CoWatch - Alexa on your wrist

For Alexa fans out there, CoWatch hit the market. It’s pretty expensive, but looks good…

I was watching a TV show this week with a character named Alexa… and the inevitable happened ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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Was watching a YouTube vid a while ago and the guy said Alexa open the garage door and it did :smile: I guess we know why you cannot open garage doors by just saying that…

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And this is why Alexa integration with smart locks is so controversial…

Not sure I would be comfortable for very long with that 1.2 pound block attached to my wrist.

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I haven’t seen any other posts in regards to the new CoWatch so I figured I’d chime in with my experience in case anyone is looking to buy one:

Esthetically the watch looks great. Slightly heavier feel than the Apple Watch but still comfortable. The band is easily adjustable and the charging station was solid. Screen protector was also included which was nice. Unfortunately for me I’m not quite sold on the product yet.

Watch OS – the UI seems a little outdated and primitive but not a problem. There is a lot of monotone colors, probably to conserve on battery. Still it’s pretty responsive to finger gestures. The display is always on (you can change this) and the watch shifts to a low power mode when not in use to conserve battery. Basically it dims the screen. I wish it would turn on when you raise your hand but instead you have to double tap the screen to activate it. Hopefully an update later will change this

Notifications – Phone notifications will go to my watch but that’s about it. Couldn’t answer calls or respond to texts like you’re supposed to. They are changing and updating the OS a lot so functionality comes and goes for certain things. My iPhone is jailbroken and running 9.3.3 so to be fair I tested it on another iPhone… same results. I have yet to test it on Android.

Apps – Limited apps, which I already expected. Basic weather, fitness, alarms. It does have an IFTT app which allows you to set up 7 triggers after you connect the CoWatch channel. There is no text message app like you see in the commercials. I’ve emailed the company to see why it’s been removed but no response yet. If you’re a fitness nut this has a step tracker and heartbeat monitor but it doesn’t log anything. Only tracks steps for that day and then restarts the next day. Heart rate is only on-demand.

WiFi/Bluetooth – Connection to the internet obviously comes from your phone. WiFi is the best and easily transitions between networks. Bluetooth connection is still a little buggy. Bluetooth drops connections often and always displays the blue “Personal Hotspot” banner at the top of my phone which I’ve never liked. So if you’re primarily using this indoors with a WiFi connection you shouldn’t have an issue.

Alexa – The main reason I bought this. It works about 80% of the time – meaning it loses connection and you’ll have re-login. I’m anticipating that to get better since it’s their main selling point. However, with that being said I also expected that to work flawlessly since without it it’s not worth its price tag. Outside of the connection issues it works perfectly and I like that I don’t have to say “Alexa” first. I can be anywhere away from home and still send commands. The actual Echo device does not light up and speak when using the watch for commands. Most of the connection issues always seem to be when I was showing off the watch “Hey, check out what this can do …….uumm, dammit….hold on” lol.

Conclusion – The watch is a decent product but still needs work. Unless you want the Alexa integration this is not the watch for you. The $300 price tag IMO is too steep for what it actually does in comparison to others of the same cost. For me I didn’t use the Alexa function much outside of home, so think about how much you’ll actually use it and that into consideration when buying this. The company is new and is open to consumer input. I anticipate improvement so I’ll keep the watch but my Apple Watch is still my everyday watch.

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