Hesvit G1 Quick Review: Chinese wearables are getting there, albeit gradually

When the Mi Band first came out, many thought it was just something that Xiaomi put together to have their name out in the wearable market. As it turns out, the Mi Band series is now one of the most popular wearables on the market.

The device proved that a properly functioning and fairly configurable wearable didn’t have to cost a bomb. This in turn encouraged smaller Chinese companies to try their hand at making smart bands and smart watches. Most results so far have been, to be very frank, abysmal. However, there is hope, as the Hesvit G1 suggests.

The Chinese are great at producing low-cost hardware. However, the secret to a truly great smart band is in the software. The band itself comprises extremely basic components, but it’s the algorithms and the battery-saving optimisations that make the gadget usable.

The Hesvit G1, I daresay, is getting there. Very frankly it’s still a fair distance away from being a recommendation, but it does get a few bits right such as:

• Battery life (almost)
• Display
• Price
• IP65 rating

More importantly, the companion app is definitely not completely unusable. It’s nearly usable, and something that certainly will end up with a good result… more on this later.

That said, there’s a few downsides to the Hesvit G1 as well, with the key ones being:

• No support for app notifications
• No gesture screen on
• Irritating to wear on the long run
• A so-so app

While this might be a bit subjective, the Hesvit G1 was definitely a refreshing change from the run-of-the-mill MT2502-powered ‘smartwatches’.

Hesvit G1 Photos

Packaging

Band

Coming back, I managed to use the Hesvit G1 for a good week or so without taking it off (besides for charging once). I must admit the size of the band makes it a little suffocating to wear it all the time; the metal sensor on the rear (to gauge your skin temperature) definitely doesn’t help the case. I’m also not very sure of the whole point of the feature — skin temperature measurement.

Sleep tracking on the G1 was a hit-or-miss. A couple of times it got it pretty much spot on, but mixed it up a few other times. Heartrate tracking is pretty much bang on with the Mi Band 2, which I thought was fairly accurate for the most part.

There’s not much else that you can talk about for the G1. It would definitely be helpful if the band made better use of the provided real estate (on the screen). Options for better notification management, etc. would’ve definitely made the G1 more recommend-worthy, but sadly that’s not the case.

Also, since it’s an LCD display (with pre-configured characters that can be displayed on the screen), there definitely won’t be a firmware update that will add notification management features to the band.

Coming back to the companion app, it’s fine and all once it loads. However, each time you leave the app and come back to it, it needs to load right from the start — and this includes re-connecting to the Hesvit G1. Extremely frustrating, but pretty much the only gripe I had with the app.

At $35, the Hesvit G1 is probably not the worst investment to make, but certainly far from the best.

You can get the Hesvit G1 from Geekbuying. 

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