Indian consumer electronics startup and OEM Smartron has foraged into the IoT market as well after trying their hands in the smartphone and notebooks segment. With the tband Smartron is eyeing the fitness market by filling a void in the under Rs. 5,000 segment. There are a bunch of fitness trackers available right now at different price points.
Now what tband does that other trackers don’t is the ability to calculate BP and ECG. At the price of Rs. 4,999, T band is an attractive deal, but how well does it perform in real life is a question we will answer below.
Let’s head straight to the review!
We have been using the tband for just over a week now and here’s what we found.
Key features of tband
- OLED Display
- Optical Heart rate monitor
- IP67 Rated
- ECG and BP monitoring
- Activity Tracker
- Easy Swappable Bands
Box Contents
The box is fairly simple in design with top being transparent, so you can have good look at the tracker itself. Underneath the tracker lies the magnetic charging dock along with the charging cable
Here is everything that comes inside the box:
- Smartron t.band
- USB charging cable
- Charging Dock
- User manual
Build and Design
When it comes to design, it doesn’t seem that Smartron has put in much thought. The looks aren’t different to what we’ve seen in the past on other trackers. But the area where Smartron has worked is the build quality. The tracker seems sturdy with the main housing being made out of Stainless steel, while the underside is made out of high-quality plastic.
The tracker has buckles on the ends, with bands having quick release pins for swapping the bands out easily.
The top of the tracker features a 0.96-inch OLED display with a resolution of 128 x 64 pixels which seems ok for the size of the tracker. Underneath the display, a chunky metal touchpad is placed, which seems a little out of place and eats a lot of the top real estate.
The tracker itself is very comfortable and can be worn for longer durations without any issues. The IP67 water and dust resistance make it a perfect candidate for outdoor activities.
Overall, we are very happy with the build quality and there’s not much to complain about.
Display and Touchpad
The tband features a 0.96-inch OLED display with a resolution of 128 x 64 pixels as previously mentioned. The display seems ok but could have been a little bigger if Smartron had gone with a different option to interact with the band. Other than this the display is bright enough and we didn’t notice any issues with it.
Coming to the Touchpad, here where the things go South, the Touchpad is a little finicky and didn’t register touches often. We found ourselves, tapping the Touchpad more than once to light up the display. Now, this touchpad also aides the sensors in recording the BP and we hope Smartron works on its sensitivity in the subsequent updates.
Performance
The t.band performs just like a fitness tracker should do. The t.band can record steps, calories burnt, heart rate, sleep patterns, and blood pressure. The step counter readings are accurate and there’s even an option where the band vibrates to let you that it’s time to take a walk, which is nifty at times. Talking about the BP and ECG monitoring, the readings are almost accurate with a little error margin.
The UI on the band can be a little confusing since it takes a bunch of taps and holds. It would have been great if there was an option in the app to take readings. The main screen on the band shows you the time and notifications, tapping once will get you into exercise mode, which only has a single mode. Tapping again would take you to the ECG section where in you can take the reading by holding on to the touchpad for 30 seconds. The last screen is for BP and it has the same measuring process as that of ECG but the time needed here is 120 seconds.
Talking about the app, the UI is fairly simple. There are tabs for each measurement that the tband does like sleep tracking, BP, ECG. Upon expanding the tabs you can get sort of a detailed result information. The app also lets you know your Health Index, now Health Index here is sort of an overall report of your vitals and health. The Health Index takes in all the data and gives you an overall result.
The t.health app allows you to sync the data with both Google Fit and Apple health app. This can be useful for people who rely on Google’s or Apple’s data tracking or use multiple fitness devices to keep track of their health.
The battery on the tband can easily last you 3-4 days and the charging times are also less. The tband uses a proprietary charger which you need to take care of, as there is no information on the availability of spare chargers as of now.
Smartron tband Pricing
- Rs. 4,999
Pros
- Solid Build
- Active Heart Rate Monitor
- IP-67 water resistance
- BP and ECG monitoring
Cons
- Display not visible outdoors
- Non-consistent touchpad
- App needs work
Verdict – Should you go for it?
This is being a first fitness centric tracker from Smartron is surely a right step but needs improvements. There surely isn’t a tracker in the market doing BP and ECG at this price point and form factor. There are a bunch of good things about the tband like the solid build, swappable bands, OLED display. For people looking to a buy a fitness tracker with BP and ECG support should take a look at this product.
