Charm is far from a novelty from Samsung, the gadget has been on the market for a year. But nevertheless, there are no direct competitors (in the Russian federal retail) for this fitness tracker: the low price allows you to buy this gadget just for trial. If you don't like it – well, okay, even if you don't sell, but throw it into a drawer, it will not be so sorry for the money spent.
Contents of delivery
- Fitness tracker
- Strap
- Charger
- Instructions
Positioning
The positioning is determined by the appearance of the device: it is a stylish accessory for women. On a man's hand (even if it fits on it) it will look ridiculous, but for a girl it will suit both a dress and a T-shirt / jeans.
Fitness tracker on hand
Design, ergonomics
The Charm has a glossy main surface and matte sidewalls.
Compared to MiBand 1s
No straps
Charm is one of the smallest fitness trackers on the market. The gadget is inserted into the strap hole and rotated slightly to fix it. At first glance, the mount does not look very reliable, but in normal use (both when walking and doing, for example, aerobics) nothing fell out.
And the design of the charger – definitely pleased. In comparison with the same MiBand, this gadget is much more convenient to put on 'charge': put it on top and press a little – both tactilely and visually it will be immediately clear that the device is installed correctly.
Charger
The design clearly hints at the possibility of a multitude of interchangeable straps, but there is nothing like this on the market: there are three colors of the fitness tracker available (white-gold and black are still on sale, and pink has already disappeared from sale) without any further customization.
The size of the strap is small, designed only for a woman's hand, in the initial position it will suit even a teenage girl.
Smartphone connection
A special application Charm by Samsung is used to connect. When connected, an indicator of a randomly selected color (blue, green or red) lights up on the bracelet, which must be indicated in the application.
In the future, the application can only be used to configure notifications. No other settings (for example, the place of wearing: left or right hand) is provided in it.
Theoretically, to pair with a gadget, you need any smartphone with support for Bluetooth LE and version Android 4.4. In practice, not everything is so simple: Play Market has a huge number of complaints about the fact that the connection to inexpensive devices does not occur. I tried connecting the Charm to the Moto G3 and it didn't work either. At the same time, the device connects to flagships, even of past years, without any problems (checked on Moto X, Xiaomi Mi 2s and Galaxy S7).
Samsung Health
All work with the gadget – viewing the number of steps, workouts – is performed in the Samsung Health app (formerly S-Health), an overview of which is presented on the website – text and video:
Against the background of the 'best' fitness trackers, a pleasant surprise is the support for a larger number of workouts, for example, there is aerobics so beloved by girls.
However, it should be borne in mind that this is the functionality of the application, not of the gadget. Even if the fitness tracker lies motionless, the app will happily inform you how many calories were eventually burned.
Additional functionality
Charm has an indicator that can be set to blink when receiving notifications from applications (any), of course, the indication of an incoming or missed call is supported. Unfortunately, the indicator color is not customizable. But the main problem is that without a vibration signal (and there is no motor in such a small device), these notifications are practically useless. In summer, it is extremely difficult for the owner to notice the flashing LED indicator in the bright sun. And in cool weather, the fitness tracker is covered with a long sleeve.
Autonomous work
The battery capacity is 17 mAh. This is quite a bit, but the gadget has nowhere to waste the battery. As a result, the charge lasts about a week. But the charge indicator is completely uninformative, it does not show either percentages or the estimated number of days until full discharge. Therefore, it may often turn out that until recently there seemed to be a charge and suddenly the battery had already sat down.
Impressions
Charm's impressions are mixed. Compared to many other fitness trackers, the gadget stands out for its design and is liked by girls. But its functionality is extremely poor. Cannot be used for notifications. It cannot track the phases of sleep and, moreover, serve as an alarm clock. Therefore, the scope of its application turns out to be extremely narrow: a classic pedometer for girls who do not have this functionality in their smartphone (or they do not always carry a smartphone with them). However, the cost of about 2,000 rubles (in federal retail) is such that it allows you to safely buy a gadget and conduct an experiment, whether the owner likes Charm or after the test it will be on the shelf.
Competitors
When discussing any fitness tracker, the first competitor mentioned is MiBand. For Charm, the closest will probably be the MiBand 1s. However, it cannot be considered a direct competitor – MiBand is by no means a purely feminine accessory. Losing in design, it puts Charm on the shoulder blades in everything else: and in functionality (which is worth at least notifications with a vibration signal, allowing you to switch the smartphone to silent mode), and in autonomy (more than a month from one charge, even with frequent use of vibration signals (notifications and alarms). Do not forget about the water resistance – the IP67 class is declared for MiBand, which allows you not only to wash your hands calmly, but also to take a short swim in the pool. changeable straps allow to correct the situation with design somewhat.The cost of MiBand 1s today is just under 1000 rubles (in official deliveries).
Also looking at Charm comes back to the Misfit Shine series. But in federal retail, only the first generation of the fitness tracker is presented and only with a black strap (which makes it more like the MiBand than the Charm). And the price turns out to be more than two times more (4350 rubles).