It’s not much you can expect from a wearable priced under INR 2500 (or under $33), and so the Dizo Watch 2 Sports certainly punches above its weight. It’s a good looking basic smartwatch that offers reliable activity tracking, decent battery mileage, and a bright display. On the downside, the software lacks customization options and lacks a certain finesse, but these are flaws that we can easily forgive for the value price. If you are limited by a budget and are looking for a basic smartwatch, the Dizo Watch 2 Sports is worth considering.
Basic smartwatches are increasingly replacing fitness bands. That’s because they offer a bigger screen which helps in neatly organizing your data and make it easier for consumers to interact with the interface. Realme’s lifestyle brand Dizo has launched a series of such basic smartwatches and close on the heels of the Dizo Watch 2 we have the Dizo Watch 2 Sports.
Priced at Rs. 2499, the Dizo Watch 2 Sports is a variation of Dizo Watch 2 that enlists a decent set of features and relatively more sports mode. I have been testing it for a week now and in this review, I will help you decide if this is a smartwatch that will suit your specific needs.
As compared to the Dizo Watch 2 there are a few subtle design differences in the Sports model. These include a flatter side frame, flatter bottom, redesigned action button and a broader strap. When it comes to the design of wearables, nuances matter and I’d say these modifications make the Watch 2 Sports look sportier and comparatively better.
Dizo Watch 2 Sports (R) vs Dizo Watch 2 (L)
We have the grey colour option with us that has a chrome finish side frame and a grey rubber strap. It’s entirely made of plastic but still feels quite premium and stylish, especially considering the bargain price you’d pay for it.
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I have never been comfortable wearing watches to bed, but other than that this light smartwatch didn’t pose any inconvenience during the daytime and during workouts. The rubber strap is replaceable and didn't cause any skin irritation during workouts.
It’s also 5ATM water-resistant so it can assuredly handle mild splashes and sweats. You can also wear it in the shower or while swimming ( 50 meters deep for 30 minutes) but Dizo adds a disclaimer that the water-resistant might not hold if you press the side button underwater.
The display on the Dizo Watch 2 Sports is a 1.69-inch LCD panel with decent contrast, and it gets bright enough to be legible under direct sunlight. In fact, the screen is legible outdoors even at 66% brightness. Users can set screen time between 5 and 30 seconds but there is no option for auto-brightness or an always-on mode.
The software on the Dizo Watch 2 Sports is quite basic. Not that it is missing out on features – everything expected or that I frequently need is there on the Dizo Watch 2 Sports. But customization options are fairly limited.
For instance, I’d love to customize quick setting tiles with options that I frequently need like ‘Find my Phone’ or my choice of workout. The option to replace watch dials already downloaded on the watch with my prefered choices would have made more sense as well. And there should have been an option to decide what swappable primary watch face tiles a user wishes to keep on the watch. These are not options that you'd easily find on the competition either, which is why it feels a tad unfair to particularly point out the Dizo Watch 2 Sports. But yes, the watch UI does feel a tad unrefined.
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The watch connects to Android and iOS phones via the Dizo app that has a decent collection of watch dials on offer and also has the option to add a customized one. You can sync only one watch face of your choice to the watch at a time. Users have the option to organize their preferred watch faces under the 'My Dial' tab on the phone app instead.
The app itself is quite simple and straightforward. As is the case with most custom OS watches and Android, you will need to grant a bunch of permissions to ensure everything keeps working smoothly. You can choose from apps installed on your phone that you wish to sync notifications with the watch and enable call reminders manually. There is no option to respond to the incoming messages on the watch. Incoming calls can be disconnected or muted directly from the watch.
Dizo advertises more than 110 workout modes and GPS route tracking. By default, there are about 16 modes on the app and you can sync more using the Dizo app, the option to do so was buried deep and it took us a while before we finally found it.
The outdoor walking and outdoor running modes that I frequently use are very well designed. You can also check details like fat-burning time, heart rate range, pace, and steps frequency in the app. As a watch for beginners, it would be better if the different metrics shown in the UI were explained. For instance, a user might want to know more about what anaerobic endurance or Avg Stride Fre is.
To start with, the Dizo Watch 2 Sports is quite consistent with activity tracking. We mostly tested it with outdoor walking and outdoor running on a 500-meter track and for every five km, the Watch 2 sports was off by 100 to 250 meters. That’s pretty accurate for a basic wearable. It must also be mentioned that the watch was way off in the first workout session, but that can be passed off as a minor blip.
We tested the heart rate measurements and SPO2 tracking against Dr Morepen Pulse Oximeter and for both the Dizo Watch 2 Sports proved quite reliable.
We didn’t face any connectivity issues on the Watch 2 Sports. Drops were quite infrequent. The upside of the basic software is that the battery life on the Watch 2 Sports won't be a problem. Even with automatic heart rate and SPO2 tracking turned on and while clocking more than 1 hour of workout tracking, the battery drop wasn’t more than 10 per cent per day. You can further prolong your mileage by reducing the number of apps syncing notifications. There are basic wearables that promise a longer mileage, but the 10 mark is still pretty decent in my opinion. A full charge takes around 2 hours.
It’s not much you can expect of a wearable priced under INR 2500 (or under $33), so the Dizo Watch 2 Sports certainly punches above its weight. It’s a good looking basic smartwatch that offers reliable activity tracking, decent battery mileage, and a bright display.
On the downside, the watch UI lacks customization options and it's not always easy to find what you are looking for in the Dizo app. However, these are flaws that we can easily excuse for the value price. The software is still functional and dependable and is expected to get more polished with subsequent updates. If you are limited by a budget and are looking for a basic smartwatch, the Dizo Watch 2 Sports is worth considering.