This review is long overdue. Simply put, we were busy making mHealth Spot a better site. In any case, we are glad that we’ve finally find time to post our Wellograph review.
It’s an interesting product and if there were no Android Wear devices and the upcoming Apple Watch, we’re sure it would sell like cupcakes. With increasing competition, the situation has changed and today it’s hard to recommend Wellograph to a mainstream consumer. Though you never know. Read on to find out how we like it.
Tech Specs
- DISPLAY: 1.26-inch LCD with integrated backlight
- BATTERY: 210 mAH / up to 7 Days
- STRAP: Genuine leather
- SENSORS: Tri-LED HR sensor + 9-Axis accelerometer
- CONNECTIVITY: Bluetooth 4.0 LE
- DATA: 4 Months of Records
- CASE MATERIALS: Sapphire, Stainless Steel and Aluminum
- CHARGER: Magnetic Dock + Micro USB Cable
- WATER RESISTANCE: Up to 5ATM / 50m / 165ft
- DIMENSIONS: 42 x 33 x 12.5 mm / 1.65 x 1.30 x 0.5 inches
- WEIGHT: 55g / 3.5oz
Design
PROS
Elegant design
Sapphire glass
Long battery life
CONS
Expensive (a bit)
No notifications
Competition is getting betterWellograph is one of the best looking smart watches ever. Perhaps the Moto 360 is nicer but it doesn’t rock the sapphire glass display that provides that extra level of durability. It’s made to look good both with casual wardrobe and business suit.
The watch comes wrapped in a stainless steel frame that sits on top of the anodized aluminum backing; there are two large buttons on the right side that are used for navigating through Wellograph’s menu. Complementing the fancy look and feel is the included brown leather strap with stainless steel clasp.
The device is slightly thicker than we wanted to be. At 12.5 mm, you will need some to get used to wearing the Wellograph. Occasional smacks off a few walls and the undersides of tables are expected but don’t worry – that sapphire glass will protect the watch.
Perhaps one thing that could be improved is the screen size. Simply put, the bezels around the display are too large for our taste, leaving room for improvements in some future version 2.0.
Once you need to recharge the watch — and you’ll need to do that after up to 7 days — simply place it into an accompanying dock to add more juice.
Software
Wellograph has a fairly basic on-watch software that is controlled with two large buttons on the side. The lack of a touchscreen makes for a longer battery life.
The bezels around Wellograph’s display are too large for our taste.Included in the package are few different watch faces, all rather simple, though providing users with key information, including the current date and time, and steps taken during the day.
What’s notoriously missing are notifications. As far as we understand, all of the hardware needed to deliver information and alerts on one’s wrist are already there, and it’s just a matter of adding that capability to the software (both on the watch and the mobile app).
Speaking of the accompanying mobile app, it is equally simple, and can “learn” a lot from the likes of Misfit, Jawbone and Fitbit all of which have much better mobile apps.
Users can see their heart date, steps, distance and other details that are presented in Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and Overall views. At the beginning of the month, the graph resets and is empty again until a few more days are recorded.
Usage
Cardio tracking
The Wellograph has a fairly basic system of keeping up with one’s activity. There’s a screen on the watch to display distance travelled during a workout, and users can also choose to show their pace, speed, or calories burned. However, it’s not perfectly accurate, though the company is updating this feature all the time.
Earlier measurements we took have shown slight differences between the distance the phone and Wellograph watch have caught — in all cases, the watch was to blame for recording the shorter distance. To be fair, this is a downside of most wrist-based trackers, and we’re sure an update will be released to address this issue.
Heart Rate Monitor
In a day, the watch might pick up more than 100 readings of the pulse to get an accurate measurement.Wellograph has three green LEDs and a sensor on the backside to record user’s heart rate. The readings are automatically activated every 10 minutes, and there’s also a way to manually check the current pulse through the Pulse Mode. Turning on this mode will start measuring your pulse for every 10-15 seconds.
Don’t expect great results during an exercise, though; Wellograph will stop recording the pulse even while walking, when its movement sensors detect that you aren’t standing still.
In a day, the watch might pick up more than 100 readings of the pulse to get an accurate measurement.
Pedometer
The Wellograph will work like a charm when walking. As we discussed earlier, problems arise when you go for a run. You will get information on your exercise levels just don’t expect perfect results. We have to admit that “pure” fitness trackers like Misfit Shine are better in every aspect of activity tracking, but those devices don’t serve as a watch. Plus, Wellograph looks much better than any basic activity tracker we’ve seen.
Sleep tracking
The Wellograph has a fairly basic system of keeping up with one’s activity.Wellograph has just recently added this capability to make for a more complete picture of one’s well being.
Presuming you keep wearing the watch while in bed, the device will automatically detect that you’re sleeping and present details in the morning. Again, don’t expect wonders here, but you will get the idea when to take a rest.
UPDATE: In a recent update, Wellograph has added the sensitivity setting on the watch? There are medium and high settings, so if you feel it is undercounting you can set it to high. The medium option on the other hand will not count motions such as moving the arm up when you’re not actually active.
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Conclusion
Despite some of the limitations mentioned here, Wellograph is a nice product. We’re not sure we can recommend it over Pebble, some Android Wear unit or the upcoming Apple Watch, but we are sure it will find its audience among the non-geek community that wants to track their activity with a single device that also happens to show the time. The lack of notifications is a deal-breaker for the tech-savvy community, though. For what it matters, the same amount of cash ($299) gets you the Apple Watch while pretty much all Android Wear devices cost less. And the same goes for Pebble.