Haylou Solar LS05
Maybe the best low-profile smartwatch?
This time, we have a cheap smartwatch that became very popular in a short time for three main reasons besides its price. The first one is that the battery duration is very long. The second one, that it has a very clean and discreet design. And the third one, that it has the support of a very well-known brand.
Also, recently I've discovered that it's possible to create new watchfaces to install on this watch, so I'll start soon to publish watchfaces for this smartwatch in my blog.
The truth is that we can say I'm kinda late with this watch, because it was released more or less during last year's summer. And as I said, it has the support of a brand we all know, because it's funded by Xiaomi.
And being part of the Xiaomi ecosystem, we can clearly know its quality standards are reliable.
Unboxing
The watch comes in a box that is very simple. In the box cover, we can see in the top side the brand, the model and a picture of the watch. And in the bottom side we have the usual info on this kind of devices: the brand and the model, the battery capacity, the size, the IP68 certification, the box content, and some functions of the watch.
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The CPU, although it's not mentioned in the info on the box, is the Realtek RTL8762C. A CPU that we can find in many of the most recent low-range smartwatches.
When we take off the cover and open the box, we find the watch. Regarding the accessories there's not much to say, because it only includes the 2-pin magnetic contact charging cable, and a small manual in english to know the main functions of the watch. And when I say small it's because it's exactly that: very small.
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I must say the contact of the charging cable doesn't seem to be very strong, but it also doesn't seem to pull apart very easily.
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As always, different sellers can include other accessories in their offers. In my case, I also received an extra silicone strap, very similar to the ones used in the Apple watches, and two plastic screen protectors for the screen.
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Before going on, I want to mention that as for the accessories, it seems we have many possibilities to customize the watch because in sites like Aliexpress, besides the straps, we can find plastic or tempered glass screen protectors, and also protective covers for the watch with different colors or different designs.
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Some sellers has packs including the protective cover and a strap with the samedesign or color, so the watch can be customized for any kind of users from any age.
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This make this watch be suitable for men, women, and also for kids.
Appearance of the watch
The design of the watch, as I said, is very clean and discreet. So it can be used with sports clothes, urban, or be combined with a more elegant outfit. It can fit anything.
The body of the watch is metallic, and here is where we can see the quality, because the cheap smartwatches are usually built with plastic.
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The screen is not very big. 1.28 inches with a resolution of 240x240 pixels, the usual resolution in the smartwatches with cheapest price. Also, I think it's less thick than other watches of this kind that I've used before. Another positive point for this Haylou Solar.
This size, as well as the design of the watch, makes it suitable for both men and women without seeming to be too big for the wrist. Actually, it's an adequate size for teenagers or even for kids. Personally, I like the look and the size of this watch very much.
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In the side, this watch doesn't have unnecessary complications. Just one button that is more than enough for any user, and is very discreet.
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And in the back side, as in almost all the smartwatches, we see the contact for the pins of the charging cable and the heartrate sensor.
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The strap can be replaced with any 22mm strap. As always, you can see now how does the watch look with other different straps.
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In conclusion, I think the appearance of this watch is one of the most sober and at the same time pleasant that I have yet seen, and makes this watch a good choice for anybody who is looking for a smartwatch at an affordable price that looks good in any situation.
The Haylou Solar has IP68 certification, which means it can be submerged. Although I didn't personally test it, I've seen videos where the watch has been exposed to the rain water and the shower water, and even submerged in water during 30 minutes, and it kept working without any problem.
The watch, working
If the aesthetic appearance and the customization possibilities of the look is a positive point in this watch, the software is not so attractive, because it's quite limited and looks more similar to the software we can find in the fitness bands than in the smartwatches. Even so, its apps are useful and more than enough for this device.
As usual, to turn on the watch we press the button on the side during some seconds, and it doesn't take long to turn on. The first time we use the watch it will ask to scan the QR code to install the app Haylou Fit in the watch, and will also ask to pair the phone with the watch. Unlike other smartwatches, we can not skip these two steps, so we must do it to be able to use the watch for the first time.
