Realme Watch 3 Pro Review: Gets A Lot Of Things Right Except Battery Backup
Rating: 3.5/5
Price: 4999 rubles
Realme recently launched its third-generation fitness watch in India and now we have the successor to the Watch 2 Pro on our wrists. The Realme Watch 3 Pro now offers a larger AMOLED screen, Bluetooth calling capabilities and better GPS connectivity at the same price as its predecessor. It looks like a runway winner on paper, but is it? Let's dig a little deeper.
© Realme Watch 3 Pro review courtesy of Firstpost Main imageWhat we like about the Realme Watch 3 Pro:
Light and comfortable to wear
It has a standard rectangular design, which is nothing special or bad, but the screen is slightly larger than before. Although it's mostly plastic, the build quality is pretty good. And even though they're a bit bigger, they've managed to keep the weight down to about 40 grams with the strap, which is great. The silicone strap is comfortable on the wrist and doesn't irritate the skin even when worn all day. The strap can be replaced with any 22mm strap.
Bigger, sharper AMOLED display with brighter colors
As I mentioned, the screen size has increased slightly from 1.75 inches to 1.78 inches, as has the screen resolution, which is now 368 x 448 pixels. This equates to a pixel density of 325 ppi, which is impressive. The biggest change here is that you now get an AMOLED screen instead of a regular LCD screen. Color reproduction is brilliant, as is sharpness. You have five levels of brightness to choose from. Level 3 or 60% is bright enough when not in sunlight, but you'll need to turn it up for easy reading in bright sunlight.
© Firstpost Courtesy of Realme Watch 3 Pro Test ViewTo turn on the screen, you need to move your wrist or press a separate physical button on the right side. The "wake up" gesture works well most of the time. You can turn it off before sleep or in a dark room so the screen doesn't accidentally turn on in the dark. This time, Realme opted for a scratch-resistant coating on the top of the screen, but didn't go into detail. No scratches after two weeks of use.
Easy to use
The watch interface is easy even for new users. You can swipe down for quick settings, swipe up for notifications, and swipe left or right to switch between widgets like daily activity, heart rate, sleep data, weather, and more. Swiping right on the menu takes you to the previous screen. The physical button can also be used as a back button when not on the home screen. Tapping it on the home screen will open the app drawer. All watch functions are clearly listed and scrolling is quite smooth.
© Courtesy of Firstpost User Interface for Realme Watch 3 Pro ReviewLag-free user interface and transition effects. Of course, you can't install any additional apps on this watch, which is the case with almost all watches in this price range. The companion app gives you multiple customization options such as: B. Enabling and disabling watch faces and specific functions. But we like something else, which I will talk about later in this article.
Loaded with useful features
The Realme Watch 3 Pro has quite a few useful features for a budget fitness watch. Yes, its predecessor also had an SpO2 sensor and built-in GPS, but both seem to have been upgraded to this watch. The oximeter provides an accurate reading within half a minute when you hold your hand. The reading is at most one point lower than a traditional oximeter, which is acceptable because it is intended as a general guide and not a replacement for a clinical instrument.
Another feature of the Realme Watch 3 Pro is Bluetooth calling, which has been gaining popularity lately. The watch is compatible with Bluetooth 5.3 and you can answer calls directly on the watch, the built-in microphone and speaker work well enough; Almost as good as a speakerphone. However, you will need a phone to call the watch.
It also reminds you to drink water or get up and move if you've been sitting for too long. This watch has useful features including menstrual cycle tracking, music control, remote camera shutter, stopwatch and more. A notification from the selected app will be sent to the watch and the message will be read clearly on the watch screen, but you will not be able to reply.
Health and fitness tracking generally works well and GPS is accurate
Realme Watch 3 Pro claims to be able to track over 110 different fitness activities, from walking, running and cycling to weight training and cricket, table tennis, badminton, football and more. Basically you get 16 core exercises and then variations. It features professional Cywee sports algorithm for smart sports tracking. You also get 24/7 monitoring of heart rate and oxygen levels.
