Wearing the InWatch Z smartwatch is like owning a chinchilla – kinda neat, but ultimately a poor decision (REVIEW)

The wearables movement, which now seems to be forcing itself upon the world whether it’s wanted or not, has led to a slew of new smartwatch models flooding the market. The trend is no different in China where one of the the strongest contenders, InWatch, launched its latest flagship device over the summer, the InWatch Z.

When InWatch released its first Android-powered watch last year, smartwatch makers were mostly small indie companies feeling out the market on crowdfunding sites. While InWatch still doesn’t have much in the way of competition from domestic hardware giants yet, it now faces off against international players like Sony, Motorola, LG, and Samsung that run on Google’s new Android Wear OS. Soon, Microsoft and Apple will join the race as well.

So how does the Z stack up? First, let’s compare some spec sheets from other Android smartwatches:

On most fronts, the InWatch Z looks good on paper, boasting strong stats paired with a handful of neat tricks up its sleeve that we’ll get to later.

Quick and painful

Let’s start with performance. The InWatch is fast and veteran Android users will feel more or less at home with the custom OS skin built on Android 4.2. InWatch runs on a shrunken version of normal Android as opposed to the newer Android Wear OS made specifically for watch interfaces. Navigation is a breeze and most apps load instantly. The display is crisp and easy to see even in broad daylight, but the tiny text can be hard to read.

Battery life is decent. Assuming moderate use, it will last a day with a working SIM inserted and two without. Charging is fast; 100 percent from a dead battery takes two or three hours. I never felt even a breath of warmth on my wrist, even after intense tasks like recording videos or attempting to play games.

I say “attempting to” because the watch’s touch sensitivity is rubbish. A match three game designed for smartwatches was downright infuriating to play on the insensitive screen. Buttons placed near the bottom edge of the screen, which include characters on the keypad and the camera’s shutter, had me seething from frustration on more than one occasion as I maniacally tapped, pressed, and jabbed. To be fair, the watch has voice input, but my mediocre Chinese wasn’t quite up to the task.

The InWatch comes with a proprietary app store, but it currently only offers about a dozen apps. You’ll have to open the browser and painstakingly type in the entire URL to find a third party app store. I eventually got the Amazon Appstore to work, and I was surprised to see just how many well-known apps are actually compatible with the InWatch’s square interface.

Oh god, please get it off me

Camera is for portraits only

Tricks up its sleeve

Conclusion