Dizo Watch R Review: Should you buy? | Smartprix

Dizo Watch R is a new entry-level smartwatch that has been launched in India alongside the Dizo Buds Z Pro TWS earbuds. The circular designed watch comes with a 1.3-inch AMOLED display, 150+ watch faces for decorating that screen, sought-after fitness features like heart rate & SpO2 monitoring, 110+ sports modes, 5ATM water resistance, and 10-day battery life. All that for a sticker price of ₹5,999 (Btw, special launch price: ₹3,499).

Now, amid the CES frenzy and the New Year holiday blues, by chance, if this particular launch has flown over your head, let me tell you right off the bat, this one’s worth the watch. I will take you through the whys and whats of this watch here.

Navigate this review:

Unboxing | Specs | Design and Display | Setup and Software | Performance and Power | Verdict | Buy or not

This is the Smartprix review of the Dizo Watch R and here’s a quick look at its specs, price, and in-box contents.

Dizo Watch R Unboxing

Dizo Watch R comes in a small squarish dark gray box. There is the watch’s image on the front. You’d find the Dizo and Realme Techlife sub-branding all across the box. You could also see the highlight features printed on one of the sides. Anyways, unboxing it, you get the following contents:

• Watch with Strap
• Charging base
• User Manual

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Screen: 1.3″ 360×360 resolution, 550 nits, touchscreen
Dial: 44mm, 2.5D curved glass
Colors: Black, Pink, Grey
Body: Metallic Chassis with 150-215mm Silicone rubber strap (removable)
Dimensions and Weight: 260.62×44.73×11.70mm and 45g
Water resistance: 5ATM
Sensors: Heart Rate Sensor, SpO2, 3-axis acceleration
Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.1, Works with Dizo app
Processor: RTOS
Battery: 280mAh with Magnetic 2-pins Pogo Pin
Realme Band 2 Price: INR 5,999 (Special Launch Price: ₹3,499)

Let’s begin.

Note: The images of the watch in the article are shot on a phone. The actual screen visuals appear better in person.

Dizo Watch R has my favorite dial shape: Round. Your preference might differ but at the least, it’s not yet another squircle Apple Watch clone. And hey it’s not just the shape that surprised me but the build quality too. The metallic case oozes premium. Even its matte gray finish, the firmness of the flanking two buttons, the feel of the silicone strap on my wrist, and that 2.5D curved screen win good graces in my book.

Coming to the front, the dial size is 44mm, and the screen measures 1.3-inches. It is AMOLED in nature with 360×360 pixel resolution. At the given pixel density and 550 nits brightness, colors appear punchy, texts sharp, and blacks well… black. Now, you can also customize the look of the fascia with different watch faces. In the Dial Gallery within the Dizo app, you get to choose from around 14 options (even though the brand boasts 150+ choices) or set a custom dial created by you.

You can raise the wrist to turn on the screen and cover the screen with your palm to turn it off. The former isn’t as quick or accurate as I want it to be.

Another minor quibble would be that the band attracts dust and you will have to clean it once in a while. You can also swap it to any other band too.

At the time of shooting pictures for this review, it was drizzling and I chose to leave the stain and smear as it is. Meanwhile, I was also glad that the device is 5ATM rated for water resistance. So, one more good thing about the design.

Pairing and setting up the watch is simple. Ensure you have Bluetooth active on your phone and also have the Dizo app installed from App/Play Store. The first time you take the watch out of the box you will have to press and hold the top button of the watch for a few seconds until the Dizo logo appears and the watch boots. You will have to pick the language and thence scan a QR code using the Dizo app. Both the watch and the app would guide you through all of this. So, you don’t have to worry a bit. And in a matter of moments, you have the watch ready to roll. Note, you will have to register and input some basic details like your height and weight in the app for it to cater to you properly. The watch may also intimate you to update the firmware, and this should take a few minutes.

Once all that’s done, you have the following app interface:

The first screen/tab of the app is Home where you get a glance at major health and fitness data.

Then there is the Exercise tab (which is self-evident), Device tab (where you can toggle on/off some features. Here’s also where you get to unpair the device, set watch faces, upgrade the software, and reset the watch to factory settings.

Now, here a weird thing I found was that the app doesn’t stay always-connected with the watch. Even if it is in effect, the app shows the connection status to be negative every time I open the app and visit this screen.

That aside, the app is easy to use and navigate around. There aren’t too many bells and whistles. The plus and minus of it would be shared in the following section.

Starting off with the “Smart” watch features, there aren’t many or anything worth mentioning. Say, among the smartphone-complementary tools, there is the Notification reminder, which is timely, but not actionable (as in no way to reply or expand lengthy blocks of texts). There is a Camera option that works only if you open the camera within the Dizo app, not the default phone camera app. The Find Device option triggers a vibration for a few seconds only. The Dial Gallery isn’t populated with fancy backgrounds as one would want. And the Upgrade option for some reason always shows a red dot presumably for pending updates, while there is none.

Not everything is spoiled though, as I appreciate goodies like Music Control, Stopwatch, Timer, Weather forecast, Drink reminder, and Sedentary alert. Female users are likely to find the Menstrual Cycle tracker useful.

As for the fitness side of things, the basics are well covered with an acceptable margin of error. By this I mean the step counting would be erratic and record even when you are just moving on your bed. Similarly, the SpO2 reads and heartbeat BPMs won’t be the same as a medical device. This is something Dizo as well as any other consumer products of its type admits to. So, what you are getting is a means to gauge your health stats and fitness performance over time so as to maintain consistency and morale for progress.

And while you are working out, the watch can record your health stats like heart rate (24Hrs, Avg, Max, Min), blood oxygen (highest, lowest), and sleep (timing, duration, quality). Now for some this should suffice while others might want more in-depth data, analysis, and scores.

Anyhoo, while all those sensors and activities run, the Watch R is rated to last for a maximum of 12 days. The underlying 280mAh when loses steam, plug in the magnetic charger bundled in the box, and the thing should fill it fully in 2 hours.

And at last, it’s time for the moment of truth.

Dizo Watch R is a really good smartwatch on the surface — both literally and figuratively. It has got a sturdy and suave design with a round dial, a colorful and contrasty AMOLED screen, swappable straps, and 5ATM water resistance. But, there is no dust protection. Likewise, even though the specs on the paper are promising, the software and some of the features aren’t polished or fleshed out as they should’ve been. Now if you are a casual watch wearer who just wants to keep tabs on key health parameters and fitness progress, the given feature-set should suffice. The raft of sports modes and the health monitors on offer along with a rather long battery life should be enough for you. Especially, for the launch price of ₹3,499, this is definitely worth considering. However, at the MSRP of ₹5,999, you’ll have other options.

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