The Withings Activité Pop is the First True Crossover Smart Watch

ABI Research has torn down the Withings Activit Pop and found it to be a very elegant and simple hybrid design both outside and inside. The Activit Pop uses technology from the traditional mechanical and consumer electronic watch market with a Bluetooth SoC, an accelerometer, and mechanical hand movement mechanisms.

“Using hands has important benefits as it provides always-on functionality, yet low-power consumption (8 months battery life). ABI Research’s test showed only micro-amps of current with no activity, 1.5mA when active, and only 2.3mA to move the hands,” comments Jim Mielke, Vice President Teardowns, ABI Research. “This is quite impressive as most time / activity trackers are working hard just to get a few days of battery life.”

The smart watch category is a broad church, with vendors from both the consumer electronics and traditional watch industries as well as new vendors entering the market. “This merger of technology could become the standard for a long battery life, always-on smart watch and / or fitness trackers, especially for traditional watch makers looking to add this functionality and maintain a traditional design aesthetic. Enabling a long battery life provides clear advantages over the smart watches coming from smartphone vendors,” adds Nick Spencer, Senior Practice Director at ABI Research.

“Even the time setting is a hybrid; on initial setup, you are asked to position the hour / minute hands to a specific time in the traditional manner. The watch then synchronizes with your smartphones clock. Once this is set, the watch and phone keep synchronization during data syncs. On the negative side, we did find the watch we analyzed did not keep time well: either large mechanical shocks move the minute hand without the electronics knowledge or the algorithm for time synchronization is off. In either case, fixable!” concludes Mielke.

These findings are part of ABI Research’s Teardowns Market Research, which includes Parts Lists, High-Res Photos, and Power and Performance Testing.

ABI Research provides technology market research and technology intelligence for industry innovators. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 70+ research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.