I tried this $ 40 smart watch: it was, but it is not a waste of time

I didn’t expect a lot when I first tied With giga Smartwatch On my wrist, at least it was delivered on it. This $ 40 smart watch does the basics: display the notifications, calculate your steps, track the heart rate (somewhat) and allows you to make calls from your wrist. But the implementation of all these features is the place where everything begins to collapse, and I found myself getting what I paid exactly.

After spending a week in his test, I came out with this: If you only want a basic smart watch that works with both Android and iphoneIt tells the time, tracks your steps and notifications, this will accomplish the task, just do not expect accuracy. But if you can extend your budget even a little, something like $ 75 Amazfit bip 6 Provides more accurate tracking, more accurate design and more reliable performance.

Design and Ministry of User interface: large, huge, and Basic

With Giga it is with no smart watches. It seems like Apple Watch Ultra Victory: A metal frame around a rectangular screen, round edges and even icons that resemble the apple watch inside. But this is where the similarities end.

If your wrist is on the smaller side like me (I have a 6 -inch wrist), let yourself look huge. Giga is 48.5 mm, and there is no smaller size option. On my wrist, I felt annoyed and out of the place, and thick silicone strips of definitely did not help things.

The 2.04 -inch AMOLED screen is 386 x 448, but the brightness of the screen is not adapted. You will need to control it manually, which means that it is almost bright at night and the border line is not readable in direct sunlight unless you manually increase brightness.

This watch runs its own system, coincides with a with a with a with a with the application and works with both Android and iOS. You will get notifications, essential fitness tracking, and always screen (in which I test the battery quickly drain) and a set of loudspeakers/MIC to respond to calls.

The user interface is clear, but it lacks the Polish. The right scroll opens your favorites and the side button allows you to launch an exercise quickly. The animation feels slow and the longest text coils in an embarrassing way to fit the screen.

Battery life: It is not bad, but there is hunting

The battery life is one of the few things that stand well here. I got about three days of use with a seizure lift option, and almost half with the screen is always enabled. This is not bad for the price, and it is actually better than some The leading smart watches.

But the evidence comes with a big red flag: “Avoid fast charger” and not overlook. This is not something you want to see in 2025, especially because at this stage of the group of my smart charger, I don’t know any fast one, and anyone is not, and the mysterious warning makes me think it will explode if I make the wrong choice. Shipping takes an empty battery to two hours about two hours with the embedded magnetic charger. But as soon as she left her, she received overnight, I approached terrorism the next morning, believing that I broke a “do not overlook.” Fortunately, I came out safely.

Health and fitness tracking: Reducing your expectations

Following exercise and wellness is the place where cracks really appear. Yes, Giga follows technically the heart rate and blood oxygen (SPO2), sleep, stress and menstruation cycles. But accuracy is at best.

During the exercises, heart rate measurements were constantly suspended when compared to the chest belt and even wrist -based tracking devices. The average human resources after exercise was soon enough, but the standards during exercise were significantly suspended. For example, while I was sitting on my Pilates (completely stable) starting an exercise on the watch, I already read the screen “100BPM”, while the chest belt and the Apple Watch I had in 65 points per minute. This made me skeptical until comfortable heart rate readings.

Sleep tracking only between 10 pm and 8 am, which means that night shift workers or anyone has an irregular schedule (such a late writer) is lucky.

Sleep statistics are also confusing; Instead of the clear sleep stages or sleep hours, you get strange comparisons like “less than 26 % of people in your age group go to this time late.” I am not quite sure what I should do with this information.

Mental menstruation is porching, based on the average, with no detection of biological signs such as a temperature tracking. You can not even register a direct period of the hour and have to do this from the application.

Other smart watches features

• Calls: As long as your phone is within the range, you can answer and make phone calls from the watch using the amplifier and microphone, but clarity is a problem.
• Textual messages: You can see texts from the messaging applications, but you cannot respond or even send a prior written response (when they get on iPhone).
• Voice Assistant: Technically available, but it is just an abbreviation to activate your phone assistant. You can click, open Siri or Google assistant on your phone, not the watch. Useful.
• Fast settings: Save your recently used apps in fast settings, which have already stirred between features such as training and music controls more suitable – this is victory.

Should you buy it?

With the minimum you expect from a smart watch, but at the expense of accuracy and attention to detail. For $ 40, it is a functional notice mirror with a step tracking, calling calls and a spray of health features (if you are looking for a general overview at best).

But if you can extend your budget, something like Amazfit BIP $ 6 provides a much better value, a careful healthy tracking, a cleaner interface and a better battery life.

The bottom line: If you keep your expectations low, and you dip your toes in smart watches for the first time, this may be sufficient. Otherwise, it is worth paying more for something that seems less similar to a game and more similar to the tool.