What started with the Apple Watch, has been taken to the next level by the smartwatch manufacturers from the Chinese land. Smartwatches come and go, but a few make long lasting impact on the global market. No.1 D5, No.1 F2, Zeblaze Blitz, Zeblaze Crystal, and Huami Amazfit are some examples of one of the best Chinese smartwatches till date. But what if we say that there’s a smartwatch far superior to above said smartwatches. A watch which can replace your smartphone, with the best display and protection to offer. A watch that rival Apple Watch and Samsung Gear (Gods of smartwatches). Our today’s protagonist ‘Zeblaze THOR’ is such a smartwatch.

Zeblaze THOR smartwatch highlights an independent SIM functionality, a super AMOLED display, Gorilla Glass Protection 3 and a metal housing to compete on a global level. But, that’s only the appetizer. The real meal is yet to serve. Let’s dive into the details of the smartwatch to know THOR better:

Zeblaze THOR Smartwatch Review – Too Much From a Metal Beast!

The Unboxing

With the passage of time, Zeblaze has made some improvements with the package incorporating its smartwatches. From the start, Zeblaze was way better than No.1 and Huami regarding first impression and boxing. As far as Zeblaze THOR smartwatch is concerned, the watch comes inside an elegant leather box. On the front of the box, the logo ‘Zeblaze’ glitters with the silver color.

When we flip the box, the elegant THOR smartwatch rest inside. There’s also a pouch present under the lid which contains the user manual. I think that the first impression of this watch is the best among all other Chinese smartwatches. As usual, Chinese manufacturer doesn’t care about the packaging of the watches. That’s why they come inside a plastic case, in with the smartwatch is loosely fastened. But, that’s not the case with Zeblaze smartwatches, especially this one.

First Impression of Zeblaze THOR

The manufacturer is generous concerning providing accessories with Zeblaze THOR. These include:

• Two extra screws
• Screwdriver
• USB cable
• English Manual
• Charging Dock

Design & Appearance

When it comes to solid built and trendy design, Zeblaze is no stranger. For me, the company’s smartwatch chassis can easily rival Apple watch. Zeblaze THOR smartwatch has a metal housing forged from 316L stainless steel. The finishing of the watch is marvelous and why shouldn’t it be? The watch undergoes the same CNC injection process like the smartphones. The manufacturer states that after 30 procedures of 72 hours, THOR was created. This has become a common tagline for the products that undergo CNC process. It should be noted that CNC process is almost the same for all products. But, holding this watch gives a premium and different feeling.

There are super thin bezels present around the screen with no black borders. At one point, Zeblaze THOR design takes inspiration from Huami Amazfit. The frame layout is the same, rounded from the sides. Even the bicolor strap is almost the same.

The frame is purely metallic black as it’s the only color option. The strap molds from plastic and is breathable as well as anti-allergic.

Moreover, on the left side, we have the speakers and mic. Meanwhile, on the right, the integrated camera and power button are present. Regarding dimension, the watch occupies 27.00 x 4.80 x 1.30 cm and weighs 6.3 grams.

Summing up, Zeblaze has kept the watch minimalistic. It’s robust because of the Gorilla Glass Protection 3 and premium due to CNC injection.

Hardware & Connectivity

To be honest, you won’t expect a high-end performance from this watch like smartphones. Why? This is because this is a smartwatch and smartwatches are born to be highly energy efficient. That’s why instead of MediaTek Helio X27 or P20, the heart under the hood is a quad-core processor MTK6580M processor running at the lowest frequency of 1 GHz. Luckily, its quad-core while most of independent smartwatches till run on a dual-core SoC. To improve multitasking and storage, the SoC is accompanied by one gig of RAM and 16GB internal storage. Sadly the watch doesn’t support an SD card, but I think 16GB is enough for a watch as well as the user.

The watch leads regarding connectivity due to the presence of WiFi 802.11b/g/n along with Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS. The best part is that the watch supports 3G network. You just have to unscrew the lid on the rear of the watch to insert the SIM (Standard). The reception of all these wireless connections is strong. While using them, I didn’t notice the poor connection, but instead, I felt like that was using my cell phone.

