Talking of evolution, we have recently become acquainted with a clan of accessories that not only give us an aura of confidence or a Midas touch of elegance when we have them around. They have overgrown sole-purpose adding ounces of versatility in the process and are fast becoming super everyday assistants. It is no surprise that wearables are staking a claim to being must-haves or may I say ‘necessories’ in everyday life and that’s not just for a select few.
Taking advantage of this great need is Chinese smartwatch manufacturer Zeblaze, makers of the Zeblaze Blitz, Zeblaze Vibe 3 and the god-like Zeblaze Thor smartwatch. Like smartphones, it is not alien for smartwatches to have follow-ups and in that vein, Zeblaze has launched the Zeblaze THOR S smartwatch which highlights a 5MP camera and a bright-faced AMOLED screen. If I called the Zeblaze Thor god-like, then trust me, the Zeblaze Thor S is no less.
Note: You can get the Zeblaze THOR S Smartwatch for just $107.99 right now in the ongoing Gearbest Christmas Deals. Simply click the button below and apply the coupon code Xmas404 when checking out
ZEBLAZE THOR S Smartwatch Review – A wearable beyond just wearing
Packaging & Unboxing
Packages create first impressions and that explains why manufacturers pay attention to detail while boxing items. Zeblaze pulls it off quite impressively on this one, housing the Thor S in a 16.0 by 10.0 cm white-coloured box with a transparent foil separating you from what is a masterpiece. When you journey inside, the Zeblaze Thor S smartwatch sits comfortably in a pose reminiscent of the Buddha. That’s the main thing you’d say but there’s more inside the box.
Within the box, you get:
- A screwdriver
- Two extra screws
- A USB cable
- A User manual; and
- the Zeblaze THOR S smartwatch itself.
Design
‘Different from the average’ Zeblaze says, and well said, I say. The THOR S smartwatch sports a metal body made from 316L stainless steel crafted using the CNC injection process adding a premium metal curve, an offering from the double-layer design that it incorporates.
ts straps are non-replaceable and are made from silica gel and to be honest they are very thick, guarantee that it is very durable and it surprisingly turns out to be comfortable as well.
The metal casing has got thick bezels sporting time markers all around it and the front camera can be seen right on top.
On the sides, there is the ‘CALL’ button, ‘POWER’ button and ‘BACK’ button for inputting the designated commands.
On the rear, there is a SIM tray that can house a Nano SIM, a magnetic charger pin and a built-in heart rate sensor.
For dimension, it measures 5.77 * 5.12 * 1.5 mm and weighs in at 63g. For all the hype the smartwatch is definitely not waterproof, so you don’t want to have a bath in it. It is available in Black colour.
Display
Talking up display, the Zeblaze THOR S is up there with the best smartwatches even doing better than most. The Smartwatch sports a 1.39-inch display based on Super AMOLED technology. It has a high-end offering of 400 by 400 pixels of screen resolution and 326ppi of pixel density.
Comparing the THOR S to the Zeblaze THOR smartwatch (which for now has smartwatch’s finest display), there is only one significant difference and that is the fact that the THOR smartwatch sports a 1.4-inch display compared to THOR S’ 1.39-inch display.
Asides that, every other thing remains the same as the Zeblaze THOR. The colours are ultra-bright and images come out vividly. It must be noted that even under direct sunlight, it doesn’t disappoint although it is not as bright as in low-light conditions as expected.
The Zeblaze THOR S display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4 which is resistant by a great degree to scratches and shock falls.
Hardware and Performance
Smartwatches are great to have and can do most things that the ordinary smartphone can do – everyone knows that. This fact leaves us yearning for a smartwatch that isn’t just long lasting but can give us a top-drawer performance as well.
Zeblaze does its best to deliver in terms of the internal make-up of the THOR S smartwatch. The chipset behind all its operations is MediaTek MTK6580 processor running on quad-core at 1.3GHz of maximum frequency.
The CPU easily handles whatever is thrown at it from games to music, videos and there is no sign of lagging or slow responsiveness, the only notable blemish in performance is the distorted sound it makes when its volume is loudest but that can be sorted by reducing it a bit.
The CPU runs on a 1GB RAM platform and 16GB of internal storage which should be sufficient enough as there is no support for microSD card.
ZeblazeTHOR S AnTuTu Benchmark Scores
The Zeblaze THOR S had an impressive score of 20,520 on the AnTuTu Benchmark app. This score places it in a competitive spot (towards the top of the table) on the list of top smartwatches in 2017.
Camera & Battery
The THOR S features a front-facing camera at 5MP and permit to say that the positioning of the camera is one that I like.
Images come out fine, very clear, displaying details vividly and it offers a great video-calling experience.
Videos play in HD resolution and you could easily enjoy YouTube or Netflix on this device.
A 350mAh Lithium-ion battery is on offer, giving life to the Zeblaze THOR S smartwatch. It can return 48hours, approximately 2 days of standby time upon full charge.
On-screen use can give as much as 5 hours of use and up to 4hours on heavy use. On charging, it supports magnetic charging and that takes up to 70 to 80minutes to charge back to 100%.
Connectivity & Software
The smartwatch runs on Android 5.1 OS(Lollipop). This cannot compare to the Android 6.0 Marshmallow but it still serves up an enjoyable user experience with a user-friendly interface that is customizable.
The watch faces, for one, can be changed simply by clicking the centre, then scrolling and selecting the one that best suits your interest and there are others that can be downloaded as well.
On the menu, there are dishes of applications and that includes Google Maps, Web Browser, Google voice search and the Google play store from which you can download applications and games as desired but mind you, some top-end applications will not run because of the hardware.
There are a couple of features targeted at making a daily analysis of health and exercises. Accelerometer and proximity sensors are present as well.
Connectivity options include; GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n and 3G support and you can take advantage of that by slotting in a nano-SIM in the provided slot. There shouldn’t be a difference between the network connection on the smartwatch and that of your smartphone.
Applications on the THOR S
- Contacts
- Phone
- Messaging
- Settings
- Calendar
- Clock
- Gallery
- Music
- Camera
- Music
- Sound Recorder
- File Manager
- Health
- Weather
- Connect Phone
- Sports Target
- Remote Capture
- Music Control
- Find my device
- Switch Platform
- Sports Data
Conclusion
Overall, the THOR S gets a high score with all specs taken into consideration. Its Super AMOLED display is simply outstanding coupled with the fact it sports a front-facing camera.
The only significant down-side is its battery capacity. Nevertheless, at that price, the Zeblaze THOR S should be your first pick, in case you decide on getting a smartwatch for yourself or a loved one.
Zeblaze THOR S Price & Availability
If you are thinking where to get the Zeblaze THOR S smartwatch, then you need not look too far. The Zeblaze Thor S is available on GearBest for $107.99 with the coupon code Xmas404.
