> The watch is simply missing the two 5.1k resistors connecting the CC1 and CC2 pins of the USB-C connector to ground that are required to indicate to whatever is plugged in that it wants 5v power.
This is so annoying. Back when USB-C was less prevalent, I bought a pair of wireless earbuds over another for the same reason as the title - because it used USB-C. But then I cannot charge it with my macbook, unless I add a USB-C to USB-A adapter.
It's always good to remember that battery life in sports watches (aren't they smart?) can last a whole week, and some models even have complementary solar charging.
I have an Amazfit smartwatch that gets charged by a simple USB cable with two pins that magnetically attaches to the back of the watch. When I was on vacation and forgot that cable I was able to make my own by cutting a USB cable and attaching the wires to the contacts of the watch with tape. That simplicity is hard to beat. And this watch is water resistant.
As someone who loathes jewelry on myself and has no interest in the watch culture, nonetheless I have an interest in smart watches I can monitor things with. I'm turned off by big ugly blocks with childish straps.. is there anything remotely attractive?
I have a Garmin with a monochrome LCD face. Ok, it can't compete on price but battery life is a couple of weeks (and can top up with solar) so the proprietary cable is not a big problem.
Not sure what it’s like in other countries, but here in South Africa you struggle to find a smart phone cover for much less than that.
If you’re at the shops of the local scumbag company with a monopoly on legally distributing Apple products, they don’t offer a cover for less than USD25.
Apple Watch covers cost a bit less at only like USD15.
For screen protectors typical prices are around USD10, but you can point out the lunacy of what they’re charging for a single sheet of plastic and you can get that down to 7.5.
It’s super annoying how much we get ripped off here, having covers and protectors is basically essential and all the sellers here seem to have a secret pact to not charge anything less than completely outrageous prices.
The Colmi P8, which is older, long replaced by myriads of newer china watches and now hard to even find, was one of the last cheap smartwatches to be based on the nRF52832 microcontroller/SOC which had the advantage (for that purpose) of being both well documented and yet not locked down. The successor SOC, the nRF52840, already had a flash securing feature that (except for devices that wouldn't use it or that would have exploitable vulns) made it easy for the manufacturer to lock the device down and to prevent the install of alternative firmwares. Also about that time, cheaper chinese SOCs came out and cheapo china smartwatches switched to using those instead of nRF. Trouble being: most of those chinese SOCs for smartwatches, aside from probably also having the lockdown problem, don't have much in terms of openly accessible documentation or developer tools.
Consequently, pretty much all open source projects for cheapo china smartwatches apparently only support devices that are so old that you don't even find them anymore on aliexpress or other such shops.
I'd be interested to know for what currently easily available cheap (i.e. not in a much higher price category) china smart watches there is an open source alternative firmware that does not miss half of the features.
I’ve started playing with esp32/rp2350 based boards that have everything in the same form factor. The only thing missing is a fully waterproof enclosure (they expose the back pcb). And vibration motor.
People get surprised how cheap things really can be when they see aliexpress, and the assumption is crap. I bought a ton of stuff from aliexpress, and very rarely-if any- was crappy.
Hoping for open source watch OS some day, so many OEM / white label cheap smartwatch/fitness bands. Already exists for cheap cloud cameras. Could be the F91W of our time.
Also I'd gladly ditch USB C for a few programmable media buttons. Standardize on some sort of bogo pins and buy 20 adapters or split cables to keep the water proofing.
One thing I wonder though is why they’d need to charge a watch on the bus when battery life on smart watches is typically way more than 1 day and you can charge it overnight? I mean each to their own but I would haaate the hassle of charging anything on a bus…
TBH, such a low price for so many working (!) features is an amazing achievement if not subsidized! What bothers me here, however, is...a provenance. Let me guess, it asks from your smartphone access to your location, contacts, calendar, SMS archive, email, medical records and political views and attitude towards CCP and then does some shady syncs with .cn servers "just to keep you data safe in case a meteor hits you"... Sad.
