If you’re looking to fetch a smart wearable in a tight budget of around 3000 INR- 4000 INR, the possibilities are you’ll end up getting a fitness wearable that is a more health-focused fitness tracker or a notifier that doesn’t stand out as a smartwatch. While the competition in the budget category is getting steeper, a lot of brands are running in this constant race in the consumer tech era. There are always some people who always urge for a full-fledged smartwatch and don’t want to empty their pockets; Crossbeats is a brand that brings Crossbeats Ignite S3 which pledged to be more than just a fitness tracker or a notifier.
It bundles some impressive features such as a large 1.7-inch color display, Sp02, and Stress Monitoring but most importantly it supports on-watch voice calling which means that you can answer your phone calls with your smartwatch itself making it stand apart from the crowd which is great feature at this price segment. It delivers a lot of what they’ve been asking for and some factors which still need some improvements. After using it for almost two months, here’s our review of Crossbeats Ignite S3. Before moving towards review, let’s take a quick look at the specifications of it:-
Crossbeats Ignite S3 Smartwatch Specifications
| General | |
|---|---|
| Brand | Crossbeats |
| Model | IGNITE S3 |
| Sales Package | Smart Watch, User Manual, Warranty Card |
| Display | |
| Type | Color IPS |
| Size | 1.7 in |
| Touch | Yes |
| Connectivity | |
| Wi-Fi | No |
| Bluetooth | Yes,5.0 |
| GPS | No |
| Design | |
| Shape | Square |
| Material | Silicone, Metal |
| Activity Tracker | |
| Heart Rate Monitor | Yes |
| SpO2 Monitor | Yes |
| Calorie Count | Yes |
| Step Count | Yes |
| Sleep Monitor | Yes |
| Technical | |
| Compatible OS | Android, iOS |
| Battery | |
| Capacity | 300 mAh |
| Type | Lithium-Ion |
| Battery Backup | 10 days |
| Features | |
| Water-Resistant | Yes |
| Scratch Resistant | Yes |
| Dust Proof | |
| Text Message | Yes |
| Incoming Call | Yes |
| Alarm Clock | Yes |
| Weather | Yes |
| Goal Setting | Yes |
| Warranty | |
| Warranty | 12 Month |
BOX CONTENTS
- Crossbeats Ignite S3
- Magnetic Charging Cable
- User Manual
- Quick Start Guide
- 1 Year Warranty Activation Card
DESIGN & DISPLAY
The Crossbeats Ignite S3 is identical in design to the Apple Watch Series 3 for two artefacts:- the squarish display and digital crown situated on the middle-right of the dial. This crown also rotates with a tactile and satisfactory feedback which can be used for switching watch faces and scrolling in the UI. It can also be used as a back button by pressing it once. To its bottom, there is a microphone, To its left side, there is a secondary microphone and the rest is bare.
On the rear, it bundles a speaker which comes handy for listening to music and phone calls, sensors and poco pin which can be magnetically attached to the proprietary magnetic charger which comes in the box. It is available in three colours:- Carbon Black, Sea Green and Ice Silver which costs 3,999 INR. It is also available in three more colours i.e, Sporty Green, Sporty Red and Sporty Grey which costs 4,300 INR. For our review period, we’re using the Carbon Black colourway of this smartwatch.
The metallic chassis is made up of zinc-alloy material with a matte finish which delivers a simple yet subtle look. Due to the construction of zinc-alloy, this ensures to keep it lightweight and rests firmly on the wrist. The strap quality is quite decent and can be swapped with various similar sized straps which is available at CrossBeats official website. The raise to wake feature works 7/10 times during our usage. Sometimes it gets delayed and pressing the crown button remains the only option to wake up the watch from sleep.The IP67 Water and Dust resistance ensures that this can handle accidental water splashes and rains up to 30 metres.
