[Other SmartWatches] KilgoreT:
I bought this watch about month ago. This was also my first Android phone. I would like to share my experience as I noticed many unanswered questions in D5+ threads here.

First, why my review is suppose to be biased? It's biased simply because I'm not very typical user. I'm minimalist sort of. Yep, sounds funny when put in context with device that can do almost anything. So let me explain. I need no social media, no funny movies on Youtube, no camera. But I need badly phone on standby, gps with topo maps, and occasionally email or weather check.

Now some background of mine. I'm the happy owner of Nokia E52 - incredible device that offers phone, navigation, and (sluggish) internet. What is so special about this Nokia? Battery life. This phone runs Symbian and offers full day of gps navigation (Garmin!), gpx tracking (Endomondo) and phone availability. And weighs only 98 grams! Find me something like this with Android and I'm in.

I promised myself I will never buy phone that has everything worse than my Nokia. So why I was tempted to buy D5+? Well, I was tempted to have something even smaller and more convenient - also safer when resting on my wrist. I was always too much afraid to attach my precious Nokia to bicycle handle bar. Watch phone looks like a prefect idea for cycling. You can hear navigation audio and cycle through the great unknown. At least that was my dream. In the same time I was painfully aware that buying Chinese watch for 100 bucks is naive - to say the least. Was it really a mistake? After a month of playing with the thing I'm almost ready to say no. Why I'm not sure yet? Just because I still don't know one thing - how durable is this watch. But if it appears to last - I can say - IT'S GREAT WATCH!

What are the main achievements of this watch?

1. Android. works really smooth. No delays. Apps open immediately - much faster than on my Nexus 7 (2012 - Marshmallow CM 13.1). Not even once crashed. Booting time is less than a minute. Nice and easy.

2. Phone service. After careful setup, I estimate phone can make 40 hours on standby (only 2G, no wifi, no bluetooth, no mobile data) I never really tested it that long. It's hard to leave new toy unattended. But when I left it for 8 hours sleep battery could go only 12% down. GSM module feels very reliable. Watch connects to the network immediately - no troubles at all.

Being a minimalist - crucial thing for me was to have standalone phone watch. I don't dig this idea to have one big phone on the butt and one smaller baby speaker on my wrist. I would rather hang an earing on my tit than carry two phones.

I wanted to have it all in one small piece. But what about talking to your wrist? Well, It's not that bad as it seems. You can rise your hand to your ear and pretend that you have a phone. Or hide behind the corner. Quality of the tiny speaker is not bad at all. But it used to be - at least in my piece. After taking off the cover I noticed that tiny piece of rubber seal (under the speaker frame - not the big round seal) is touching the membrane. After pushing it aside the voice became very clear. The 2G communication sometime lacks clarity but It's not the watch but transmission itself. My Nokia is not much better in 2G mode. Mike works good, I'm very well understood by the caller. I tested conversation while riding my bicycle - works fine.

3. Wifi works great. Range is not in any way inferior to my Nexus 7 or Onyx reader. Browsing internet is fast, downloading as well. I was able to walk around my home and listen to BBC radio with no breaks. Google Play store also works like it should.

Bluetooth pairs easy with my Plantronics stereo headset though max music volume seems to be rather low - contrary to the phone conversation.

4. Mobile data gave me some hard time before I discovered that I had to manually chose the right provider (roaming enabled). Automatic mode doesn't connect to the right network when it comes to data - sometimes I get it sometimes not. There is also other obstacle. Watch seems to take a lot of power to use mobile data. It heats up tremendously. 5 minutes of mobile browsing can take 10 % of battery! I think something is not quite right here.

5. Apps. This is a full Android so you can install anything. Round screen is the only limitation that comes to mind. The latest firmware does have optional square mode but it makes app UI even smaller so I don't use it/

Google voice search works really great. Phone understands me better than my people - unless I speak Polish. You can also download language pack for offline speech to text. Keyboard input is possible if you have good eyesight and steady hands. I tried also google handwriting - it works but I always have trouble with "l" vs "i".

6. Last but not least - GPS. My watch had to have working GPS. So before I bought it I watched this helpful video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJBM5Y2ULDc

And that's exactly like it is. You can get gps fix even in the building (by the window - no wifi, no data) but only when you don't wear your watch on the wrist. Hand introduces serious interference to the signal - also by changing impedance of the antenna - basically changing parameters of the whole hardware setup. I red some scientific papers showing that worst disturbance (lowest antenna gain) happened when gps patch antenna was 5 centimeters from the body. But... I found that outside it is good enough - even with my winter cloths on - to provide gpx tracking and basic navigation. I mean, when riding bicycle, it can lose fix for a while so it can skip the turn command but in general it works. You can see where you are

Now example: I made 4 hour trip (17 km.) through snowy mountains covered with dense forests. Watch was on my wrist under the thick winter clothing. Osmand navigation was all the time on with continues use of GPS setting. Half of the way I made in airplane mode and half in 2G with one short conversation. In the forest gps fix occasionally got lost but it recovered by itself showing my position nicely.

