Picking a smartwatch can be a stressful experience – should you be tempted by a budget option that boasts high-end features for a fraction of the price but risk ending up with a dud? One of the latest budget watches out there – the Mibro Watch GS Explorer – certainly has the features and at just over £100 won’t bankrupt you either.
It’s a chunky, rugged watch designed for the outdoor life. The blurb says it’s perfect for wearing when ‘scaling rocky cliffs, diving into the depths of the ocean, or navigating through dense forests’ and that it can withstand ‘freezing temperatures to scorching heat, sandstorms, and torrential rain’. Sounds like a very busy day!
There’s no doubt the watch is built to last. Mirbro says it has passed 15 military standard tests to guarantee reliability in extreme environments. With a 10 ATM water resistance rating, the watch can endure depths of up to 100 meters, while you’ll never need to worry about dust and the like.
It’s worth mentioning that it does look rugged. Meaning that if you have slim wrists you risk it looking pretty large.
Other than the tough exterior, one of the most eye-catching features is the display. And there’s no doubt it’s pretty great. The 1.32ins AMOLED high-brightness screen looks great and almost justifies the price tag alone.
So far so good. But there are obviously some sacrifices at this price point and the main one comes in the shape of ease of use. Set-up is not as straightforward as it could be and some features are a little difficult to work out initially, while a few common ones such as Bluetooth calling just aren’t there.
You do get dual-band and GPS satellite positioning and an altimeter but I still wouldn’t say either was super accurate in my experience. The compass, especially, sometime appears to have a mind of it’s own The Mibro does have more than 150 sports modes (maybe a bit of overkill).
Battery life is stand-out, however, with normal usage time of 20 days and 60 days of standby time. This means it can track you day and night, You can download an activity app on your phone to get at health data such as heart rate, blood oxygen and sleep.
All in all, if you’re the outdoors type this is well worth a look. The ruggedness and screen set it apart from other budget options, even if it does share some of their weaknesses.
The Mibro GS Explore is available on Amazon for £129.99.
What users say
Grychon: This is a smart watch that feels and looks much more expensive than it is, it has a real weight and heft to it. This is feature packed watch that has more features than most high end watches on the market.
Stacy: Overall this seems like a very capable sports watch so far. For the basics it’s very similar to my Garmin but at a much lower price point, so if you don’t need maps and premium materials and aren’t bothered about Strava (it might be possible to use it but I struggled to do it) this is well worth considering.
Alternatives
KOSPET TANK T3 Ultra Smart Watch