Hot Watch Edge review

A half baked and completely fried smartwatch

Hot Watch Edge review

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The Hot Watch will last about three days on standby. It isn't as strong as the week-long Pebble (the best smartwatch battery life to date), but instead fixates on juggling a cornucopia of features and input methods that zaps it of its power.

I put the Hot Watch under the same regimen as my Casio digital wristwatch, wearing it 24-hours a day and only taking it off when I slept. I kept my iPhone 6 on me with Bluetooth always on, and used the Hot Watch for gesture controlled calls and time viewing.

You can expect a full day of battery life under moderate use.

Hot Watch Edge review

The Hot Watch includes a magnetic USB charger. Successfully bumping uglies with it and the exposed power input will vibrate the watch, and a little charging icon will appear on screen.

PHTL claims it takes only 30 minutes for a full charge, meaning they're 50% right. Sometimes it took about an hour, with the occasional check up to see whether it was charging properly. The charger can unplug even from smallest gusts of a butterfly's wings.

App

If you're running iOS 8 (currently on 72% of all Apple devices), you're out of luck: The Hot Watch's smartphone app is practically incompatible.

Once launched, you'll be stuck on the grey Hot Watch logo screen. A prompt will occasionally pop up telling you to pair your iPhone and Hot Watch via a Bluetooth connection even if you already have.

Hot Watch Edge review

To assure myself I wasn't losing my mind, I relaunched the app about 20 times, restarted my iPhone 6 twice, and even waited a full hour on the default screen until finally losing my mind - for real this time.

The Hot Watch allows for open source programming, so you can make your own apps, but why bother?

Fitness

Opposed to other wearables which amass workout data, tailoring it into informative illustrations, the Hot Watch features a very basic pedometer. The fitness menu displays the total number of steps you took as well as your distance traveled, and then resets after 90 seconds.

Seriously.