Budget Android tablet maker E Fun is branching out into the budget Android smartwatch space. The company’s new NextOne Smartwatch has a 1.5 inch display, pairs with an Android or iOS phone to display notifications, handles weather updates and data from other third party apps, and will sell for $100 when it goes on sale in the first quarter of 2014.
The watch is unmistakably plastic and the display can be a bit tough to view from some angles. But the modified Android user interface actually works pretty well, letting you navigate through apps and settings using a touch panel and the back button on the side of the watch.
You can use the NextOne to control music playback on your phone, have it track your steps using a pedometer function, and view and respond to incoming calls, text messages, and other notifications without taking your phone out of your pocket. The watch can also act as a remote trigger for your smartphone camera.
E Fun says the NextOne should get up to 2 days of battery life. The watch runs software based on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and connects to your mobile phone using a Bluetooth 2.0 connection.
Instead of a watch, how about some kind of device I can sit on my desk that connects to my phone?
You can’t set your phone on a desk?
Yes, and I can forget/leave it there too.
How about a watch that doesn’t need a phone?