Huawei Watch 2 review: No time for this half-baked sequel

Huawei built up a lot of good will over the past two years, only to let it slide in 2017.

The original Huawei Watch was a go-to choice for those who wanted an Android Wear watch that was a bit sleeker and better built than most other choices throughout 2016. It was a bit on the expensive side, and yes it was thick, but it had a slick exterior and lugs that could adapt to just about any sort of band you wanted to put on it. When Android Wear 2.0 was readying for launch, fans awaited a refresh of the Huawei Watch for 2017 that could carry on that good will.

And then, we got this: the Huawei Watch 2. A watch so clearly not designed in any way to be a successor to the original Huawei Watch, and unfortunately also not built to the same hardware standards. The Huawei Watch 2 actually had a last-minute branding change from “Huawei Watch 2 Sport,” and had Huawei kept that name it would have made a bit more sense overall — but still, the more classically built Huawei Watch 2 Classic doesn’t exactly follow the original Huawei Watch’s design or quality, either.

This is a clean break from the original Huawei Watch in terms of everything but branding. This is a big, feature-packed watch, but unfortunately one that takes a different direction in quality while retaining a high price. Does it have enough to stand out from what is already a growing crowd of 2017 Android Wear 2.0 watches? Our full review covers all the bases.

About this review

I (Andrew Martonik) am writing this review after 11 days using the Huawei Watch 2, connected over Bluetooth to an LG G6. The watch arrived with pre-release software, and was not updated during the course of the review. It was provided to Android Central for review by Huawei.

New big watch

Huawei Watch 2 Hardware

From a distance, the Huawei Watch 2 looks like a typical big sport-focused watch not too different from the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier. But when you pick it up, strap it on your wrist and interact with it, the watch feels much more like a toy than anything else. The so-called “mixed plastics” that make up the body range from thin textured panels around the side to faux metal buttons and a polished glass-like (but undeniably still plastic) bezel.

It looks decent from a distance, but doesn’t feel anything like it should.

That bezel, which is gnarled like the Gear S3’s, evokes the feeling that you should be able to rotate it … but alas, it is fixed in place. Incidentally, the back of the watch that rests on your wrist is the best-feeling part as it’s a solid piece of milled metal — an interesting reversal from most other smartwatches that use metal primarily and cheap-feeling plastic on the back, but disappointing nonetheless. Despite all of the apparent openings around the case, the Huawei Watch 2 is also IP68 dust and water-resistant, which is important to offer on any smartwatch today.

The included sport-styled rubber band is perhaps the cheapest feeling piece of the entire watch. Even though it is plenty thick and feels relatively robust like it could survive some damage over time, it is super glossy and slick feeling — befitting of a $25 Timex from Walmart, not a $300+ smartwatch. Look no further than the quality of band you can get on the Gear S3 to see how to do this type of band right at the same price. Huawei’s band certainly looks the part, but in no way executes on the quality.

The Huawei Watch 2’s thick bezel stands up tall over the circular display that clocks in at just 1.2-inches across, which is definitely on the small side compared to the overall size of the watch case. The 390×390 AMOLED display looks pretty good, but isn’t to the level of what Samsung and LG are doing on their wearables today — thankfully it has automatic brightness without a flat tire, and is covered with Gorilla Glass.

A bunch of specs with absolutely no design direction or execution.

Internally the Huawei Watch 2 has the same story we’re going to see time and time again in 2017 Android Wear smartwatches. A Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, 768MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, a heart rate sensor, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC and optional LTE. Perhaps the only impressive part of this hardware is that Huawei managed to fit everything listed previously inside a case that is 49 x 45 mm, and just 12.6 mm thick, while retaining a removable 20 mm watch band — a solid improvement from the much larger and heavier LG Watch Sport.

This dovetails into the only other redeeming quality of the Huawei Watch 2: it is so much lighter than the competition. It’s made out of plastic, so it darn well better be lighter, but the Huawei Watch weighs just 59 grams — a full 30 grams lighter than the LG Watch Sport. So even with its 12.6 mm thickness and relatively large case size, it doesn’t feel as large. And for a watch that is undeniably styled to be a go-anywhere, do-anything type of wearable, that’s very important.

Wear 2.0 is still good

Huawei Watch 2 Software and experience

An important quality of Android Wear from the perspective of someone who will use multiple smartwatches over the course of the year is how similar the experience is from model to model. With near-identical internals and software, the core experience of Android Wear 2.0 is consistent across watches — and indeed the Huawei Watch 2 handles notifications, navigation, Google Assistant and fitness tracking the same as the LG Watch Sport I reviewed less than a month ago.