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With this, we finish the initial setup and we see the main watchface of the watch. As always, we can change it placing the finger on the screen during a few seconds, and choosing between the preinstalled watchfaces of the watch.
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Sliding down the finger in the watchface we have the usual screen with shortcuts to some options like locating the phone, modify the screen's brightness, activate the Do Not Disturb Mode, and opening the Settings. This screen also shows the time, the date and the battery percent.
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In the Settings we can change the watchface, modify the screen's brightness, seeing the info about the watch, turn it off, or resetting it to restore the factory settings.
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Sliding up the finger, we open a menu where the first option allows us to check the pedometer statistics, where we can see the number of steps, the walked distance, and the burned calories.
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The next option is the heart rate monitor, which shows our heartrate in real time. I must mention that in the app Haylou Fit we can choose if we want the watch to measure the heartrate only when we activate this option, or to do it continuously during the 24 hours of the day. This second option, that is also chosen by default when we use it the watch for the first time, will obviously consume more battery. I chose to turn it off, but it's interesting to have it available in case we want to use it.
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The third option is the Sport monitoring. Here we have up to 12 sports available: Jogging, Fast walking, Biking, Climbing, Spinning, Yoga, Indoor running, Integrated training, Gymnastics, Basketball, Football, and Rowing.
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When we activate it, it measures the time doing the exercise activity and, depending on the sport, it measures the heartrate, the distance, the steps, the speed and the burned calories. Some activities will show more parameters, and others will show less.
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Next we have the Weather app, that shows the weather and the current temperature, the maximum and minimum temperature, and the forecast for the next 3 days.
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We also have an app to monitor the sleep, that indicates the time we've been sleeping, and the time of both the light sleep and the deep sleep.
As in other smartwatches, we can check the received notifications, and control the music from the phone.
From this screen we can also access the Settings I've mentioned before.
And in the option "More", we have other utilities like a stopwatch, a countdown with 3 predefined values and a customizable one, the option to locate the phone...
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...and a last and very curious utility, the "Breath training". Here, after choosing between one and two minutes, the watch will tell us the frequency to inhale and exhale during the time we chose. It's the first watch where I see such kind of utility.
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Sliding left or right in the screen, we can access to some of the apps I mentioned in the previous menu. This way, we can directly open the pedometer statistics, the heartrate monitor, the sleep monitor, the weather app or the breath training utility.
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Battery
The battery, as I said in the beginning, has a long duration. Haylou's official info claims that with the heartrate monitoring active during the 24 hours of the day, the battery can last 15 days, while turning it off the battery can reach 30 days.
My personal experience is very satisfying, because since I received the watch more than two months ago, I only had to charge it two times.
Watchfaces installation
As I said at the beginning of the video, this watch allows to install watchfaces. And not just the official watchfaces from the app Haylou Fit, but also watchfaces created by the users. As a watchfaces creator, this is what made me decide to get this watch.
I'll explain the instalation process very soon, and I also inform you that I will create a section in my blog where I'll publish watchfaces for this smartwatch. periodically, as I've been doing with other formats during all this time.
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Price and availability
The Haylou Solar LS05 can be found in sites like Aliexpress, Gearbest or Banggood, where we can also find the customization accessories that I mentioned before. The price, as I said, is cheap, because it can be bought from about 27 euros.
I guess that it's also possible to find it in online stores from different countries, because for example I've seen an online store in Spain where it's available. In these cases, the price will depend on the store and the country.
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Conclusions
It's difficult to not fall in love with this affordable smartwatch, because besides offering the same functionalities than the rest of the smartwatches with cheap price, the battery has a long duration and, in addition to the customization of the look through accessories, it allows the installation of new watchfaces. This last fact is, for me, very important, because I'm often contacted by users of other smartwatches for which it has not yet been found any way to install watchfaces, asking me how can they do it.
To rate this watch I've based myself on those parameters: the aesthetic appearance of the watch, the battery duration, the price, and the many customization possibilities. Considering all those facts I think I can say that, for me, this is the best low-range smartwatch that I've used.
For all that, this small gem is the first watch from this range that I rate 8/10.
