Affordable smartwatches aren’t necessarily attractive, and devices under Rs. 5,000 are typically pretty straightforward in terms of design and the sort of display they employ. The item I’m evaluating today, though, aspires to break the mould. The Pebble Cosmos Luxe is a brand-new, eye-catching smartwatch that makes an effort to stand out from the crowd yet being reasonably priced in India at Rs. 3,999.
The Pebble Cosmos Luxe is excellent on paper as well, including a 1.36-inch circular AMOLED display, Bluetooth calling support, and sensors to track steps, heart rate, and SpO2 levels. Can its appearance make it stand out in the crowded budget market and can this reasonably priced smartwatch live up to expectations?
Price
On Flipkart, the smartwatch is available for a price of Rs 3,999. There are three colour options for the device: Space Black, Midnight Gold, and Ivory Gold.
Specifications
Design
For a few reasons, the Pebble Cosmos Luxe stands out in this price range. Your attention is drawn to the 1.36-inch AMOLED display as well as the circular screen and polished housing right away. The Cosmos Luxe has an appealing appearance and feel thanks in part to the two buttons on the right side, one of which resembles and works like the crown of a conventional mechanical watch.
The speaker grille is located on the left side of the Pebble Cosmos Luxe and may be used to play audio when coupled with a smartphone over Bluetooth. The optical sensors for measuring health and fitness as well as the contact points for the magnetic charging pin are located on the underside of the smartwatch. Due to its IP67 rating for water and dust protection, the smartwatch can withstand prolonged exposure to the elements. Even shallow water swimming can be done with it.
The smartwatch’s rubber strap, which contrasts somewhat with the rest of the gadget, is changeable with other 22mm watch straps that are available in the aftermarket. The waterproof bundled strap is very comfortable to wear and has several adjustment points to ensure a good fit.
Software and App
Budget smartwatches often rely on a Bluetooth connection with the smartphone for synchronisation and other connectivity functions and have a pretty rudimentary software system for operation. Core features like controlling watch faces, tracking fitness and health, and Bluetooth connection for calls with a linked smartphone are all covered by the Pebble Cosmos Luxe’s own software.
The Pebble Cosmos Luxe makes full use of its AMOLED display and has an always-on option that shows the time even while the watch is in standby. You can also select between an analogue or digital time and date display. If you want to extend the life of your battery, you can also turn it off, but I like having it on immediately.
Unfortunately, touching the screen does not activate it; instead, the lift-to-wake motion or one of the buttons must be used to wake the screen. Most of the time, the lift-to-wake gesture worked as intended, but occasionally I had to touch a button to wake the screen. By sliding down from the top to the bottom, you can also get to the toggles for the fast settings. Swiping up from the bottom of the screen to the top will bring up notifications from approved applications. Finally, a left to right swipe will reveal important apps, and a right to left slide will reveal widgets for certain apps.
Built-In Apps
Phone, contacts, workout, workout records, heart rate, sleep, blood pressure, blood oxygen, stress, messages, weather, music, and numerous features like a calculator and stopwatch are just a few of the built-in applications on the Pebble Cosmos Luxe. The smartwatch cannot be updated with new applications, and the majority of the ones that are already installed function either independently or through Bluetooth connection with the FitCloudPro software.
The smartphone and Pebble Cosmos Luxe connection is managed via the FitCloudPro companion app. Among other things, you can use it to modify the settings, pick which applications to receive notifications from, and connect it to your Google Fit data.
Performance and Battery Life
The Pebble Cosmos Luxe is a smartwatch that is similar to most others in the low price range but aims to set itself apart with its aesthetic and AMOLED screen. The watch’s screen, which allows for simple sight and readability of the time and other data on the screen, including the ability to view alerts clearly, is perhaps its most outstanding feature.
The Pebble Cosmos Luxe’s always-on mode and colour saturation were both excellent, but the deep blacks that are a hallmark of AMOLED screens weren’t particularly discernible. This is because, in some respects, a significant function of the smartwatch was negated by the user interface, which seemed to always illuminate even the dark colours rather than enabling the individual pixels to turn off. Nevertheless, the screen’s clarity and detail make the display technology on this smartwatch appealing.
Many of the watch faces that are provided include animated seconds hands on analogue faces and live widgets for various pieces of information including steps, heart rate, weather, and battery life. To get specific facts and statistics on the watch itself, though, you’ll still need to launch the applications through the app list as the widgets aren’t interactive.
Verdict
The Pebble Cosmos Luxe strives to distinguish out in a price range with plenty of alternatives with its attractive design, AMOLED screen, and reasonable price. Although the software and interface aren’t particularly well optimised to take use of the display technology, it basically succeeds in doing this and gives a generally acceptable budget smartwatch experience. This is a fantastic option around Rs. 5,000 thanks to additional features like Bluetooth hands-free capabilities and a wide selection of high-quality watch faces.
However, the Pebble Cosmos Luxe’s appearance and Bluetooth calling feature more than make up for this to justify the price. The Pebble Cosmos Luxe is slightly limited by the lack of fitness tracking accuracy.
