2024-02-11 11:59:44
35
in short
Is it even possible to develop expectations for a smart watch like the IMIKI SF1, especially when considering its price? But on the other hand, it is possible to find quite a few successful points, and again with reference to the price, if you look at it with a clear mind
we loved
Quality screen
There is Hebrew (damaged)
low price
time of use
We liked less
Inaccurate metrics
Basic quality
Limited app
Everyone probably knows Apple and Samsung smart watches. But they are not alone. There are dozens if not hundreds of other small brands in this market that you probably haven’t heard of. One of them is Imiki (IMIKI), a relatively young gadget brand that belongs to a slightly better-known company in the field The security cameras, IMILAB.
IMIKI SF1 is a new model, and the fourth in the company’s number. It is also the highest quality so far, and the one that is also the most similar to the Apple Watch Ultra, but this is more or less, unsurprisingly, where the similarities between them end. But before we dive into the details at the very beginning we need to remember the gospel The price is written only 39 dollars. Why remember? So that you understand from the beginning that there are compromises that need to be agreed to, as you will find out later.
Want to be an Apple Watch
I’m not a fan of simple watches. Perhaps it is more correct to say that I am not attracted to watches unless they come from well-known brands on the market, and certainly not those that try to be what they are not. That’s why I didn’t really come to the review of the IMIKI SF1 with great expectations. After all, in the end, it pretty much answers all the things that kept me away from testing such products. So why is there a review here anyway? Because I felt that maybe, somewhere, I would be killed without giving a chance.
The exterior shows how much it tries to display the design of Watch Ultra, but also how far he is from there. Although the frame with the pair of buttons on the right side are reminiscent of Apple’s luxury watch, you immediately see that it is a modest size and a much more basic finish.
The watch is not oversized. It is 45.8 mm long, 37 mm wide and 10.2 mm thick, with a total weight of 39 grams. The company used a metallic aluminum finish for both the frame and the buttons, and it offers several colors such as dark gray, silver and pink.
Not only in the design there is a similarity to the Apple watch but also in the straps. The standard black one is a silicone strap with a classic closing buckle, but there are also magnetic straps that close easily and are very pleasant to the skin. These are straps made of flexible links that each have a magnet, so both the closing is strong and the opening and removal is faster.
The screen of the IMIKI SF1 is one of the first things you meet and also what surprises you the most. This is a 2.01-inch screen, according to the company. Why according to her? Because in practice it looks smaller and in a not very accurate measurement diagonally it looks more like 1.8 inches. Either way, it’s an AMOLED screen that offers sharp and rich colors and a relatively high brightness of 1,000 nits, so you can see the display not bad at all even in direct sunlight. The resolution is 410×502 pixels, which means a density of 324 pixels/per inch.
It is also waterproof and dustproof with an IP68 rating, so it is suitable for intense sports activity, and there is no need to remove it while showering. It has a Bluetooth 5.2 connection and is also equipped with a built-in microphone and speaker for making calls.
There is Hebrew
The watch interface is simple to use. Swiping to the right switches between the various applications – air conditioning, dialer, sleep status, sports training and daily activity. Swiping left provides a similar but concentrated list with some additional tools such as a toolbox that offers a stopwatch, locate the mobile phone, activate the camera or a calculator.
The pair of buttons is primarily designed to provide quick access. The lower one for the various sports training measurements and the upper one to return to the home screen. It also features a nice, but not very useful scroll wheel for scrolling through the internal pages of the various options, with a single press used to go back as well as swiping from left to right on the screen.
There is also a mirroring of notifications from the phone and surprisingly the IMIKI SF1 supports Hebrew – both in menus and notifications. The Hebrew, as expected, is not perfect and in many places the translation is amusing to the point of being silly. As far as notifications are concerned, there is an alignment to the right and you can read relatively normally, but it gets a little complicated when the message also includes English or any other foreign language. Beyond that, the experience of using it is not similar to the Android watches, and everything feels a little more cumbersome.
The IMIKI Life app is available for Android and iOS when it performs the initial pairing with that phone after creating a user. It coordinates all activity and data collected from the watch, including steps, distance, calories and sports training. Using it, you can also change watch designs or adjust the existing ones.
On the main screen, you can view all the data in a centralized way, including information about the sleep state of the last night, the heart rate during the day, the state of blood pressure and oxygen saturation in the blood, as well as mood and stress. In the field of sports, there is a fairly large variety of defined workouts, but the watch is not able to recognize it on its own, so you have to choose the type of workout before you start.
The data are not very numerous and some of them are not even accurate. So on several nights the watch claimed that I slept about half of the actual time. When checking the pulse, it appears that the data is extremely uneven and jumpy. Beyond that, viewing the history is not convenient and you have to locate the specific workout and rummage through the menus. There is nothing to talk about about synchronizing the information to Fit or other apps, so the current app is good but very basic and not suitable for those looking for in-depth information.
The battery life of IMIKI SF1 is very long. In non-intensive use it can last about two weeks, when working with all the indicators every day continuously will cut the time in half. In the use I chose for the purpose of the test, with 3 trainings during the week, the battery decreased after 5 days by only 20%.
The bottom line
So IMIKI SF1 met expectations, and I’m not talking about the positive. Yes its screen looks great and responds great, it responds quickly and has most of the required functions as well as long battery life that theGalaxy Watch can only envy them. On the other hand, the data is not very satisfactory, the Hebrew is lacking and the application is not comprehensive enough.
Do you remember the price? 39 dollars (After placing a coupon on the NEWY2024 page). So if you live in peace with all the shortcomings I mentioned, for about NIS 140 it’s still not a bad deal in the end.
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