Review of No.1 D6 Android Smartwatch Powered by Mediatek MT6580 Processor

Karl here with a new review. This one is a little different. A smart watch, but not your average smart watch, as most smartwatches supplement a phone. This is a standalone smartwatch. It runs full Android 5.1. It is the D6 by No. 1. It has a 3G radio and SIM card slot. I was really excited when I found out I could do this review.

Below are some pics from their website.

No.1_D6_Smartwatch

Another professionally shipped and packaged product and some box pics

Chinavasion_No1_D6_Smartwatch_Package

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No1_D6_Smartwatch_Specs

Here are the specs from No. 1’s website.

Product Overview
Model NO.1 D6
Product modeling Android Smartwatch
System Android 5.1
CPU MT6580 quad core Cortex A7 @ up to 1.3 GHz with Mali-400MP2 GPU
Screen Resolution 1.63″ 320 x 320 resolution
RAM 1GB
ROM 8GB
Wifi Support
Google Play Support
Features
Make calls Support
See text messages Support
Contacts Support
Heart Rate Support
Pedometer Support
Bluetooth BT2.1 + BLE4.0
Browser Support
Barometer Support
Voice Search Support
Alarm Support
Weather Support
Health Data Synchronization Support
Change Clock Face Support
Install App Support
Operation frequency GSM/ 850/900/1800/1900 ; WCDMA 850/2100
Language Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (simplified), Indonesian, Malay, Czech, Danish, German (German), German, English (UK), Spanish (United States), Filipino, French, Croatian, Italian language, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Netherlands, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romania, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, Vietnamese, Turkish, Greek, Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian language, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Thai, Burmese, Khmer, Korean, Japanese
Hardware
Speaker Support
Battery capacity 450 mAH
Antenna Support
Side buttons Support
Chargers Support
USB Support
G-SENSOR Support
Package weight 170g

First Impressions

The watch looks good to me. I had a few people say it looked big to them but I don’t feel like it is too big….in fact I wish it were bigger. Below are some pics I took. My pictures don’t due it justice so that is why I posted the professional pics above.

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No1_D6_Android_Smartwatch

First Tests

First thing I did was try to push it to the max and do some absurd testing. What does that entail? For me it was watching movies on a watch. Kodi Netflix MX player, Plex, HdHomerun, and Emby.

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To my surprise most worked pretty well considering it is a watch. With Emby I couldn’t use the built in player and had it use MX player and I couldn’t get Plex to work at all. This is not a deal breaker…it is really a ridiculous test but sometimes you do things just to see if they could be done. I also ran Antutu and got a 23221 on version 6.1.4….not too shabby for a watch.

No.1_D6_Antutu_6_Score

OTA Firmware Update

After a couple days I received notification that the watch needed to be updated. So I performed the updated and followed the instructions. It went through and when it booted the first time after the update it hung on the boot animation and got really warm. I waited a long time I took the battery out and when I turned it on next it booted properly. Then a 2nd update appeared but this time the watch soft bricked. I went to the website, downloaded the latest firmware, and installed it. It mostly went off without a hitch except I should have waited to plug in the watch until after I installed the drivers. It took 30 tries for me to catch the device in the device manager to install the drivers manually from the download. Included in the download were the drivers and flashing tool and img. It did not come with any instructions that I saw but it was easy to reflash. (Received another update today and it installed perfectly.)

Setup

I didn’t like the built in launcher at first so I installed Nova Launcher. Added 3 widgets one is clock, circle battery widget from the play store, and power control widget. Nova is pretty customizable so I was able to mimic an android phone setup. But I ended up getting errors with Nova and it would force close frequently and I had to choose default launcher over again.

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I really wish Nova worked better, didn’t close like this, and I think it takes a toll on the battery. I installed Apex launcher which worked pretty well and not too heavy but had to sacrifice too much. After a while I ended up back with the stock launcher. It’s good enough for a watch that runs full android with a small screen.

Use

So as I see it, there are a couple ways use the device. You can use it as a standalone. Pop a SIM card in and use it as your phone. A Bluetooth headset is necessary for this. Speaker phone is weak and there is no privacy. I tested first with a Ting SIM card. Popped it in and I was immediately up and running. I only made a few calls this way. I also tested with a Metro PCS SIM. Not quite as easy…I had to call and give Metro my IMEI number, and about 30 minutes later I was in business. I am not a fan of Bluetooth headsets so I didn’t enjoy this way. And I got caught at the end of the day once before I started charging midday without phone service. 2nd way is you can use it paired to your phone through Bluetooth and receive notifications, pass files to the watch and uninstall applications on the watch. Use it like a traditional smart watch. I didn’t find this particularly useful and when you get out of range of the watch both the watch and the phone beep. I opted to use it standalone. When out and about I turn on my hotspot on my phone and when home I use my home WiFi. This seemed to work best for me. You could also pair the phone and watch and also use hotspot. I just didn’t find notifications particularly useful. The good thing about this watch is you get many choices.

Battery

The battery has a 450 mAh capacity…which is tiny considering this processor is installed in full size phones. I really had to watch what I installed and had to be conscious of background tasks or it would destroy the battery. After testing to see if I could make it all day I started charging on my lunch break at work after that I didn’t have to be concerned with battery life. It charges relatively fast. After receiving the last OTA update when this review was nearly complete, I got significantly better battery life. I used it quite a bit the next day and I had about 20% left at the end of my work day with no charging. Depending on how it is used will significantly impact battery. I would recommend a second charging cable. It is proprietary with magnets that aren’t particularly strong. I found sometimes it was difficult to get it to stay.