Screen & Display

Now comes the greatest selling point of Zeblaze THOR smartwatch, which is its screen. In comparison with other watches such as Zeblaze Blitz and No.1 G6, THOR has a larger screen sized 1.6-inch. Zeblaze THOR has the finest display, thanks to the super AMOLED technology. The watch offers the highest resolution of 400 x 400 pixel with a pixel density of 326ppi. This is where THOR leaves all the smartwatches behind including our former highest resolution screen watch No.1 D5+ along with Samsung Gear S2 and Apple Watch.

Display in Low Light

The colors are vibrant, and the brightness is at the maximum. While using the watch in sunlight, the screen is clearly visible. As its Super AMOLED, not just AMOLED, so won’t find any compromise with the contrast and image depth. In other words, Zeblaze THOR smartwatch has the world’s best smartwatch display to offer for the best price.

Display in Day Light

OS & Features

As Zeblaze Smartwatch is an independent smartwatch that’s why it has its OS. The watch runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop). The dark side is that it’s an old version of Android as there are some Chinese smartwatches out there that run on Android 6.0. But the bright side is that the whole OS is customized by the developers for the best Android Wear experience.

The customization includes a neon themed main menu, simple scroll, and swipe UI.

The Google Play Store is also available to download. However, not all the apps will be supported on the current resolution. Games such as Asphalt 8 and NFS Most Wanted will not run because of the low-tier hardware and resolution. Due to limited RAM, you can’t run more than five applications at the same time. Otherwise, it starts to lag. Still, the good point is that the essential apps like MX Player and PDF Reader are supportable.

Moreover, there are tons of features on the smartwatch which you can enjoy. The health feature includes a heart rate sensor and pedometer. You can get the sedentary reminder and sleep monitor from the Play store.

Other features include:

• Phone
• Contacts
• Messaging
• Settings
• Remote Capture (controls camera of the phone via app or Bluetooth)
• Brower (a bit slow but you can download UC Browser or Chrome)
• Calendar
• Clock
• Camera
• Gallery
• Music
• Sound Recorder
• Remote Control
• File Manager
• Find Me (Anti-Theft)
• Health
• Weather
• Voice Control
• Play Store
• Maps

If you want to synchronize the watch with your phone, there’s an app QR code given in the manual or just connect it with Bluetooth. Also, the watch also has multiple clock faces. The developers are doing their best to make the best clock faces like in No.1 D5. For Zeblaze THOR there are severals built-in ones while the rest can be downloaded from the store or the internet.

Camera & Battery

It’s too rare to see an integrated camera in smartwatches these days. The manufacturer tries to leave as much space possible for the battery. That’s why they neglect the camera. But, that’s not the case with Zeblaze THOR Smartwatch. It’s a watch that highlights both a built-in and a remote camera. The built-in camera shoots a picture at 2MP (interpolated to 5MP).

The image quality not only appears stunning on the small display of the watch but as well on the large screen. The daylight results are simply great.

A generous 350 mAh battery powers Zeblaze ultimate flagship. As the hardware is not power hungry, so we might expect two days of battery life on a regular use, one day during internet browsing, and 10 hours of music play. With an average use (web browsing, music play, and calling), it can easily run for a day on a single charge.

As far as the charging is concerned, the watch supports magnetic charging. Although, it requires some hours to charge the battery from 0% to 100% still all those hours are worth of running the watch for 24 hours. I suggest buying an additional charger because you won’t find these type of chargers that easily.

Obviously, it can’t beat No.1 F2, the longest running smartwatch on a single charge, because of the AMOLED display, Quad Core SoC, and 3G networking. But still, the battery life is better than most smartphones and smartwatches.

See: No.1 F2 Smartwatch Review – A $17 G-Shock Killer, No Need To Charge!

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Great Built
• CNC finishing
• Best Display
• Integrated Camera
• Independent Functionality (3G and Android)
• Nice UI

Cons:

• Outdated OS
• Somewhat expensive

Specification Sheet

Our Verdict

If you’re concerned about buying an independent 3G smartwatch with an elegant design and the best finish, despite the high price, Zeblaze THOR is your best option. Looking at Zeblaze THOR smartwatch and we can say that:

It’s a Chinese smartwatch with the best display in the world till date!

Price & Availability

You can buy Zeblaze THOR from GearBest for the lowest price on the internet which is $109.99. We know that the watch is costly, but still, it’s considered cheap because of the features it offers. At last, we will like to end this review by giving you the link to the store:

Buy Zeblaze THOR from Gearbest for $109.99 onlyBest Deals Via XiaomiToday