[Review] - Impressions of Cubot V1 Fitness Band

[Angryman22]

This is my take on the Cubot V1, the new Fitness Band from Cubot. It is first of its kind for this company in this category. I have the Xiomi MI Band. So for the Most part I will be doing Comparison between the two in terms of effectiveness and Accuracy. To me this band appears like Logical next step in comparison with the introduction of a LCD Screen. However the device is only useful if the Fitness measurements are accurate.

UNBOXING AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS -



the Packaging is compact and tidy. The Flat box has basic Specifications of the band on the back. The Band is Sold in 3 Colors of Black, Blue and Grey. I had asked for Blue color. The Box is Packed inside a Plastic wrap which is although good for water proof protection, can be little bit difficult to open. The box too is a tight fit and is slightly difficult to open. As seen, Inside the box we have the Band a MicroUSB Charging Cable and Instruction Manual. The Felt packing is an additional touch.

DEVICE SPECIFICATIONS -

The Key Technical Specifications are as follows, Rest of the specs can be found on Cubot's Website.

Battery -

Lithium Polymer 80mAh Input current：45 mA Max 65 mA (2 to 3 Hours to Charge. Lasts about a Week and Half.)

Weight - Net weight：9.5g

Waterproof - IP65

Screen -

0.88inch OLED screen Resolution 128 * 32. Communication -

Bluetooth chip DA14580

Dimensions - Total length：235 mm
Adjustable Length：120-210 mm
Material： Aluminium alloy

Compatibility - Bluetooth 4.0 Android 4.3 and above, IOS8.0 and above

INITIAL SET-UP AND APP -







The Device's screen has a thin transparent plastic Screen. This you will want to remove before using. There is a MicroUSB Port along the right edge of the device on the back for charging. The port also has a small tab to protect it from Sweat or water.




The LCD Screen has a small plastic film on it. This is not a Screen Protector and you will be removing it during daily use. On the back you have Band name and the Micro USB charging port along the right edge in the picture above. There is a small plastic tab which protects the port during normal use.

Out of the Box, the band's battery was completely drained.I had to plug in for about 3 hours to charge it fully. One thing I noticed is that the Battery Icon displayed on the Device Screen appears to be about 2/3 filled and 1/2 remaining to be charged. This is despite the battery being fully charged. This is a small inconvenience and bit getting used to. While it was charging, I explored the app. For the app, there is a QR code in the user manual (Which is in English and German). The QR Code leads to Cubot Band App.




The App is fairly similar to the Mi Band App. Translations are better and more importantly, unlike the Mi App, the app does not require any Registration of any Kind. It does not however integrate with Google Fit app, since this Band is not certified by Google I suppose.

In order to Pair the band with the App, you will need to get into the Device Management Screen. Also make sure the Device Bluetooth is turned on. If its not on, the app will prompt for the same. Please note, the device will not be able to pair with the Band on its own but the App will be able to do so. Within the app, there are 2 main Screens and 2 Settings Screens. There is a Steps screen which gives Number of Steps measured compared to Daily Goal set if any. The Sleep screen show Quality of Sleep Broken into Light (REM) Sleep and Deep (Non-REM ) Sleep. Please Note, the Sleep tracker is not enabled out of Box. You will need to get into the Reminders Screen in order to Turn on Sleep Management.

In addition to all this, the Device provides Sedentary Reminder, to be configured in the app along with Alarms. Sedentary Reminder is one where the device buzzes if you have been sitting for too long in one place and one Post ion. Also you can set optional Lost Device Alert which kicks in if the phone is too far from the band.

DEVICE OPERATION & FITNESS TRACKING -



The Device Operation is pretty straight forward. You can Swipe from Right to left to turn on the Screen. By Default the band shows Time. Turning into a watch. 2nd Swipe will switch to Steps taken. 3rd Swipe switches to Calories Burnt. 4th Swipe takes you to Distance Traveled. Two Points to be Noted. The Display turns off Real Quick. Perhaps to conserve the battery. Also the screen is a Standard LCD Screen. The display looks bit faded but all right indoors. However it is highly difficult to read outdoors in sunlight. You can notice this in the 4th Picture above.

Compared to the Mi Band, it appears that the steps measurement is comparable. The Steps count is slightly higher than actual count. For 20 actual steps the band measured 32 steps. However it is not fooled when driving. The steps count remains the same. This is about same as the Mi Band.

Now as to the Sleep tracking, the device appears to come up Short. No matter how long you slept, the band only seems to measure about 4 Hours to 5 Hours of total Sleep. This does not change no matter what you do.

NOTE - The Cubot V1 is available on TomTop for $13 or Gearbest for $12.61. The same is available on Amazon for $21