Budget Alcatel OneTouch Watch moves you with metal (and a heart-rate sensor)
Alcatel busts through high smartwatch prices with a $150 wearable replete with four designs and support for both Android and iOS.
LAS VEGAS -- How do you like your smartwatch? If it's round and cheap with a sporty, or even all-metal band, then Alcatel has its eye on you.
The touchscreen Alcatel OneTouch Watch comes in four different color-and-style combinations with either a white or chrome metal housing or a sporty rubber-and-plastic look in black or white. More than that, this wearable is budget-friendly, affixed with a $150 and €99 price tag when it launches globally in March. That works out to an equivalent of £98 and AU$186, though we don't have official pricing yet.
Interface and navigation
If you're familiar with the Motorola 360, then you've likely heard all the complaints about the "flat tire" design of its home screen. That's an aesthetic argument, mostly, and functionality that Alcatel adopts here. The blank space on the home screen just large enough to jab a finger at is the watch's home button.
From here, you swipe up to view notifications. Apps are laid out as flat icons rather than as menus to dig into layer by layer. You pull them up by touching or tapping the home screen; then you can scroll. There aren't any tool tips for the icons, so if you can't guess which action one commands just by looking, you'll have to just hope for the best.
A heart-rate monitor and more
We initially saw Alcatel's first smartwatch at IFA 2014, where it was code-named the Wave, and was most definitely pre-final design. Today's more simply titled OneTouch Watch does the usual pedometer-tracking and calorie counting thing, but it also adds a heart-rate monitor for both one-time tests and for ongoing exertion.
It'll track your sleep cycle, too, and control the music player as well as your camera shutter. Like others, the first tap launches the camera app and the second tells your phone when to take the picture. In addition to letting you check in on social alerts, you'll also consult the weather.
Android and iOS
Alcatel uses a closed, proprietary operating system on its watch, but can connect through Bluetooth with any Android phone running 4.3 and above. iPhones running iOS 7 and up are also supported through a watch management app that you operate from your phone. To be clear, the watch won't run Apple or Android watch apps, though you can wallpaper the watch with a photo from your phone.
Other hardware
Alcatel's watch snaps together like a typical wristwatch with bars that fold over on itself. It isn't the easiest to put on, especially if you're unfamiliar with this type of adjustment and closure, and I found that the demo model too quickly sprang off.
Battery life is always a big deal with smartwatches. Alcatel says that this one can last from two to five days on a single charge of its 210mAh battery. Charging should take an hour.
The OneTouch Watch's circular face measures 1.65 inches, or 41.8 mm. It's rated IP67 for resistance to water (30 minutes, 3 feet) and dust.
Outlook
For me, the greatest omission in Alcatel's watch is the lack of voice control in any form, an intrinsic part of Android Wear watches and the forthcoming Apple Watch that give the wrist-worn gadgets real phone-liberating convenience.
Alcatel's argument, as always, is one of cost. The features may not incite envy in your cashy-splashy friends, but it does make affordable a device that's much more of a luxury add-on than an essential part of daily communication and entertainment.
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