One of the best parts of Android Wear is its consistency across devices.

The only places that Huawei can differentiate itself is with pre-installed watch faces and apps, which in both cases — at least on this pre-release software — it hasn’t executed dutifully.

Many of the pre-installed watch faces are not well-styled to match the Huawei Watch 2’s hardware, and don’t integrate with Android Wear 2.0’s new watch face complication API. Thankfully there’s a growing number of good watch faces in the Play Store, but I just wish I had the same great ones available on my LG Watch Sport (and perhaps it will in final firmware). Huawei’s integrated fitness app is also a hot mess, with a subpar design and annoying reminders to do stretches throughout the day, but thankfully you can bypass it in favor of the revamped Google Fit (which can do daily step tracking and workouts) and a cadre of third-party fitness apps.

Our complete Android Wear 2.0 review!

Android Wear 2.0 is a complete overhaul of Google’s wearable platform, from interface and design to apps and functionality. For the complete breakdown of everything that’s new in the latest release, be sure to read our complete Android Wear 2.0 review.

Read our complete Android Wear 2.0 review here!

Skipping a rotating bezel or crown is a big miss.

One of Android Wear 2.0’s optional features, the aptly named “rotational input,” is unfortunately not here in any form. At one time I would have balked at this as a superfluous addition, but my time with the LG Watch Sport and Samsung Gear S3 has completely converted me to wanting a rotating bezel or crown on a smartwatch. It’s a clean and fast way to navigate the interface — particularly on Android Wear 2.0 — and would have been extra helpful considering the Huawei Watch 2’s small 1.2-inch display and large bezel that gets in the way of precise edge touches.

Two of Android Wear 2.0’s new features — mobile payments and independent cellular connectivity — have made their way here, though, and work as they do on the LG Watch Sport. The Huawei Watch 2’s SIM card tray is easily accessible without tools, and though U.S. carriers have yet to announce formal support for the watch (which hasn’t yet launched stateside) there’s no reason why it couldn’t integrate with their number sync systems just as any other Android Wear 2.0 watch. Android Pay on a watch of this size is table stakes going forward, but again it’s great to see it in a watch that’s smaller than LG’s and has a removable band.

Battery life

After using the LG Watch Sport and needing to charge it each and every night, I was surprised to see Huawei claiming two days of use out of its 420 mAh battery. Thanks to its smaller display and perhaps some software tuning, the Huawei Watch 2 absolutely can handle two days of use — at least in my usage with an always-on watch face, automatic brightness but not using LTE. A typical day of light usage would leave me with upwards of 60% battery when I went to bed. I would guess that with LTE turned on and always-on watch faces turned off, you could maybe eke out two full days depending on how much you hit the mobile data.

This is definitely a two-day watch, even without special configuration.

More realistically for those who are expecting to charge their smartwatch every night right where they charge their phone, the Huawei Watch 2 offers plenty of head room in terms of being able to hit the watch hard with app use, fitness tracking and even GPS for runs without worrying about it dying in a single day.

Huawei’s clip-on charger feels just as cheap as the watch, and while it isn’t as elegant as the stand-up inductive chargers that you find on other watches it definitely gets the job done and is far preferable if you need to travel. The charger can easily be wound up and stuffed in a bag, and for a lot of people that’s a bigger feature than being able to nicely display the watch on your bedside table in a cradle. It also clips on satisfyingly with magnets, so you know it will always charge when it’s attached.

A disappointing round 2

Huawei Watch 2 Bottom line

Huawei unfortunately squandered the good will it built up over the past two years with the original Huawei Watch. The Huawei Watch 2, while retaining a sequential naming convention, is in no way a worthy step up from the original. To its credit Huawei did execute on the core feature set we expect in order to recommend an Android Wear 2.0 watch: good performance, a full spec sheet and solid battery life.

This feels like a small company’s first smartwatch.

Unfortunately, it’s the fringe decisions that don’t give you the feeling that this is a complete product. The Huawei Watch 2’s design seems fine from a sport watch perspective, but the build quality and materials are far from great. The display is a bit on the small side and is just middle-of-the-road in terms of quality. The Huawei-added watch faces and software aren’t compelling, and the lack of a rotating bezel or crown feels like a missed opportunity.

For less money, it may be easier to accept the Huawei Watch 2 for what it is. But at €329 for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi or €379 with LTE, Huawei is asking way too much money for this low level of design and hardware execution. As a complete product, the Huawei Watch 2 feels befitting of a small company making its first smartwatch, not a massive global consumer electronics maker aiming to improve on what was one of the best smartwatches of the last generation.

