For the last three years, tech journalists have hailed the smartwatch as the next big thing in the industry. There have been numerous attempts at the product from Google’s Android OS, the Apple Watch, and Pebble. Despite the vast number of options on the market, the smartwatch has failed to take off for a number of reasons, the two largest being functionality and price.
A few weeks ago, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to see what the smartwatch market had to offer. I was surprised to find that there was a large market of cheap smartwatches from China. I eventually ordered the Vcal U8 watch for $15 to see if I would even use a device like this. I knew that I was not getting an astounding piece of technology, but I hoped that it would be semi-useful at least.
The unboxing of the U8 went pretty much as I expected. I peeled off the plastic screen protector, arguably the best part of any new device. The watch itself is made of cheap plastic and rubber and it feels like a cheap Casio that you would purchase at Target. It carried a manual in broken English that was practically useless as well. I had to spend three hours surfing the web trying to find the right app to get the watch to sync to my phone via Bluetooth. Do not ask me how I did it because I’m still not entirely sure.
It was fun having a new toy to play with for a few days, but the novelty quickly wore off.
The U8 is less functional than most devices on the markets. It can only read text messages. There is no option to respond to the text with a preset message. You can only call the sender, which sort of defeats the purpose of texting in the first place. Being able to respond to a text in a class or a meeting was the only real selling point, but the U8 did not deliver on this front.
The U8 barely functions as a watch. Sure, the thing tells time and you can pick between one of 4 watch faces (2 analog and 2 digital). Unfortunately, you cannot simply glance down at the screen to check the time. You’ll need to press the home button on the side of the watch when you want to see the watch part of your watch. Adding an extra step to the timepiece aspect of the smartwatch is dumb.
Ultimately, the device is almost entirely useless and I can 100 percent live without it or any other device. My verdict seems to be the same as any other tech blogger. Until a watch can function on its own without being connected to a phone, the device will never rise to the current glory of the smartphone.
This is especially the case with the U8. Most of the extra apps don’t work or they can’t be used effectively. Try using a calendar on a one-inch screen. With that being said, the U8 is a good place to start if you don’t want to invest in a pricier device.