ADDED: Oh, seems like some people like to pretend that the results of "some other" companies getting this information are totally, totally the same.
Why does anyone need to charge a smartwatch on a bus? They charge very quickly and last for days. A Pine64 is not much more expensive, and works with the Gadgetbridge app, and is open (there is even a choice of two OSes). It works with Gadgetbridge so the app does not have all the same functionality and also has rough edges (but so does any cheap smartwatch). I even prefer the charger as its a magnetic cradle so the watch snaps into place when placed on it.
This is the oldest trick in the book. In 1946 a guy named Diet Smith invented the 2-Way Wrist Radio:
- In June 1954, the radio was upgraded to increase the range from 500 miles to 1,000 miles, then again in 1956 to 2,500 miles.
- In 1964, the 2-Way Wrist Radio was upgraded to the 2-Way Wrist TV.
- Tracy gave his young son Joe an obsolete Wrist Radio, which Joe was able to use to call for help when he was abducted and held hostage by dognappers.
> "I plugged it until fully charged, then wore it conti> nuously. After 24 hours of use, even with all my fiddling, that battery was at 80%.
After four days, it still had 40% left"*
So if a £16 generic competitor can last 4 days, what's Apple doing wrong? Why can't a £450 Apple Watch (non-Ultra) last a full 24 hours on a charge?
I can see usb-c being convenient for a smartwatch, but for a fitness watch they you are going to wear while hiking, swimming or any type of rugged outdoor activity it is important to not be a hole that can get a bunch of stuff stuck in it. Unlike proprietary cables for smartphones of the past the connector on high end smartwatches aren't there because they are trying to sell you a bunch of expensive cables and accessories that use that port.
38 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 70.4 ms ] threadcool cool cool....
This is so annoying. Back when USB-C was less prevalent, I bought a pair of wireless earbuds over another for the same reason as the title - because it used USB-C. But then I cannot charge it with my macbook, unless I add a USB-C to USB-A adapter.
(it just connects CC1 + CC2 with the appropriate 5.1k resistors)
Not sure what it’s like in other countries, but here in South Africa you struggle to find a smart phone cover for much less than that.
If you’re at the shops of the local scumbag company with a monopoly on legally distributing Apple products, they don’t offer a cover for less than USD25.
Apple Watch covers cost a bit less at only like USD15.
For screen protectors typical prices are around USD10, but you can point out the lunacy of what they’re charging for a single sheet of plastic and you can get that down to 7.5.
It’s super annoying how much we get ripped off here, having covers and protectors is basically essential and all the sellers here seem to have a secret pact to not charge anything less than completely outrageous prices.
I was exhausted with keeping up with Android, but was not buying n-number of Lightning cables until they released it on USB-C
https://github.com/wasp-os/wasp-os
Consequently, pretty much all open source projects for cheapo china smartwatches apparently only support devices that are so old that you don't even find them anymore on aliexpress or other such shops.
I'd be interested to know for what currently easily available cheap (i.e. not in a much higher price category) china smart watches there is an open source alternative firmware that does not miss half of the features.
Also I'd gladly ditch USB C for a few programmable media buttons. Standardize on some sort of bogo pins and buy 20 adapters or split cables to keep the water proofing.
ADDED: Oh, seems like some people like to pretend that the results of "some other" companies getting this information are totally, totally the same.
Also a smart watch without firmware updates seems like an infection spreader?
- In June 1954, the radio was upgraded to increase the range from 500 miles to 1,000 miles, then again in 1956 to 2,500 miles.
- In 1964, the 2-Way Wrist Radio was upgraded to the 2-Way Wrist TV.
- Tracy gave his young son Joe an obsolete Wrist Radio, which Joe was able to use to call for help when he was abducted and held hostage by dognappers.
We've been falling for this stuff for 80 years!
https://dicktracy.fandom.com/wiki/2-Way_Wrist_Radio
So if a £16 generic competitor can last 4 days, what's Apple doing wrong? Why can't a £450 Apple Watch (non-Ultra) last a full 24 hours on a charge?