New Delhi Gurugram-based Gauri Sinha, 69, is impressed with her new smartwatch, which tracks walking, sleep quality and heart rate. The budget device made by China’s Amazfit offers weather updates and a great collection of watch faces with voice commands to Amazon’s voice assistant Alexa.
Sinha is one of a growing number of users who prefer budget wearable devices. However, manufacturers realize the need to innovate and add more features even in budget devices like smartwatches and headsets.
For example, last year, boAt parent Imagine Marketing Pvt. Ltd collaborated with American audio tech firm Dolby Laboratories to expand its portfolio of gaming headsets using Dolby Atmos. It has also used technology from audio optimization firm Dirac for its products and Amazon’s Alexa for its smartwatches. It offers a universal user interface (UI) in its smartwatch lineup.
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The UI experience and limited app ecosystem are the limits for smartwatches, especially in the budget segment. Last year, boAt also acquired Singapore-based wearable startup KaHa to improve its product design, electronic firmware, algorithmic development, new feature integration, Android and iOS applications, social engagement and analytics.
Faisal Kawoosa, Chief Analyst and Founder, TechARC, said that most Indian brands have a lot in common in terms of software and UI. “What most has to offer is neither open source, nor proprietary. However, that is the beauty of it and that is the reason we have seen such growth in this segment.”
Kawoosa is no surprise to see that Indian brands are taking the lead. “The only difference for most of the Indian watch brands is affordability which is why they are trying to bring in fully loaded options at an affordable price.” However, he said, closed source software may not work for Indian brands unless they build an ecosystem and provide incentives to developers to build apps for them.
Sameer Mehta, co-founder and chief product officer of BOAT, said that today’s smartwatches have many features not available earlier. “Features like SPO2 are now widely available. Smartwatches with Bluetooth calling have become more affordable. Even in manufacturing, many new chipset makers are offering better battery and performance than before.
Some manufacturers have also improved the health tracking features. For example, fitness-tech startup GOQii’s new Smart Vital watches can monitor body temperature, blood oxygen saturation, heart rate, and blood pressure.
While users often express concerns over the viability of such products for health monitoring, Vishal Gondal, founder and CEO of GOQii, said Vital has been approved as a Class-B medical device by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO). it was done. Gondal said Vital’s data is “acceptable to clinical needs”.
The rise in wearables in India and the entry of smartphone makers such as OnePlus and Realme along with resources and software expertise has prompted local brands to move forward. In a May report, International Data Corp (IDC) said smartwatches were the fastest-growing category, with a 173% increase in the first quarter of 2022 compared to a year earlier.
“The three-digit growth is just the beginning,” said Ayushi Kishor, co-founder, home wearables maker Fire Bolt, which is working on improving the user experience by offering high-end and relevant features. The company is applying for several Has been patented, including a proprietary operating system (OS), Kishor said. “Most of the focus is on the hardware. We are working to ensure that our software is optimized in terms of battery consumption and firmware stability,” she said.