If you’re feeling nostalgic about the original Huawei Watch, or just enjoy all of the specs and features that Huawei is able to push into the Huawei Watch 2, but (understandably) don’t like its exterior, there’s a good chance that the metal-and-leather Huawei Watch 2 Classic will be a better one to consider. Its more understated case, metal construction and more typical lugs will fit with more styles of clothing — but at €399 is even more expensive than the Huawei Watch 2.

See at Huawei

Tile Deal: Get money off the Bluetooth tracker

If you’ve been thinking about getting Tile, now’s the time.

Tile, the company behind the tiny, square-shaped Bluetooth trackers that help you find stuff, has announced it will have a sale on the Slim version of its Tile product. The limited-time offer will be held from 12 March to 18 March, and it’s specifically for the four-pack, which normally costs $100 and is available worldwide. You can get it on-sale for just $70. Again, the Tile Mate model is not available as part of the sale.

Confused about what Tile is and how it works? We’ve explained all you need to know about the gadget below.

What is Tile?

Tile is a Bluetooth tracker with a built-in speaker. You can use the Tile – in conjunction with an app – to find lost items. People use Tile to track all sorts of objects, such as keys, wallets, cars, or laptops. Almost anything can be tracked, including your phone.

How does Tile work?

There’s four main aspects to Tile.

First, it has a speaker and works with an app so that you can force it from your phone to ring loudly. You simply put Tile in your wallet or on your keychain or stuff it in or affix it to anything else you might commonly lose, and then you’d use the Tile app to ring it and thus find the lost item. Tile has a 100-foot Bluetooth range.

Second, if you always keep the Tile app running in the background, it will automatically remember the last time and place you last had your Tile/item so you know where to start looking. Third, Tile is a button of sorts, so if you can’t find your phone, you can always double press on the Tile itself, which will cause your lost phone ring – even on silent.

Fourth, Tile has a competitive advantage over other Bluetooth trackers because of its “lost and found” network. When something goes missing and it’s not where the Tile app last saw it, you can resort to the entire Tile community for help. Tile uses a “passive network”, so any phone running the Tile app is anonymously looking for other “lost” Tiles all the time, like your Tiles.

If you leave your Tile in a jacket at the coffee shop, another Tile user walking by in the next hour can notify you through a passive text message. Then, once youʼre within Bluetooth range, they can “ring” that object through the app to locate it by sound.

What are the different Tile models?

Tiles comes in two different models designed to work with all your favourite things: Tile Slim, which is as thin as two credit cards, and the Tile Mate, which has a convenient hole to attach to your keys or bags. You can pick up a Tile Slim 4-pack now for $70 on sale.

Giphy’s latest app is exclusively for animated stickers

When is a GIF not a GIF? Well, when it’s pronounced JIF, for one; but also, when it’s actually a sticker. Blurring this boundary is lord of the looping image Giphy, which recently introduced a neat, educational set of signing GIFs — or a new toolkit for creating complex reaction memes, depending on how you look at it. Getting back to tomfoolery, the company is launching Giphy Stickers today.

Giphy Stickers isn’t an entirely new app. Instead of wading into uncharted waters alone, Giphy has acquired existing iOS, Android and iMessage app Imoji, animated its entire sticker library, added a bunch of new ones, and updated the in-app creation feature so you can make your own, moving stickers. Oh, and rebranded the thing to Giphy Stickers, of course.

These GIF/emoji hybrids won’t just be available to liven up your group chats or social posts on smartphones. All will also feature in a new channel on Giphy’s regular homepage and are intended, as the company puts it, “to help you communicate all your feels, even when you can’t put them into words.”

Source: Giphy, (iOS), (Android)

Google’s Uptime is all about snarky YouTube parties

Last year, Google created Area 120, an incubator where employees with (approved) ideas can spend their “20 percent time” on side projects. One of the groups has just released Uptime, an app that lets you meet friends, share YouTube videos and add stickers, “sparkles,” hearts and snarky comments. You can search for video content within the app, which can also will help you find friends “based on common connections within Uptime,” according to the FAQ. Ironically, it’s only available on iOS and not Google’s Android, at least for now.

The app is not unlike a feature called “Video Party” that we first saw on Microsoft’s now-defunct So.cl. Like that app, Uptime lets you watch YouTube videos together with others and make comments, but not to record or stream your own videos. It’s also a way to get daily video recommendations from friends so that you won’t miss the cat or kid video du jour. Other apps like Sean Parker’s Airtime give you similar YouTube party features but also let you chat over video.

