of the time.
For some insane reason it came with two batteries. It is not easy to change batteries so I hope the spare battery has a good shelf life so it still works when the built in battery finally dies.
Downsides:
-Reception is not great; you will experience more dropped calls with this one than other phones.
-The USB cord is somewhat proprietary, or at least rare. I contacted the seller and ordered four spare cords.
-The cover for the USB is small and delicate, easy to lose and break so I ordered a spare.
-If there is a way to make this phone do any sort of app, like GPS, I've sure not figured it out.
-I've read this phone can do Wifi/Bluetooth tethering to a netbook but again I've not been able to figure it out.
-It has a rudimentary built in web-browser I've found pretty useless too, but it could be I've just not spent enough time figuring that out either.
-The phone weighs exactly half a pound, which strangely enough impresses people who ask to look at it.
I realize some of those downsides will cause some of you to avoid buying this phone, but it is just a matter of priorities. I believe the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Also, just in case you can't tell, this phone looks great!
The service I'm using is from T-Mobil and costs about $80 month to month for unlimited everything. Had I agreed to a 1 year contract they'd have given me a phone, but when I signed up with my first phone I didn't know if I'd even like the phone so I went month to month. If you already have a T-Mobil phone you can removed your SIM card from it and put it directly into this wrist phone, but don't plan on going back and forth as the SIM card is installed under the battery behind a cover with four tiny screws. (the phone comes with a tiny screwdriver for assembly)
If you do buy this phone, please take my advice and tape a medicine vial to the cord to store the USB cover in while on charge.
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I have bought hundreds of items for myself and businesses from Amazon as a Prime member. Most is very good. This product and the service are great and beg reviewing to share with others out there. I ordered with some tepidation as it was obviously a Chinese product. The quote on delivery was two weeks and the product arrived in 8 days. Perfect package and the watch was shrink wrapped proving it was not a return. I followed the instructions and the watch didn't work. I wrote to the cutomer service email inside the packaging and within MINUTES I received a reply in cure broken english from "JACK" in China. I explained he problem and they felt the product was defective. Happens with everything sooner or later. Jack offered to help me by sending a new product immediatly and then letting me send back my defect later. INCREDIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!! I mean they are out two watches and maybe I don't return the defect but WOW they trusted me and this sped up the replacement because me shipping back to China and waiting for them to get back to me with a return would have taken three weeks. I got the new watch phone in 8 days. Plugged in my regular AT&T sim from my Blackberry and BAM! Wrist phone. Folks-the thing is great! The speaker phone is almost as loun=d as my iPhone! Battery time is a bit short lasts all day with texting and appointments and calculator and taking photos and videos but only good for an hour on the phone before needs a recharge. But that is OKit is a WRISTWATCH phone! How cool! So my wife and best clients have this number and no matter what I have connectivity with those most important to me 24/7. I cannot express my praise enough for the team at the shipper/manufacturer who did EVERYTHING right for me. They sent me traking updates on the replacement by email and never missed a reply to my letters within hours including late nights and weekends. Buy with confidence and enjoy the future of communications. The product and people behind it are solid folks. I fell in love with China! Finally!
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It is really beautiful mobile watch you can use as watch or as a mobile. I hope you injoy it
