For those who want to keep it simple on a smartwatch

Smart wearable maker Noise has been around for a while now; offering budget buys for those who’d like a notification-flashing smartwatch on their wrists but don’t want to flash a lot of money for it. The latest being offered by the company is the Noise Loop smartwatch.

At ₹4,999, it costs less than what many fitness wearables in the market do, currently. But Noise has done a decent job on not letting its looks reflect its budget pricing. Unboxing it, I found that the metal finish gives it a sober kind of an appealing look and the black silicone strap means you can wear it for a variety of activities — work, outings, and even sports.

In fact, Noise seems to have kept sports utility in mind as the smartwatch comes equipped with a pedometer and it also measures your heart rate. The Loop also comes with a sleep monitor, however, the watch is quite bulky and wearing it when sleeping may not be the most comfortable idea.

The Noise Loop comes with two buttons for navigation (back and home) on the side and one dummy crown like on a conventional watch, which is purely there for enhancing the watch’s looks. The bottom houses a speaker grille and the heart rate sensor. The top houses the display within the metal finish bezel.

The display is decent — no great shakes, but given the price, one wouldn’t expect the best display. However, the Loop boasts of a full circular display, as opposed to a lot of other smartwatches that have a flat bottom, and this is a pleasant detail. You can choose from six watch faces and I’d have liked some more variety. Touchscreen response is a little slow and when swiping down or sideways, one can expect a lag in response.

The smartwatch pairs with your Android or Apple device via the Mediatek SmartDevice app, which you can use to customise notifications. Once paired, the watch works well, letting you make calls, accessing your contacts, and for reading messages that you receive over Whatsapp, Facebook messenger, etc. However, you cannot reply to messages on the watch and you’ll have to revert to using your phone for doing so. Another drawback is that there is no voice support, but then again, remember that this is a budget offering.

The battery does well as long as you don’t put it to rigorous use. But using features such as the pedometer continuously exhausted it within a day. The charger is a clamp-on type that renders the watch unusable during charging, so that is another niggle. The watch is splash resistant, but you can’t wear it in the shower or the pool.

To sum it up, the Noise Loop is a decent offering if you’re in the market for an entry-level smartwatch, but if you’re looking for top notch quality, specs, and sophistication, you need to look higher in the price department.

Price: ₹4,999

Pros: Good looks, price

Cons: Lagging touchscreen response, below average battery life

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