It would make a lot of sense for Google to integrate the app into YouTube, rather than having it work as a standalone product. If it is planning to do that, running it in a limited way on iOS only would let the Area 120 group develop the features in a controlled way. If you have an iPhone and want to try it out, you can now grab it here.

Source: Uptime

Facebook bars use of its social data for surveillance tools

Twitter now has a key ally in its fight against surveillance tools: its biggest rival. Facebook has updated its policies to explicitly forbid developers from using its data (including Instagram’s) to create surveillance tools that target its users. The social network says it has already cracked down on these monitoring platforms for violating existing policies in the past several months, but the new approach theoretically eliminates any ambiguity about the company’s views.

The move comes after the ACLU, Color of Change and other organizations called out both Facebook and Twitter for not doing enough to prevent law enforcement from easily tracking protesters using social network data. The groups argue that social surveillance tools have a chilling effect on free speech. You’re less likely to speak out if you know police will start watching your every move in response, and there’s a concern that you may be falsely implicated in criminal behavior simply because you posted in the same general location as a handful of protesters that broke the law.

This doesn’t necessarily close the book on the surveillance issue. The ACLU views the policy as just a “first step” — it now wants Facebook to properly enforce the policy through both automated and human-controlled means, and quickly give developers the boot if they’re found violating the rules. Facebook clearly thinks that’s already the case, but the proof will come if and when a developer is found misusing Facebook data in the future — who’ll find them first, and will they face swift discipline?

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Facebook, ACLU

Nintendo Switch Vulnerable to Hacking Through Outdated Version of Apple’s WebKit Browser Engine

iOS hacker qwertyoruiop has discovered that an old iOS 9.3 WebKit vulnerability lies hidden within Nintendo’s latest home console/portable hybrid, the Nintendo Switch, and subsequently hacked the console in the process (via SlashGear). The exploit lies in the Switch’s limited web browser functionality, which allows users to sync up with Twitter and Facebook as well as connect to public Wi-Fi hotspots, and is all run by Apple’s open source browser engine WebKit.

The Switch’s version of WebKit is older than the one currently running on up-to-date iOS and macOS devices, however, allowing Nintendo’s device to become vulnerable to a collection of critical exploits that plagued iOS 9.3 last summer. One, named “Pegasus,” was a highly sophisticated exploit that installed itself within an iOS device through a link sent via a text message. Apple eventually addressed and fixed these issues with iOS 9.3.5.

that’s just how it goes pic.twitter.com/ztkFrbjz5u

— qwertyoruiop (@qwertyoruiopz) March 11, 2017

For unknown reasons, Nintendo opted to include a version of WebKit that doesn’t have these fixes, allowing qwertyoruiop to use an existing iOS WebKit jailbreak, remove any iOS-specific code, and tweak it so it runs on the Switch. The existence of a known exploit running on Switch points towards a rushed release, which was already believed to be the case since the company’s fiscal year ends March 31, 2017 and the Switch launched March 3.

Developer LiveOverflow yesterday published a proof of concept video on the Switch WebKit exploit, further detailing how the bug originating on Apple’s devices can be used to hack a Nintendo Switch.

The userland exploit “doesn’t mean much for the end user,” according to Wololo, because it hasn’t revealed any detailed information on the Switch yet, nor does it hand over full kernel access to hackers. As the news slowly makes the rounds online, it’s most likely that Nintendo will add in a patch to the old WebKit exploit in a future update to the Switch.

Tags: Nintendo, Nintendo Switch
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TomTom Adventurer review: Great for the great outdoors

The TomTom Adventurer takes the company’s existing sports watch line-up – as familiar in the Runner or Spark – with the added twist of a barometer for additional outdoor activity tracking abilities.

TomTom is clearly looking to cement its place in sport devices, an offshoot of a business that was once focused on in-car GPS devices. In addition to its variety of products the company is also striving to improve its app offering to create an experience that’s more encompassing than previous efforts.

With strong competition from the likes of the Garmin Fenix 3 and Polar V800, the TomTom Adventurer’s hook is that it doesn’t cost an absolute fortune. Does that mean its compromised from the off?

TomTom Adventurer review: Design

• 22 x 25mm monochrome display
• Waterproof to 40m
• Four-way controller
• Enhanced strap

The TomTom Adventurer’s body is exactly the same as the company’s existing devices: a single-piece body that fits into the separate strap. The only physical difference is a small change in the moulding on the rear to incorporate the barometer sensor.

