Affordable smartwatches are getting better over time, and it's now possible to buy a feature-filled device for less than Rs. 5,000.
With popular brands such as Xiaomi, Realme, OnePlus, and Amazfit popularising the idea of affordable smartwatches and fitness trackers, many buyers are looking for a stylish and easy way to track health and fitness parameters, monitor notifications quickly, and more.
Fire-Boltt Talk design: This device has a round, 1.28-inch colour touch display and a dial that resembles what you see on traditional mechanical watches. A single button that resembles a watch crown is on the right side; although the button physically turns, it doesn't have any scrolling functionality like on the Fire-Boltt Beast smartwatch.
It's worth mentioning here that the screen wasn't perfectly oriented with the dial on my review unit, and was turned just a few degrees anti-clockwise. This appears to be a manufacturing defect limited to my review unit, and it didn't affect the working of the device at all, so I've gone ahead with the review under the assumption that retail units of the Fire-Boltt Talk will have properly mounted screens.
Fire-Boltt Talk software, interface, and app The Fire-Boltt Talk runs a custom UI that is very similar to that of the Fire-Boltt Beast, which I reviewed recently, but with small differences that are meant to adapt it to the round screen. It's heavily inspired by Apple's watchOS, even if the smartwatch itself doesn't look like an Apple Watch at all.
Other useful apps include the camera shutter app, the music remote for controlling playback on the paired smartphone, the stopwatch, and the alarm. There is a blood pressure monitor on the device, but the readings were quite unreliable in my experience and I don't recommend counting on this data at all.
Fire-Boltt Talk performance and battery life Like the Fire-Boltt Beast, the Fire-Boltt Talk is device-agnostic and works with most smartphones on both the Android and iOS platforms. You can use many of its functions without being connected to a smartphone, but the key feature on the smartwatch is its ability to be used as a hands-free device, and that will need a Bluetooth source device to work.
All of that said, the whole point of a smartwatch is for it to serve as a wrist-worn second screen for your smartphone, showing you notifications, caller identification, and health parameters without having to pick up your smartphone or remove it from your pocket all the time. The Fire-Boltt Talk does this well enough, pushing notifications and letting me take calls on the watch itself efficiently enough.
The pairing process is easy enough even if this is the first time you're using a smartwatch, and is quick to complete. The preinstalled watch faces are basic but clean-looking. Apart from the time, different faces also show other information such as the date, steps, battery level, and connection status to the smartphone.
Verdict: Although quite similar to most options in the budget smartwatch segment when it comes to design and features, the Fire-Boltt Talk stands out for one key reason: its ability to work as a hands-free device and let you make and receive phone calls on your wrist.
It's a simple but effective way to take quick calls on the go, and additional health and fitness features such as step tracking, SpO2, and heart-rate monitoring make this a worthwhile option for the price.