One61 Studio Batman Smartwatch review

Smartwatches are all the rage, and with good reason: they can sync up with your phone so you can perform various tasks from your wrist without having to take your phone out of your pocket, and having a nice timepiece is always a good fashion accessory.  (Note: I wear jeans and T-shirts every day, so I may not be the best person to give fashion advice, but I’m pretty confident in this recommendation)

Fitness trackers are also pretty popular, for similar reasons: they can help you make sure to stay active throughout the day while looking attractive wrapped around your wrist.  The fact that so many smartwatches combine the functions of a fitness tracker is a no-brainer, and it’s getting to a point where the devices may eventually become synonymous.

But what if you want to have a nice, functional accessory that keeps you active so you can stay healthy… while also reinforcing your love for Batman?  The good people at One61 Studio have just the answer in the Batman Smartwatch.

With branding that is based on the amazing/popular/amazingly popular Sixties TV series that starred Adam West and Burt Ward, the Batman Smartwatch also has many features that you’d find in other smartwatches and fitness trackers at a very comparable price.

The watch comes packaged in a high quality, very attractive box.  There’s a nifty view of the “Gotham City skyline” wrapped around the interior face of the packaging, and illustrations of Batman, the Batmobile, and the Joker as well.  The Joker is in a green suit instead of his trademark purple, which is kind of weird, but it’s still a nice looking package.  The top of the box is emblazoned with a “Batman classic TV series” logo, which looks nice against the clear plastic, and the back gives you a good idea of the watch’s features.  It has five of the six available watch-faces displayed, and various other specs regarding alarms, messages, fitness tracking, and the like.

Speaking of the watch-faces, they rule:

There are three analog faces and three digital faces you can choose from, and each one is pretty awesome.  I’m partial to the analog with Batman and Robin and the digitals with the Batmobile and Bat-signal, but they’re all plenty cool.  You can easily switch between them in the Settings on the watch, and while the watch screen is black when stationary, the face will illuminate either when it’s angled toward your face or when you press the button on the side of the body.  Unlike other smartwatches, there is not a way to create any custom faces, but really, why would you need to?

The watch connects to your phone via Bluetooth and syncs to an app that tracks the fitness settings.  Setup is a breeze, though the Bluetooth connection can occasionally get a little fussy.  It’s no big deal, though, as most of the features still work even if Bluetooth isn’t connected, such as the sleep and fitness trackers.  When connected to the phone, the watch can control your music player, sync with your contacts list, operate the camera shutter, and has a “phone finder” function.  The ability to display notifications is particularly useful, as it’s compatible with text messaging, calendar apps, and other applications that use push notifications.  If you’re like me and have an iPhone, iOS restrictions prevent texts from being generated and sent from the watch, but you can still read messages that are sent to you.

For most people, the fitness and sleep trackers will be the most useful features.  Wearing the watch overnight will track how well you sleep, displaying the results in the accompanying app, and the fitness tracker keeps tabs on how many steps you take.  This is where the watch truly sets itself apart from other smartwatches and fitness trackers, as instead of just basic step goals, it has a “crime fighting” mode.  There are staggered step goals, with intervals of 2500, 5000, 7500, and 10,000 steps.  When you meet each goal, you don’t just get a little badge or notification; no, reaching each goal triggers a celebration.  How does the watch celebrate?  By playing clips from the Batman TV show.

Yes, it is amazing.  The Batman theme music plays, along with a video of Batman fighting a different villain.  First there’s the Riddler, then the Penguin, followed by Catwoman(‘s henchman, because a crimefighter would never hit a lady, no matter how fiendish she is), and finally, the Joker.  It’s amazing, and after you’ve reached each goal you can go back and replay the clips to your heart’s content.

The watch is charged via an included docking station and USB cable, and holds a pretty solid charge throughout the day.  The band is made of a soft, durable rubber, and the casing is light yet sturdy.  You can adjust volume settings for notifications along with screen brightness, which can help save on battery life.  It’s large enough to read the screen comfortably without being bulky or unwieldy, and feels great on your wrist.  Even “just” as a watch, it feels great and works even better.

You can buy the watch directly from the One61 Studio website, where it retails for $124.99.  That’s about comparable with some of the midrange Fitbits, and much lower than some of their more advanced models.  One61 also offers models based on The Flash television show and the Wonder Woman movie (which is $149.99).

Watch specs:

Special thanks to One61 Studios for providing a watch for review.