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The biggest visual difference you’ll spot is the strap styling. It’s slightly more substantial, but we really like it. The buckle works nicely and the materials make this a comfortable watch to wear on long activities or even casually through the day. The strap also has a slightly raised lip to the front around the display, designed to add a little more protection for the screen.

As you can swap straps, there’s nothing to stop you buying a different version when you fancy a change, different colour or style. We daresay you’ll be able to buy the Adventurer strap for other watch models too if you’re just drawn to the look of this watch, rather than the features. As it is, this strap is much easier to change size on the move, perhaps loosening after a long time wearing as your wrist swells.

As with other TomTom devices, there’s a monochrome display (no fancy battery-sapping colour here), and a four-way controller beneath it curling down onto your wrist. There are no other buttons, no touchscreen to get to grips with, just that four-way control.

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There’s waterproofing to 40m/5ATM, meaning that is a watch that you can swim in, shower in, snowboard in, without having to worry about water damage. 

TomTom Adventurer review: Functions and features

• Optical heart-rate sensor
• Barometer
• GPS tracking
• Bluetooth music with 3GB internal storage

There’s no real difference from other devices in the TomTom family and there’s also a lot of overlap in terms of features too. That’s a downside, because there’s no real variety in design and TomTom’s sports devices are therefore a little confusing.

The Spark is aimed at fitness, the Runner is aimed at runners, but both are the same: same prices, same design, same features, same experience, although there are various tiers of each – GPS, HRM, music. The only difference is the packaging.

• TomTom Spark 3 review: Getting better with age

The Adventurer essentially parachutes itself in at the top of the existing collection with that barometer hardware opening up some new features. As this watch will more accurately detect a change in altitude, it offers more accuracy and more interesting stats for outdoor sports, like hiking, skiing and snowboarding – features you don’t get on the other models.

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In some areas the experience is very much the same – running, gym training and cycling, for example – although one of the additions is 3D distance, more accurately taking into account the change in elevation along your route.

That makes the TomTom Adventurer a more natural choice for outdoor sports where hills are involved, so might appeal to the likes of adventure racers or hikers, fell runners or just cyclists who want to see altitude more accurately. For skiers and snowboarders there’s automatic lift detection so you don’t have to poke the button to stop your watch. There’s also a display of the run you’ve just completed, so you can geek out over the stats before you hit it again.

Aside from the additional information that can be gleaned from the extra sensor, the TomTom Adventurer offers all the features of the top Spark/Runner model, so it has local music playback via Bluetooth headphones (not included), GPS, heart rate and full-time step tracking, as well as sleep tracking. 

It also offers the route function introduced on the Spark 3/Runner 3, meaning you can trace your way back to where you started, although this is only a rough route trace rather than any sort of visual mapping.

This also supports GPX trail uploads, so you can add route data to follow. Again, this isn’t Garmin Epix style mapping, it’s a trace of the route to aid your navigation, paired with the compass, rather than replacing a map. You can, for example, find your way back the route using the compass.

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Perhaps a downside on the hardware front is the lack of an automatic light sensor. There is a “night” mode hiding in the options menu that will let you turn on illumination for the display. The positive is that you can have it off during the day and that saves battery. But it’s a bit of a fiddle to get to it if it’s dark.

In terms of the user interface, it’s something we wish was easier to access: the old Nike+ Sportswatch with TomTom (where this all started in 2011), would illuminate when you slapped it. A simple option for rotational illumination – as you get on Android Wear – would be a nice addition here.

• Polar M600 review: Top-notch smartwatch and fitness tracker fusion

TomTom Adventurer review: Performance and accuracy

• Excellent heart-rate tracking
• Useful and accessible altitude features
• 24hr hiking use, 11hr GPS tracking

We’ve long been fans of the optical heart-rate tracker on the rear of these TomTom devices: we’ve found the TomTom Spark 3 to hold its own against a heart rate chest strap on rival Garmin devices, and with greater reliability, i.e., less lag, than some other wrist-based devices. That performance is repeated on the Adventurer, returning consistent heart-rate tracking.

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We’ve also found the GPS to be generally good. This is more of a level playing field, with many devices using similar setups to track GPS position using on-watch sensors. The trick that TomTom attempts to use is taking a “QuickGPS” hotfix from your phone when it syncs. This uses data gathered from the phone’s location to give the Adventurer a head start in rapidly finding your new location.