The 1.7 inch HD IPS panel makes it industry’s first to come up with this display as per claimed by the brand; the competitors usually offer TFT LCD display in this segment. This display reproduces rich and vibrant colours with a slightly bigger bezel on the bottom. The viewing angles are good and with 450 nits of brightness, we didn’t encounter any issues during indoor and outdoor activities. With that, there is a slight downgrade with this display as the maximum on-time can be set to 8 seconds which could be annoying for some users.
ACTIVITY & FITNESS TRACKING
It can also track varieties of sports mode which includes Yoga, running, walking, basketball, cycling, football, spinning, cycling etc. Since there’s no built-in GPS in the smartwatch, it has to rely on the smartphone’s GPS. Basic fitness activities like running, cycling and walking were accurate while we compared it with Noise Colorfit Pro 3. The Crossbeats Ignite 3’s heart rate sensor has been quite accurate during our testing.
The heart rate sensor and blood pressure sensor can work continuously while wearing the watch. Throughout our running session during the evening, it fairly keeps up with my steps accurately. While comparing the Sp02 readings with the fingertip pulse oximeter, we got matching results from 8 out of 10. It’s not capable of replacing Sp02 medical meter in terms of accuracy but it’s common in this price point. It can receive call alerts and notification alerts from various applications like Facebook, WhatsApp, E-Mail etc which can be viewed directly through smartwatch. It also support stress monitoring and sleep tracking with a graphical representation for better statistical monitoring.
SOFTWARE & BATTERY
With Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, pairing it up with Android devices as well as iOS devices is a bliss. We used it simultaneously with iPhone X and Realme 7 and didn’t faced any connectivity drops. The smartwatch can be paired through CB-ACTIV app which is available on Android and iOS devices.The main USP of this smartwatch is the ability to answer calls directly from the watch and it excels in it perfectly. The other party didn’t face any problem while hearing my voice and the vocals from the speaker are audible. You can pick calls as well as make calls with the dialer through the smartwatch.
The UI of this smartwatch feels choppy. While navigating into the menu, the UI animation stutters a lot. Its comes with 2 Menu style; With Theme 1, the stutters are quite evident but that’s not the case with theme 2 where animations were quick and responsive. It also supports custom watch faces and can store unto 6 watch faces in the watch itself. Apart from that, there are 76 online watch faces available on it to choose from. It also comes with features like Period Tracking, Remote Camera Control, music controls, voice assistant support over android and iOS, phonebook to access contacts and Find Phone feature as well.
There’s one restriction: you cannot set alarms directly through smartwatch. When it comes to battery life, this 300mAh battery promises seven days of juice and it delivers exactly that. The brand also promises standby time up to 20 days. This includes answering phone calls, receiving notifications and for workout sessions. As far as charging speed is concerned, it takes 2 hours to charge it to 100%. While on the go, charging this smartwatch from 0% to 50% takes nearly half-an hour.
THE UNBIASED VERDICT – Crossbeats Ignite S3
Crossbeats Ignite S3 comes in 6 colours: Carbon Black, Sea Green and Ice Silver; which costs Rs.3999 & Sporty Green, Sporty Red and Sporty Grey costs Rs.4,300 which is available to buy on Crossbeats Official Website and Amazon.
If you’re looking for a smartwatch which vows to be more than a fitness tracker or a notifier at an affordable budget, Crossbeats Ignite S3 is a match made in heaven, it offers a bright and vibrant display, on-watch voice calling whether its about receiving or making phone calls, a battery life that can last for almost a week. However, it’s not possible to get everything at a strict budget. Hence, it holds some of its demerits too. Its display standby can be cloaked till 8 seconds only: if you’re someone who loves to fiddle a lot with the smartwatch, this might be a deal-breaker for you. Also, the UI experience is not fluid but Hey! This doesn’t tends to be a reason to not recommend this to anyone.
Disclaimer: We tested the Crossbeats Ignite S3 for two months before writing this review. All our reviews are unbiased and are published without the brand getting to read it before you guys. We don’t change our reviews on pressure from brands and that’s the reason we are not sent review units from companies like Samsung, OnePlus and a few more.