For some half an hour I used voice navigation to know where to make a turn. I was than in the open space, in the village and it worked like charm. I checked the map maybe 20-30 times total (rather shortly) and the watch lasted all 4 hours. I see ir as a successes. 450 mAh battery should be able to get charged 5 times by my powerbank so it's not that bad when comparing to big Android phones.

Below you can see actual gpx track of that trip - exported to Endomondo when I got back. As you see, altitude reporting is not reliable at all but otherwise gpx trail is not that bad. Osmand navigation has great topo capabilities so watch was really able to help me not to get lost (I had my Nokia in the backpack but I didn't use it).

Update: Osmand working in the background can sometimes make phone call hard to understand by the other person. So you can consider turning on "battery saving" before answering the call. This will disconnect the GPS.

I also encourage any hikers, cyclists to install Gpx Plugin. It let's you to automatically record the track but there is more to it - after right configuration it also shows actual live track in real time which greatly improves orientation on the small screen. You just know which way you got to the point you are in so you know which direction to head.

I'm thinking of buying some bluetooth GPS logger for longer trips - in hope of saving battery and improving accuracy. But it will be a compromise. After all I didn't want to have two devices on me...

No.1 D5+ Problems and solutions:

1. Settings. Watch lacks many of the settings available on average Android device. Solution: Setting Search app from PlayStore helps in finding hidden settings.

2. Quick access to your favorite apps is not that easy when you have to scroll down through all apps list (scrolling itself works great). Best solution for me: app called Swipe Padd. With correct setting and a little practice you can turn on your fav apps without even looking at the screen.

4. Small font for poor eyesight (like mine). Solution: Install Engineering Mode app and very carefully tweak font settings. Doesn't work in every app but now I can read sms with font bigger than on my Nokia E52.

5. App buttons and other stuff hidden in the corners. Solution: You can configure three tap zoom (hidden setting) and use it close to the edge. It will reveal hidden content. Other option is to configure watch to use square mode (newest firmware only)

6. GPS fix. Solution: reboot the watch - for me it works without using other popular methods like editing cfg file or downloading agps data. Watch is not rooted and it gets a fix while sitting on my window seal - with mobile data, wifi and bluettoh off, 2G and high accuracy on. If you still have troubles try to enable wifi to download agps data and install gps test to observe the satellite signals.(remember to turn off wifi when you go outside).

7. Osmand navigation UI troubles. Solution: You can use three tap zoom to operate hidden buttons or menu. It works. I edited original apk to show missing zoom-out, menu buttons etc. also made arrow larger (see the first photo above)

It's good to download Gpx Recording Plugin (from Osmand Plugin menu - it's free). With the right configuration it stops Osmand services when you close the app (by sweeping). Without it Osmand will still try to navigate you - even if you closed it by sweeping. To shut it up you have to reboot the watch or it will kill your battery. It's well known problem of Osmand where developers don't wish to listen to the users - they know better.

8. Battery life. Solution: turn off all possible syncs, disable whattsap, google location services, use 2G, mobile data off, wifi off, bluetooth off. If you are not navigating use watch with the battery saving mode (available from the home screen). Sim module still works.

9. Firmware update. I works via OTA quite fine. But I advice you before any upgrade to visit manufacturers site and read possible complaints from users. It saved me from troubles when I was about to update my firmware. I found it was buggy so I skipped install and waited for another firmware update. It came but on my watch the older bad update option persisted so I had to flash the new one from PC. I used this method: https://forum.hovatek.com/thread-439.html

To summarize, it looks that this is really good watch if it only stays this way. The biggest concern is a strap. I disconnected it from the watch on one side and it had two holes for antennas. There was a black antenna cable in one hole connecting strap to the watch. I guess that on the other side there are two antennas. It makes together three so one antenna has to have two functions. Anyway, for now strap seems to be sturdy but what will come with the summer sweat?

Certainly this isn't a watch for people who are afraid of tweaking this and that, reading and experimenting. They will always complain about battery life, small screen and hidden buttons. In general I find Android a geeky system. Level of knowledge to use it efficiently is quite high so if you don't enjoy problem solving better buy iPhone.

I've shared my experience in hope to help you decide if this watch can answer your needs. For those few that managed to read it all, please correct me if I've made any errors. Hopefully some development follows another happy users.

Update: Now, after using watch for the last half a year I can tell this: Watch definitely is not water proof. Water can get behind the screen and make screen go nuts. It persist for long until the thing dries form inside. There is a solution: I took my watch apart and applied sealant to the frame where screen glass comes. Then I pushed glass inside and used some pressure to make it tight. After that, watch is not afraid to be splashed with water - I use it also when kayaking.

When cycling, for the good GPS reception you can fasten watch around the brake cables of the bike. With this setup gps is almost as precise as of regular big phone. During longer rides It can be also safely charged in this position from power bank. Small 3000 mAh power bank will give you at least two full days of navigation and trip recording. All accompanied by active GSM module to tell your family you are fine.