Apps

I installed lots of different apps. Everything would install and was mostly usable. On a small screen it was sometimes difficult to navigate. I covered all the video apps already but I also installed ES File Explorer and to get on the pop bandwagon I installed Pokemon Go and it played fine.

No1_D6_Smartwatch_Android_Apps

There are thousands of apps and if you would like for me to test one leave a comment below and I will give it a shot. I live in the United States so some apps might not be available.

Radios/Antennas

Cellular, WiFi, or GPS worked ok. I had more dropped calls than I typically did with my smartphone. I do live in rural America so this will vary. WiFi range was OK. With Pokemon Go I did notice that trees were enough to disrupt the GPS signal.

Final Thoughts

It’s a pretty neat watch considering what it is doing in such a small amount of space. With this last update from No.1 battery life improved a lot. I wish it had come earlier in the review. It is definitely up the tech junkies alley and would make a cool gift. I am sure there are a lot of uses that it could be used for. There is a long thread on XDA as well covering the watch and I would imagine a custom ROM will be out soon. People are already flashing an img from another smartwatch on this one. Supposedly 6.0 will be coming to the watch in the near future and hopefully bring adaptable storage to the watch. If you have any questions feel free to post in the comments below.

I would like to thank Chinavasion for sending the NO. 1 D6 to review. It comes in 3 different versions: silver like shown in review, gold, and black. You can purchase it for $76.99 on their website. Alternatively, you can also find the watch on GearBest, GeekBuying, eBay, and Aliexpress for similar or slightly higher prices up to $90.

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15 Comments
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JotaMG
JotaMG
7 years ago

In the specs it does not say anywhere having GPS, but you wrote:
“Cellular, WiFi, or GPS worked ok.”
How’s that possible?

Another – important – missing info is the weight of the device.
Also, I would like to know more precise info about the battery life?

TC
TC
7 years ago

Pokemon Go runs on it, thats enough 😉

meagain
meagain
7 years ago

Looks nice but for a smartwatch only I’d rather have a used Moto 360 for a similar price. This just doesn’t seem practical whatsoever – whilst cool it just seems a bit overkill.

rena2019
rena2019
7 years ago

but NFC for payment is missing 😉

Karl Johnson
Karl Johnson
7 years ago

JotaMG : In the specs it does not say anywhere having GPS, but you wrote: “Cellular, WiFi, or GPS worked ok.” How’s that possible? Another – important – missing info is the weight of the device. Also, I would like to know more precise info about the battery life? Im testing th GPS in more detail but one of the users on XDA too the watch apart and could see the antenna. Im not not convinced there is a gps at this point and location might have been only been working by wifi location. I am currently testing the battery… Read more »

ade
ade
7 years ago

I only wish that such products/chipsets could be available as a PCBA/board-only≈, with more I/O ports and regular Linux support, to get a cost-effective Linux board with 3G and reasonably large flash/RAM/CPU/sensors…

The xda thread is 56 pages long and I lack time to read it all => is there any source-code/kernel available for this product ?

tommix
tommix
7 years ago

wow what a stupid watch…. Who wants carry radio active watch on hand? Yes it’s cool to have phone in it..but anyways people carry phones with them so i see no point in making watch with sim card.

JotaMG
JotaMG
7 years ago

@tommix
It is useful to sports, for instance…

ade
ade
7 years ago

@tommix
> “but anyways people carry phones with them so i see no point in making watch with sim card”

Maybe, but at least it could be useful just as a cost-effective small-size board/PCBA with 1G RAM, 8G flash, embedded Linux and 3G and sensors 🙂

cnxsoft
Admin
7 years ago

@ade
Difficult to find such board with Linux. There are more options without Linux such as Particle Electron: http://www.cnx-software.com/2015/02/26/spark-electron-cellular-module-for-m2m-projects-comes-with-3-monthly-data-plan-crowdfunding/

ade
ade
7 years ago

@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) > “Difficult to find such board with Linux” I know, that’s my point… but theoretically speaking, such boards could very easily run a standard linux since they already run an Android kernel ! (If only the manufacturer was GPL-compliant… :-/. But anyway I guess it should still be feasible to root it and run a Debian rootfs together with the manufacturer’s binary Android kernel ? even if we do not use android-specific features such as Binder, wakelocks, etc.). > There are more options without Linux such as Particle Electron This cannot be compared at all ! (RAM,… Read more »

Scott
Scott
7 years ago

I wonder is it runs beyondpod with speed control. I listen to lots of podcasts via BT at 1.5 speed and wamt to listen while jogging without carrying the phone. No sports watch offers this kind of music playback so it would be worth it for me. More ideal would be ant+ support and e-ink….. I can dream can’t I?

Wissam
Wissam
7 years ago

Is there any chance of using the watch to answer phone calls tethered from my phone? My no1 A10 can answer calls coming to my phone but this one cannot! Is there a different app that can allow the watch to do more? Thanks

TL Ross
TL Ross
5 years ago

I just ordered one for me now, and waiting fo it to be shipped. I’m not too techy so I’d like to ask if the watch that is about to be delivered is alreafy updated by them – better battery life, etc. Also, how is the watch’s durability?

TL Ross
TL Ross
5 years ago

I just bought one and waiting for it to be shipped. Does this nean mine will already be updated and it has a better battery life?

Khadas VIM4 SBC