Generally this feature works well. Like the Apple Watch or some Android Wear devices, GPS location is quickly found, whereas some standalone devices will have to search a little harder (and longer) to figure out exactly where they are. That said, before you start a GPS-tracked activity, you’ll have to wait for the watch to locate itself. Cold starts with no phone sync can see you standing around a few minutes waiting before you can actually start.

Once locked in, the tracking features are plenty capable. There’s some variance, naturally, but we’ve found the Adventurer to be accurate to distance measurements on a map and to comparable wrist-worn devices. This TomTom is designed to take into account changes in elevation, too, to give you a more accurate picture of the distance you actually travelled, rather than just as the crow flies.

The barometer adds an altitude dimension that gives you a little more than standard GPS altimeter results. You can check the elevation at any time on the watch, and you can also check the gradient. This is fun, perhaps not hugely useful: you’ll know it’s steep and knowing the percentage perhaps doesn’t add much to your metrics, but each to their own. You could, of course, compare this to contour lines on a map for at-a-glance confirmation of your location. Yes, you’re supposed to be walking down this -24 per cent slope.

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We do like the change in ascent and descent figures, however, because it’s much easier to visualise than something like gradient. And who doesn’t like to know that they’ve climbed a long way?

Transferring this to real maps, knowing the elevation – which you often don’t get to see on a normal GPS watch – means you know how much more climbing you can expect to do to hit the summit, for example. For walkers in the hills, it’s a nice additional piece of information, where speed, pace or heart rate might be less important, but that on-the-fly Naismith’s estimation might be aided with this additional information.

The Adventurer pulls these things together logically with a hiking, ski and snowboard modes for those playing outdoors. The swim, run, bike, gym and other modes are more common and basically the same as the Spark and Runner, but those outdoor modes are really what makes the TomTom Adventurer fit for its job.

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The Adventurer claims 11-hours of GPS tracking per charge. That’s a pretty long day event, although you can extend that to 24-hours in hiking mode, which might see you through a 100km trail, for example. Using all the functions – that’s GPS, heart rate and music playback – will see it to around five hours per charge, which should see you through a marathon.

TomTom also claims that you’ll get up to three weeks of general tracking from this watch, which is step-tracking and not much else. For us we’ve managed about a week, using it for a couple of runs and daily wear. In that sense it’s not too different to other sports watches, and significantly better in casual wear than most smart watches which will only give you two days of use at the most. 

Most “fitness” smartwatches purport to offer a hiking mode or similar, but the endurance of devices like the TomTom Adventurer, Garmin Vivoactive HR or Suunto Ambit 3 Vertical makes them more appealing to those who want a tool for the job, rather than something that does everything.

TomTom Adventurer review: Sports app

• New Sports app improves connection
• Life-style approach to data
• Syncs with Strava, MyFitnessPal and others

We’ve criticised previous TomTom devices because of the smartphone experience that goes along with it. This has changed recently, however, with the launch of the new TomTom Sports app. This replaces the MySports app and it’s much better overall. 

Starting at the beginning,: there’s still a need to register your watch by plugging it into a computer USB. This element is still a little backwards, but via the app on your PC or Mac you can then sync the watch to your account. A similar process takes place on your Android or iPhone, downloading the app and connecting to your watch.

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In the past, we’ve found this to be a troublesome point in our relationship with the TomTom Spark/Runner. Just getting it to sync was hit and miss. Things are much better with the new app. That’s a big connectivity hurdle removed.

We said previously that you can upload GPX files for trails, but you’ll have to do that via a PC connection. You can’t upload a file through the app on your phone, so it’s slightly less mobile than you might want it to be. Again, if you want music on your Adventurer, you’ll have to upload a playlist from your PC, rather than being about to sensibility select tracks from your phone. It means that in general, you need to be a little more considered about what you do.

With all that said, the MySport area of your TomTom account on the website gives a good area to view your activities and will give you routes with more detailed mapping, so if you’ve been on a longer trek, for example, you’ll probably find yourself back on the website.

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The app also does a reasonable job of representing your activity and it covers everything from a breakdown in your activity to your daily stats, like your resting heart rate and your achievements. It’s perhaps not as sophisticated as Polar Flow or Garmin Connect, taking more of a lifestyle approach than those other apps that are a little more serious, stemming from the heart-rate tracking running crowd. 

There are some interesting highlights in the new TomTom Sport app. It highlights your activity achievements with gold, silver or bronze icons, making it easy to glance down and find your longest or fastest, for example. It also attempts to pull out trends, saying that your distance is increasing, but here it never really seems to be as authentic as Polar Flow’s direct session feedback, or Garmin’s recovery stats.