© Firstpost Courtesy of Realme Watch 3 Pro Sensor ReviewThis watch has a multi-system GPS chip that can help you track your outdoor activities well. Very few watches in this category offer this feature. Thanks to this, you don't need to take your phone with you to track your walk or run. It gets a GPS connection in less than 30 seconds when you're out and about and keeps a stable connection until you get home. Distance measurement is very accurate on my walks and runs. Battery drain is also manageable, with the watch losing 8-9% of its charge per hour of GPS use.
This watch's sleep tracking is where the money is. It tracks your sleep patterns and provides distractions like deep sleep, light sleep, rapid recovery and wake-up time. More analytics would be nice, but at least track sleep duration closely. Here's what the Watch 2 Pro lacks: stress monitoring. However, this puts a significant strain on battery life. You can get more information about your fitness activities in the Realme Link app, which you need to sync with this watch before starting.
What we didn't like about the Realme Watch 3 Pro:
Bad battery backup
It was a surprise and definitely uncomfortable. The predecessor lasted two weeks with the same load and while Realme advertised 10 days for the Watch 3 Pro, I expected at least that much. In fact, it only works for 4 to 5 days, at best with a moderate workload. My guess is that exercise doesn't drain it as much as the optimized circuitry inside, which draws significant power even when the watch isn't in use. For example, when I started testing this watch, it was raining heavily in Mumbai and I couldn't go out for 4 days. At the end of day 4 the battery was almost empty.
On the second run, after turning off the 24-hour stress monitor, using GPS for an hour (total), and no rings, it lasted five days, which is far from impressive. During testing, screen brightness was set to 3, notifications limited to SMS, two 30-minute GPS-enabled walks plus 45 minutes of fitness activity over two days, heart rate monitoring set to 5 minutes, two oximeter readings. Recorded sleep daily and for 3 nights. While there are fitness watches that easily last two weeks, today one week should be the minimum.
Companion apps feel clunky
The company has decided to make the Realme Link app a unified destination for all Realme AIoT products, from syncing and setup to purchase. As a result, it looks messy and can make new users trying to figure things out. It could be done with simple navigation. Meanwhile, more detailed analysis of fitness data is also welcome. At the moment it seems too simple and doesn't take full advantage of the clock.
© Courtesy of Firstpost . Realme Watch 3 Pro review. phone callNot for swimming
Realme Watch 3 Pro is IP68 waterproof, which is great. But that doesn't make it suitable for swimming. This ingress protection rating protects the watch from submersion in dust and water to a depth of approximately 1.5 meters for up to 30 minutes. So you can wear it for a walk in the rain because it can easily withstand a few splashes, but you can't jump into a pool with it. A 5ATM (water resistance up to 50 meters) rating makes this watch suitable for swimming
Minor operational issues here and there
It's not a deal breaker, but it's a few minor issues that the company can fix in the future. Realme Watch 3 Pro's collection of watch faces is quite decent, but with non-interchangeable default watch faces you can only have 5 on the watch. So you only have four slots for your watch of choice. Anything else would be nice. Some other customization options would also be nice, like choosing our favorite widgets instead of sticking with pre-installed widgets.
The minor flaw is that the click-to-wake option has no effect even after enabling sleep mode. In fact, the watch notes that enabling sleep mode disables notifications as well as wake gestures. It's actually not the former. You have to turn it off and on manually every time. And finally, when you reach a daily milestone, your achievement will only appear on the watch screen for 2 seconds until it disappears, and you often miss it. Let's have some more fun moments after Hard Yard.
© Firstpost Realme Watch 3 Pro Review Courtesy of DesignFees and Decisions.
Realme Watch 3 Pro is priced at Rs 4,999 with one year warranty. For this price, you're getting a fairly feature-rich watch with a decent AMOLED display, solid health and fitness tracking, and built-in GPS. While I can ignore the fact that it's not swim proof, the battery drain is hard to ignore. If you're okay with charging your watch twice a week, it's not a bad buy at all.
For options in this price range, the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro is a sub-thousand rupee option with built-in GPS. You'll have to swap the AMOLED display for a lower-resolution LCD, but in return you'll get more battery life, great companion apps, and a swim-proof watch. Another possible option is the recently released OnePlus Nord watch, which looks pretty promising in the initial testing phase. But it has no GPS. Looking forward to detailed evaluation.
