Sometimes I can’t blame people for wanting bigger screens.

A 60″ Samsung 4K UHD Smart TV.
A 28″ Philips 4K LCD monitor.
A Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.
A 14″ Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra.

Smaller screens make us squint at what we’re trying to read. And it gets tiring to squint all the time.

So, why did I get the Zeblaze Ares smartwatch in the first place?

Only God knows why. (And so does Kid Rock).

Pic by mysmartwatch.dk

The Chinese company Zeblaze was founded in 2014 in Shenzhen, China with expertise in smartwatch development and production. By then, we’re aware of the many smartwatch brands floating around in the market. Too many to keep track of, but they knew the value of marketing. Either Zeblaze had no marketing budget or if it did, it didn’t have an audience in Malaysia.

Rugged, Retro, So Why Not?

The Zeblaze Ares reminds me of the classic Casio watch that I have — the thing that stood out was the ruggedness, which was what came with the Zeblaze Ares. Not to mention, the retro design.

I have a weakness for all things retro and vintage (because of that, I even got myself a typewriter but that’s a story for another day).

The main feature of the Zeblaze Ares is its retro design. Released in 2021, the smartwatch also comes with a 1.3-inch (240 x 240) HD colour touchscreen display, a 24-hour heart rate monitor, 7 days battery life, a variety of watch faces to choose from, and a price of less than RM 200. You certainly won’t break the bank with this one.

Weightlessness on My Wrist

The first time I strapped the Zeblaze Ares on my wrist, I was amazed at its weight. I wore it daily to work and when I went out and most of the time, I forgot that I was wearing it. That’s because it’s made of plastic.

The smartwatch came in a small box (sadly, I’ve since thrown it away) with an equally simple design. It was a minimalist box design but I didn’t mind its simplicity.

After all, I was going to wear the smartwatch, not parade with the box in my hand. The box came with the smartwatch inside, together with a USB charging port and an instructions manual.

A Week’s Worth of Usage

The other thing that I liked about the Zeblaze Ares was its battery life. While it isn’t as long-lasting as the Casio (10 years), a week’s worth of usage is pretty decent.

The smartwatch came equipped with a 170mAh battery, promising up to 15 days of battery life on a single charge. But that is only in standby mode. If you used the watch daily as I did, the battery life will be about 7 days.

That’s pretty much the standard battery life for budget watches in 2021. However, in my experience, I found that the watch could last about 5–6 days for me before requiring a full charge — this took less than 30 minutes.

Sadly, these advantages were unable to keep my attention on it for long. Why’s that?

Here are the reasons why it didn’t work out for me.

Pic by androidtvbox

Small Screen Meant Squinting

The smartwatch might have a 1.3-inch HD colour touchscreen display, with an IPS panel of 240 x 240 pixels resolution, which was surprisingly good in direct sunlight.

What I couldn’t accept was its screen size. It was smaller compared to most of the smartwatches in the market. Could it be the bezels around the watch face as well? Perhaps.

I had no problem viewing the time but I certainly had to squint or raise the watch closer to my face to read the messages — which came in a digital font type (pic above).

Unremovable Straps

The Zeblaze Ares came with a soft silicone strap measuring 20 mm (width) and 250 mm (length). The strap holes for the latch were close to each other, which gave me better adjustment options for a perfect fit.

While swapping straps might not be a dealbreaker but sometimes, I get the urge to swap a colour for another.

This watch didn’t support that. I had to choose the colour I wanted before buying the watch — I chose camel brown. Or what looked like camel brown.

Ridiculous App Name

Now, this is a bit of a dud and again not a dealbreaker for most, but when I downloaded the app, I realised the name was not a common one.

GloryFit?

Really? No kidding.

If you have to even ask me why I can’t get the name out of my head, you’re still a good person.

Oh, the Internet has ruined me.

The app wasn’t as user-friendly as the Health app for the Huawei Band 6. It took me a while to set it up and personalise everything.

But the app worked just like any other — you can see your daily goals, distance, and calories on the Home screen. You can also get information about your sleeping habits, heart rate, and blood pressure.

Should You Get One?

That depends. How do you plan to use it? How much are you willing to pay? If you can afford to pay more for an Amazfit GTS 4 or anything more, you might as well go for that.

Ultimately, the Zeblaze Ares is still a budget smartwatch, that’s why it is what it is. Remember, you get what you pay for.