The app will also share data with other platforms like Strava and perhaps more critically MyFitnessPal, which will in turn share this data with a wide range of other platforms, so you can get your workout data in Fitbit, for example (but not steps). All these connections, however, need to be managed through the website, rather than in the app.

• Which Fitbit is right for me?

But that’s really where this device ends. Unlike the Garmin Vivoactive HR that’s a natural rival at a similar price, this offers very little customisation and no smartphone notifications. We don’t think that’s a make or break omission, but for some it will lessen the appeal.

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Overall, the TomTom app position is a lot better though. It’s better connected and more reliable – and that was our biggest bugbear with the previous version. Importantly, you can get to the information you want fairly easily too.

Verdict

The TomTom Adventurer is the stand-out device in the company’s line-up of fitness devices. It’s the most comprehensively specced and the most interesting, because it uses the additional data it gathers to provide more interesting results.

That might not appeal to all, however: this is a watch for those who want to track stats in outdoor activities and for, say, your average runner or cyclist, it might be offering functions you never actually want to use.

The Adventurer puts in a good performance in a number of areas: the heart-rate tracking is solid, the GPS tracking accurate, and battery life ample. The stats represented by the altimeter correlate with those we cross reference on other maps.

The new TomTom app is also better connected than previous efforts, so you’re only really left dealing with a design that’s starting to get very familiar and a watch that’s not the most widely connected.

Overall, the TomTom Adventurer should appeal to those who play in the great outdoors. If you run, swim and cycle regularly, it will take care of those things, but stepping beyond is where the Adventurer is more useful. This is for those who like to know altitude in real-time, who want to cross-reference with a map and like to know how far they’ve climbed on that day in the hills.

The alternatives to consider…

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Garmin Fenix 3

The Fenix 3 has been the poster boy of active watches for a couple of years. It makes a distinction between Garmin’s wide range of sports devices pitches at runners, and gives you watch that’s fully-loaded with sensors and offering a premium design. With that comes high pricing, but a feature set that leaves almost nothing out. There different versions, however, so if you want heart rate, you’ll have to make sure you pick the right model.

Read the full preview: Garmin Fenix 3: Adventure ready for any sport

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Polar V800

The Polar V800 is best known as the device of choice for serious runners and multi-sport athletes, but it also includes a barometer to track your altitude. It’s also watchproof, but it relies on a chest strap for heart rate, rather than optical sensors. This makes it more accurate, but more cumbersome. The Polar V800 is a serious tool, but tracking your activity on the road or track is its forte, and it’s not so well placed with it comes to adventure activity.

Read the full review: Polar V800: Tempting for triathletes

Pocket-lint

Garmin Vivoactive HR

The most natural rival for the TomTom Adventurer is the Garmin Vivoactive HR. This compact device also offers wrist-based heart rate tracking and GPS location, but unlike a lot of running watches, it also features a barometer to give you accurate altitude data. In addition to 24/7 activity and sleep tracking, the Vivoactive HR also offers smartphone notifications, bringing more connected options and the Garmin platform is a little more serious in presenting your data.

Read the preview: Garmin Vivoactive HR: The complete training solution

Oceans are warming faster, expect more floods

A team of researchers have successfully found a way to error-correct and clean up historical oceanic temperature data. The champagne will stay in the refrigerator, however, since the new information offers up more bad news on the state of the planet. It turns out that we’ve been grossly underestimating the warming effects of climate change for the last half a century.

John Abraham, one of the study’s co-authors, explained in The Guardian the process whereby this old data was cleaned up. Historically, oceanic temperature readings were mostly conducted along major shipping routes in the northern hemisphere. These figures were corrected for known biases and then run through a new climate model that produced more reliable and accurate information.

The result is that the researchers say that our oceans, and our planet, has warmed 13 percent faster than we originally thought. Our oceans play a vital part in protecting us against climate change by storing much of our excess heat in its depths. But as the seas get warmer, the knock-on effect is the more extreme weather events that we’ve seen with more regularity over the last few years.

The long and short of it is that the need for rapid decarbonization, reduction in methane emissions and other climate-causing gases is more urgent than ever. It’s a good thing that one of the world’s largest polluters is deliberately turning a blind eye to the issue for… oh.

Via: Gizmodo

Source: Science, The Guardian

Vertu sells its luxury phone business to a Turkish exile

Vertu has been sailing rough waters ever since it Nokia spun it out, and it’s not clear that things will get any calmer. The Telegraph reports that the luxury phone brand has been bought by Baferton, a company backed by Turkish exile Hakan Uzan, for about £50 million ($61 million). The move puts Vertu into the hands of a family whose relationship with Nokia is… troublesome, to say the least.

