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I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

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Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#241

Post by gizmo686 »

Aaargh20318 wrote: post #101
KerrickStaley wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This problem seems prevalent on cheaper devices. When I buy a device and discover it has this problem I always return it. I've seen it on the Hypervolt Go 2 (which I returned and replaced with a Theragun Mini) and on the Hitachi Magic Wand Micro (which I replaced with a Dame Dip). Like the post mentions, I think this happens because the devices are missing two resistors that are needed to indicate, when connected via…

> This problem seems prevalent on cheaper devices. I’ve seen it on plenty of higher-end devices as well; and even worse. The worst offender I’ve encountered is the TermoWorks Billows. ThermoWorks is a well established brand that makes high end thermometers and is considered one of the best on the market. So I was quite surprised to discover how their ‘Billows’ product is powered. The device itself needs 12v and has a…

I've seen even worse. I was upgrading an old device that had a 12v barrel connector, and was happy to see the new one used USB-C instead.

It came with a power brick that I happened look at and noticed that the output voltage was listed simply as 12v (instead of all possible outputs like usbc bricks normally do). I hooked it up to a USB-PD breakout board I had and tested it. Sure enough, it output at 12v regardless of what is asked for.

Luckily, the device itself actually did USB-PD, so I was able to throw away that monstrosity before it fried anything. Annoyingly, the device only supported 12V, which is hot or miss on being supported by chargers, but at least a mismatch there isn't going to fry anything.

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#242

Post by thecupisblue »

throwanem wrote: post #127
mancerayder wrote: post #14

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?

Look at Amazfit. Oh, they market to folks who like squares too, but not only. Many of their more classically proportioned models take standard straps, and in several months of use I've found the Balance so delightful as to decide to stock a couple of spares; it's been reliable thus far, but I'm hard on a watch. (It has to keep up!) The customizability and programmability also can't be beat; the experience obviously t…

Honestly the top brand right now. And if you don't want a watch, they also have a whoop-like strap for 99.99$

I had an Amazfit GTR-4, bought a Whoop because I wanted to wear classical watches and I really can't wait for my subscription to expire so I can go back to Amazfit.

The watch is amazing - it looks great, has a long lasting battery (2-3 weeks), quite a solid app to go with it, has GPS that you can enable when you need to and has mini apps on it that are sometimes quite useful (voice notes, timers, stretches, even a ChatGPT mini-app someone made). And it's a 3 year old watch - the new ones are even better and look nicer.

While they had some issues previously with algorithm accuracy for HR and sleep, last year it has improved wildly and the updates hit the old devices too, leaving it on par with top tier watches.

I really can't imagine getting a smartwatch whose battery lasts less than 2-3 days. Makes it super impractical for any traveling/hiking/camping or any kind of a trip where you won't have your charger with you.

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#243

Post by ustad »

LarMachinarum wrote: post #233
ustad wrote: post #51

The colmi p8 (p80 i don’t know) can run micropython. https://github.com/wasp-os/wasp-os

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…

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.

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#244

Post by LarMachinarum »

ustad wrote: post #243
LarMachinarum wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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.

that could indeed be an option depending on your use case. The problem with those (aside from finding a suitable enclosure) is that while more powerful, they aren't at all optimized for use in really low-power conditions and that their energy consumption is consequently enormously higher than that of e.g. an nRF52 (e.g. nRF52832 or nRF52840), so that the battery time would likely be significantly shorter.

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#245

Post by throwanem »

thecupisblue wrote: post #242
throwanem wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look at Amazfit. Oh, they market to folks who like squares too, but not only. Many of their more classically proportioned models take standard straps, and in several months of use I've found the Balance so delightful as to decide to stock a couple of spares; it's been reliable thus far, but I'm hard on a watch. (It has to keep up!) The customizability and programmability also can't be beat; the experience obviously t…

Honestly the top brand right now. And if you don't want a watch, they also have a whoop-like strap for 99.99$ I had an Amazfit GTR-4, bought a Whoop because I wanted to wear classical watches and I really can't wait for my subscription to expire so I can go back to Amazfit. The watch is amazing - it looks great, has a long lasting battery (2-3 weeks), quite a solid app to go with it, has GPS that you can enable when…

I could see hybrids having a moment.

We're obviously well into an Apple watch fashion backlash, to a point where "not obviously a smartwatch" in itself can help sell, and most of the really useful complications can present enough UI on a dot-addressable partial-face display. (By the standards of early digitals, this is luxury!) And with something like a momentarily backlit transflective LCD costing microampere-hours to run, weeks to months of battery should be achievable with careful programming.

Strictly, I don't suppose there's a reason why a hypothetical top-end model couldn't present a full-face display as at present, but with physical hands via a central holepunch, and a touchscreen integrated into the crystal as well as the usual physical controls. It seems like the best of both worlds, and I'd easily pay half a grand or more to find out, but now I'm just dreaming out loud.

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#246

Post by thecupisblue »

throwanem wrote: post #245
thecupisblue wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly the top brand right now. And if you don't want a watch, they also have a whoop-like strap for 99.99$ I had an Amazfit GTR-4, bought a Whoop because I wanted to wear classical watches and I really can't wait for my subscription to expire so I can go back to Amazfit. The watch is amazing - it looks great, has a long lasting battery (2-3 weeks), quite a solid app to go with it, has GPS that you can enable when…

I could see hybrids having a moment. We're obviously well into an Apple watch fashion backlash, to a point where "not obviously a smartwatch" in itself can help sell, and most of the really useful complications can present enough UI on a dot-addressable partial-face display. (By the standards of early digitals, this is luxury!) And with something like a momentarily backlit transflective LCD costing microampere-hours…

Oh definitely, I recently bought my mother a similar Garmin - it is elegant, looks lady-like and is basically a physical watch with smart features integrated. The way the display is integrated into the dial is actually supersmooth and really surprised me, did not expect it from such a relatively cheap watch (vivomove). Definitely check out their offer, as it might be what you're looking for.

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#247

Post by varenc »

ackfoobar wrote: post #5

> 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…

Here's a simple thing that will fix cheapo electronics with this problem: https://www.tindie.com/products/edison517/usb-chyna/

(it just connects CC1 + CC2 with the appropriate 5.1k resistors)

Re: I bought a £16 smartwatch just because it used USB-C

#248

Post by ustad »

LarMachinarum wrote: post #244
ustad wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

that could indeed be an option depending on your use case. The problem with those (aside from finding a suitable enclosure) is that while more powerful, they aren't at all optimized for use in really low-power conditions and that their energy consumption is consequently enormously higher than that of e.g. an nRF52 (e.g. nRF52832 or nRF52840), so that the battery time would likely be significantly shorter.

Regarding power I agree - a weeks worth is hard to get. inside i don’t mind plugging in power and outside if a lipo battery can last afew hours (while jogging etc) I’m good to go. Also these cpus have very good sleep modes.
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