Razer Nabu Watch : More than a Smartwatch?
A digital chronograph, notifications that are discreet and cannot be seen by prying eyes, updates you on your fitness levels and maintains your social life – everything rolled up in one. Sounds too good? Say hello to a smartwatch at a whole new feature-packed digital watch loaded with smart functions.
Popular gaming hardware maker and pioneer in connected devices and software for gamers, Razer announced its latest new smart product at CES 2016 with a new wearable for its Nabu line – but don’t just dumb it down to a smartwatch just as yet. According to Razer, the Nabu Watch is a very interesting twist to all the typical fitness bands you see in the market and the common digital watches sitting on our wrists.
Nabu Watch – Smart Introduction
Basically, the Nabu Watch is full-featured digital timepiece which includes a Nabu secondary screen that shows you notifications which are streamed in real-time from your smartphone, and it also tracks your fitness levels and your sleep habits via an in-built accelerometer. One quick glance at the device tells us a lot in terms of design as it captures a lot of design hints from the digital watches from the 90’s – Casio G-Shock and Timex Ironman.
2015 was a big year for wearable technology especially the Apple Watch being a hit, but the biggest challenge faced by these devices is poor battery life and their dismal performance as a multi-function watch. Razer took these issues into account and focused on the digital chronograph as a primary function and the other smart features as a secondary addition to the device.
Unbeaten Features
It covers the features of all the leading smartwatches – an illuminated backlit display, countdown timer, stopwatch, clocks that show the time of various other geographical locations and alarms – apart from these it also automatically syncs the phone time via Bluetooth thus ensuring your device is always in accordance with global standards. Another important feature is the watch possesses a 12-month life on its coin cell replaceable battery.
There’s a secondary-screen fitted within the watch which delivers all the features of any Nabu wearable and here’s when the fun begins – discreet notifications, tracking your fitness meter and watch-to-watch communication all in real-time! The traditional part of your Razer Nabu watch is the real watch area which shows you the time and that’s pretty much it.
Towards the bottom, it offers you a small display for alerts and other vital data you want to know most importantly all the details related to health and fitness. This feature zeroes you in on the exact number of calories you have burned off in a day and the number of steps you have taken – which is an important indicator of a sedentary or active lifestyle.
With the Nabu watch having two parts, this means you require two batteries – a rechargeable battery for the digital display and a classic coin cell battery. Available in two variants: The standard model is made from tough polycarbonate with Razer green highlights. The Forged Edition model is manufactured using stainless steel buttons and a premium black finish. Both are water resistant to 5ATM and shock resistant to 5 meters.
The second screen which is OLED, can be activated by simply raising your wrist and this is how you can explore all its smart features. Preview all your phone notifications such an incoming texts and calls. Fitness activity and sleep tracking data can be reviewed with the Nabu Watch companion iOS or Android app.
Another interesting way to make new friends – in case you come across someone who owns a Razer Nabu watch or any of the Nabu bands that are available in the market, all you have to do is shake hands and exchange Facebook and Twitter contacts.
Battery Life
Battery life is pretty good and here’s where things get better. The main display is recharged by the kind of coin cell battery which you can find in most of the smartwatches providing you with twelve months of power. However, the secondary screen would last for around seven days and can be charged by a USB cable.
There is no app marketplace where you can install apps from and you don’t really have to go on tapping through a very complicated interface just as it is with Android wearables and Apple’s latest hit, Apple Watch; you can sit back and relax as this watch outperforms most of its wearable rivals and why? Because of two batteries. No more hourly charging or nightly charging, the Nabu Watch can last for weeks and months and that’s a big reason to cheer!
Experts who have tested and tried this device have also found it very comfortable to slip on as it is perforated with holes which allows you easily fasten the gadget on your wrist. As compared to many other watches, this has apparently been the easiest to wear.
“We’re bringing together the reliability and incredible functionality of a digital timepiece, with added smart features to empower the tech enthusiasts of today,” says Razer CEO and co-founder, Min-Liang Tan. “We’re also just really excited to create a digital watch that we’re proud to call our own – a natural intersection between our popular work in apparel and wearables. This was something our fans have asked for, and we’re happy to deliver.”
Price and Availability
The Razer Nabu Watch is available in late January for $150 or €180. The Razer Nabu Watch Forged Edition is available now for $200 or €240 which is quite affordable.
Dhruvil is a Writer & Marketeer for Nimblechapps, joined in December 2014, based out of Sydney, Australia. He has worked briefly as a Branding and Digital Marketing Manager before moving to Australia. At Nimblechapps, he worked on Social Media Marketing, Branding, Email Marketing and Blogging. Dhruvil studies Business at University of Western Sydney, and also handles Operations for the company in Australia.