The Uzans took out loans from Nokia and Motorola to form a Turkish carrier, Telsim, only for the company to default after the tech stock crash at the turn of the century. While Telsim would eventually become the backbone of Vodafone’s business in Turkey, allegations flew that the Uzans had used company funds for personal luxuries. Lawsuits from Nokia and Motorola put the Uzans on the hook for billions of dollars (they’re still disputing the claims), and the Turkish government’s move to seize assets prompted the family to go into exile. Hakan Uzan in particular was found in contempt of court after he didn’t attend a hearing in relation to the fraud, but he successfully appealed the sentence. Suffice it to say that Nokia likely wouldn’t have approached him for a sale years ago.

As for why his outfit is buying Vertu? He’s not saying much — he believes that it represents a “powerful brand with an acknowledged market niche,” and that he’ll provide the cash to help the company reach its “full potential.” The question is whether or not he’ll push for meaningful change at the phone maker, which has struggled since the rise of smartphones eliminated much of its cachet. The company eventually got with the program and started making smartphones, but it continues to be slightly behind the curve in terms of specs — you’re only buying its phones for the posh materials and concierge services. Uzan will have to convince the wealthy that there’s a reason to spend four-digit sums on Vertu phones when mainstream handsets offer cutting-edge features for a fraction of the price.

Via: The Verge

Source: The Telegraph

Apple Music Competitor ‘Pandora Premium’ Launching This Week With Invite-Only Access

Pandora’s own entry into the streaming music market, called Pandora Premium, is officially launching this week to a select group of invitees who sign up for a chance to gain access on the company’s website. Pandora Premium is the result of the company’s acquisition of “key assets” and employees from Rdio back in 2015. Late last year, Pandora finally detailed what its new Premium service would look like at a special event.

Unlike in the base Pandora app, Pandora Premium allows its subscribers full, on-demand control of what they listen to thanks to the inclusion of playlists and a personalized search feature, which surfaces unique items based on each user’s own listening history instead of what’s most popular at the time. The service includes learning algorithms that can auto-fill playlists after adding a few songs to match the previous tracks’ genre of music.

Image via Engadget
Users will also be able to download songs to listen offline, browse content they’ve previously thumbed up, and view Pandora Premium’s Browse section to see curated artists aimed specifically at their own music tastes. Those with Pandora Plus will get six months of Pandora Premium for free, and following the small launch of invite-only users, Pandora Premium will open up for all users in the next few weeks.

Playlists, not worklists: Start a playlist with one or two songs of your choice, tap “Add Similar Songs” and put the power of Pandora’s Music Genome Project to work to create the perfect playlist for any activity, mood or party.
All your thumbs up: Every song you’ve thumbed up on Pandora is immediately available in your “My Thumbs Up” playlist. Thumb up a few tracks on any Pandora radio station and Premium will automatically create a new playlist of these songs too.
New music for you… and only you: Browse is stocked with personalized suggestions for the latest releases from current and soon-to-be favorites whether you listen to classical, metal, jazz, hip hop, country, and everything in between.
Offline mode: Download albums, songs stations or playlists you want and bring an end to those moments of deafening silence when you lose a signal.
Search that knows you: Pandora’s team of curators, music analysts and data scientists have sifted through tens of millions of tracks to help you quickly find what you really want. No more wading through covers, karaoke versions or tribute tracks to get to your favorite tune.

A few members of the press have had the chance to use Pandora Premium and shared their thoughts online today. Wired said that the new service offers features expected of modern paid streaming services, but “there’s really no reason for a Spotify or Apple Music user to switch to Pandora Premium.” In an interview with The Verge, Pandora CEO Tim Westergren said that he wants Pandora Premium to be the number one streaming service — above Spotify and Apple Music — within five years.

“We have very grand ambitions for what this can be,” Westergren said. “If we look around at the space right now, we just don’t think that there’s a product that’s done it right. No one has solved the ease of use and personalization part of the on-demand world. I don’t think there’s really a true premium product out there yet… we think we’re bringing something really different here.”

In an update last December, Apple Music topped 20 million subscribers after 18 months on the market. Apple’s and Pandora’s rival, Spotify, announced that it reached 50 million paid subscribers earlier this month.

To get on the invite list for Pandora Premium’s free trial, visit the company’s website here. Invites will be sent out on March 15.

Tag: Pandora Premium
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