Vector Luna review

Vector smart watch

“Vector Luna’s long battery life and super stylish, mature design make this smartwatch a joy to live with.”

Avg

  • A month of battery life

  • Clear, simple, discreet notifications

  • Modern design

  • Well built and durable

  • Works with iOS and Android

Against

  • The app needs more work

  • It’s not cheap

All smartwatches look like toys that only nerds and 12-year-olds wear. It’s an argument that many luxury watchmakers cling to as proof that connected devices aren’t a threat to their lives. Sometimes it’s hard to disagree, especially when looking at hardware like the Pebble. Even the Apple Watch, with its square face, misses the mark.

I had the choice of putting on the Apple Watch or the Vector Luna. I chose Vector.

Will a smartwatch ever match the sophisticated style of a luxury mechanical watch?

The answer is yes, and you don’t have to wait for TAG Hauer, Swatch or any other big name to come up with it. The Vector Luna smartwatch already does that, and what’s more, it combines amazing looks with one of the most desirable features in wearable technology—genuinely long battery life.

Sound like a pipe dream? It’s not. Here’s why the Vector could beat every other smartwatch right now.

What smart watches should look like

Our review model came dressed in stainless steel, with a subtle brushed finish and topped with a polished chrome bezel. The lugs are thin and hold the thick, brown leather strap in place, along with matching stitching. On the side of the body there are three controls — a central selection button and two navigation buttons. The Vector Luna is not too thick, not too heavy, and most importantly, not too gigantic.

The same description could be used for the LG Watch Urbane, but that’s where the similarities end. Watch Urbane looks like a smart watch — a piece of technology. The Vector Luna looks like a watch, and a damn good looking one at that. Part of the reason is display technology. It’s not a touchscreen for starters. It’s monochrome and has no flashing lights or crazy animations. There’s a selection of simple dials to choose from, and that’s about it.

Vector smart watch

Vector smart watch

The result is a watch that is alone Wanted to wear, regardless of the clothes I wore, which received compliments and admiring glances. Not just from a few people, but from everyone. That’s a big deal. Every other smartwatch I’ve worn has had mixed reviews. Vector hasn’t made a watch yet – smartwatch or otherwise – but it’s clear the company has a strong understanding of what makes a watch good.

There is a small caveat here. It fits my wrist almost like it was made for me, but if I put it on a woman’s wrist it’s almost comically huge. While I appreciate that the metal and leather version here isn’t very feminine and that other designs in Vector’s range might be more appropriate, it will be seen as a very bold statement.

I recently went to a meeting with a friend and had the choice of wearing the Apple Watch or the Vector Luna. I chose Vektor and I think it is very significant.

Discreet notifications

Vector can make a good piece of jewelry, but what about his technical ability? After all, it’s still a smartwatch, so it has to be geeky too. If you want to know the screen size, resolution and processor, check the specification table. They are not important. It’s a monochrome screen that’s designed to display legible text, not pretty pictures. It does the job very well.

Vector wants the Luna to be a discreet smartwatch, and it’s not just about the design.

There’s no backlight either, so viewing the screen at night is a challenge, but it’s always on — none of that “ambient mode” nonsense. Vector Luna is a watch; and it tells the time, all the time. Notifications can be customized to your liking or mirror your phone’s settings via the dedicated Vector app. It vibrates when someone enters, but does not immediately display a message on the screen.

Vector wants the Luna to be a discreet smartwatch, and it’s not just about the design. To see your notification, you’ll need to raise your wrist or press the center button. The idea is that no one sitting across from you reads the message before you get a chance. A solid line will appear around the watch face, alerting you to an emergency notification if you ignore the vibration.

Gesture controls, but a shaky app

Gesture control works well, but unfortunately, just turning your wrist isn’t enough to activate the sensors. It often requires a sweeping motion, like you’re trying to check your watch—which goes against the whole discretion thing. Vector doesn’t even have a touch screen, so interaction starts and ends with gestures and buttons.

Thankfully, there’s no app store, and adding widgets like local time, step count, or other time zones — called Streams by Vector and activated in the app — for some watch faces is as deep as any extra features. It’s a smartwatch, and apps have always been a bit redundant in that genre, and using the Vector proves that. The simplicity and unobtrusive user interface make it quick to learn and quick to operate.

The watch will track your steps and calories burned, and it also has automatic sleep monitoring. I found the watch to be too big to wear comfortably at night, so I never used this feature.

On the downside, the only way to silence the watch is to turn off vibrations or adjust alerts in the app — I’d rather have a call priority setting on the watch than dig through the phone’s menus . Also, notifications delivered to the watch may instantly disappear from the phone’s lock screen and from the Notification Center on iOS. I wish they had stayed for the time I missed them on guard duty. Early connectivity issues were resolved with a software update.

At least a month of battery life. Really

There’s another big benefit to removing all the frills from the Vector Luna — battery life. From the very beginning, Vector’s goal was for the watch to run for a month without needing to be charged. It sounded ambitious, but instead of going back, Vector then said he was aiming at least month. Pebble lasts an average of 10 days and is considered the benchmark in the field of smart watches. Well, not anymore.

Vector smart watchAndy Boxall/Digital Trends

Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

I took over Luna on July 22nd, and I’m writing this on August 25th. There is a battery meter inside the app that gives an approximate measure of the remaining power. There is exactly a quarter left, which at the current rate means about a week more. That will be five weeks of use under his belt when he revisits the unfortunately proprietary charger, mission accomplished for Vector.

There’s no real cheat either because the watch can’t be turned off, and it’s connected to an iPhone or Android phone about 80 percent of the time. The app works exactly the same on both devices.

The smartwatch you’ve been waiting for?

All negative aspects depend on your expectations. It doesn’t launch apps, make or receive calls, or let you draw emojis on the screen. If you need those things, Vector is not for you. It’s not cheap, but it’s not an Apple Watch, or any luxury mechanical watch either. It has a sizable bezel around the screen, which is the least attractive aspect of the design, but it’s not a problem. The application could also use a little polish.

Vector Luna is a smart watch. It tells the time, just like a normal watch, and then packs just the right amount of connected features into a sleek, attractive, and durable (it’s water-resistant to five meters) case.

It’s a smartwatch for people who don’t really want a smartwatch, but want the convenience of notifications on their wrist, without the inconvenience of several weekly visits to a power outlet. Is Vector Luna the piece of wearable technology you’ve been waiting for? We think a lot of people will say yes.

Tall

  • A month of battery life
  • Clear, simple, discreet notifications
  • Modern design
  • Well built and durable
  • Works with iOS and Android

Falls

  • The app needs more work
  • It’s not cheap

Available at: Amazon

Editor’s recommendations

Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn

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