What are the pros and cons to buying a smart watch from temu?

Pros: price

Cons: the watch doesn't work and now you have lead poisoning

104

Hey, you could be paying a lot more for lead poisoning of this strength.

23

Just buy a cheap Casio if that's your budget. It'll keep better time and is less likely to end up in a landfill

38

I have a casio phys and love it. It's about 10 years old and I never even had to change the battery!

6
- Then why are you considering it at all. I just rediscovered my old W-213 still going strong. I readjusted the seconds to match the current time, and I love the beep sounds.
  
  4

You don't need it. Save your $.

23

Simpler question, why would you buy a Smart Watch?

15

I use my bicycle for commuting. I often forget to text my partner that I'm on my way home. It's smart to text them when I'm on my way home in case if I get hit by a car. I want to be able to quickly send a text while riding my bike. It is an inconvenience to do so with a phone.

But I also like the idea of having a pedometer, heart rate monitor.

8
- If you use Google maps you can share your location and set up alerts when you leave it aside in certain zones
  
  4
For me, hourly movement reminders and medication reminders without having to constantly keep my phone in my pocket has been a godsend. Keeping track of my heart rate (especially while asleep) has also been great for being more aware of when my PTSD symptoms are acting up. I’m also never going back to a sound based alarm instead of a vibrating one, no idea if regular watches have that now too or not.

7
For me personally, I want to limit interactions with my phone by reading notifications on my wrist, only allowing certain apps to send notifications through, and maybe sending a quick reply through the watch if needed.

That said, most smart watches now are overcomplicated bloat, it's all been downhill since the Pebble Time IMO

5
- For me personally, I want to limit interactions with my phone by ~~reading notifications on my wrist~~ increasing interactions with my watch
  
  That just sounds like interactions with your phone but with extra steps.
  
  8
For me:

It tells time and is always correct, also during daylight saving season

It tells the weather forecast, I check it before leaving my house.

I like that the alarm wakes me up with vibration mode, but not my partner (yes I wear my watch at night, but around my ankle, pro-tip)

I like to easily read important notifications (I am quite strict in what it does show, so only texts from important people, my calendar and like bank notifications get through). Added benefit is that I don't get distracted with other stuff because I don't open my phone.

I often lose my phone, my watch is able to find it.

I use my watch to get simple navigation option when I go running/inline skating in an area I don't know yet. Works better than the phone because I don't have to hold the phone in my hand.

I set it up so my partner can see where I'm at. When I see a notification from them asking where I am I can easily (and safily) start the tracking without having to pull out my phone.

It tracks my heartrate, so I can do heartrate based training.

So is it really necessary? No obviously not, I will survive without it, but I do like it a lot and would miss it of it wasn't there. But that's how it is for me, that does not mean it will be the same for you.
4
I am also a bicyclist with three different bikes. One watch replaces three bicycle computers. I can track performance metrics, longevity of components, and service intervals... for all of my bicycles.

My watch also has functions for sailing performance metrics, kayaking, hiking, running, and lots more sports.

That's ignoring the other watch functions: timers, find my phone (great for when the phone slips between cushions and I didn't notice), compass, barometric trends, notification filtering...

My partner has the same watch. The longitudinal health stats from her watch was one of the key factors in getting her health complaints taken seriously. One medical facility completely, repeatedly dismissed her concerns as "nothing serious." Turns out she had Stage-IVb cancer (now recovered).

2

IIRC Temu makes its business from super cheaply priced items.

Super cheaply priced generally means either super cheap quality or some really iffy labor rights violations* in third-world countries (I know that term isn't the term to use nowadays since it's a cold war relic but I can't think of a better term—lemme know if you know of one), usually both.

*Up to and including slave labor. (Yay capitalism!)

14

It might or might not:

arrive
work
be genuine
be fit for purpose

13

Give lead poisoning

Leak battery juice

Explode
4

Cheap but probably won't work I'm guessing?

If you really want a cheap smart watch there's a bunch of reliable ones worth looking into rather than getting something random on temu. I haven't tried the Pine Time but it looks good if you like fiddling with the tech.

If you can put up with Xiaomi they make a ton of different options. I used a Mi Band for a few years and it kinda did what I wanted it to do better than my current Wear OS watch does

13

I never heard of Pine Time before, but that looks interesting!

2
- Didn't nothing make a relatively cheap one too?
  
  2

Pro: it'll probably work well enough to get your notifications and maybe even your heart rate and stuff.

Con: it probably won't arrive. If it does, it probably won't look like in the pictures if it does, it probably won't work like described. If it does, it probably has done kind of cheep, toxic chemicals it'll leave in your arm. If it doesn't, it'll probably come with an app that drains your battery. If it doesn't, it probably sells your live location and notifications to data brokers. If it doesn't, it'll probably never receive software updates. If it does, it'll probably be broken by the end of the year.

There are actually a few relatively cheap smart watches that some people like to reprogram with open source firmware. You can get a Colmi P8 or a Kenboro K9 for less than $30 and flash WaspOS onto it. You have to get lucky and buy the right hardware revision but flashing new firmware onto those things can be as simple as downloading an app and loading a file into it. These devices are underpowered and software availability is limited, but at least with the open source stuff you can rest easy about your data not being sold.

13

Exactly. Don't buy anything on Temu if you about quality or human rights at all.

10
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  4

Pros: cheap

Con: you support temu, and slave labour.

12

Cons: Ewaste and bad for the environment. Get something High quality used like on Facebook marketplace or a thrift store.

10

Agreed. Getting something second-hand is almost always better.

5
Isn't Facebook marketplace an awful place to buy things? The only people I know used it all got scammed.

USA: eBay
JP: Rakuten
NL: Marktplaats

There is probably a zillions better alternative in w/e country you are, if not online then flee markets or thrift stores

1
- Not awful. I've had only positive experiences. No buyer protections, but it's hard to get scammed buying something in person from someone local, unless you get it home before realizing it's fake/broken, or they kidnap you and lock you in their basement. There are pretty simple precautions you can take against either, not that there's any foolproof solution...but I wouldn't say awful.
  
  1
- The best advice is just to be cautious. Obviously don't send money before you get something and make sure it's functional. Facebook marketplace is a good place to find deals if you know to be safe.
  
  1

You'll be probably be happier with a higher quality watch than with one that barely works. I would not recommend going for an option because it's cheap, instead go for the one that's good enough for you needs.

No need to buy the same one as I did, but I have been very happy with my "not the cheapest, not the most expensive"-garmin watch for years. It is reliable, does what i need it to do and is not so expensive that i am afraid of breaking it for instance. I did need to make choices to be able to get it, i could not spend that money on other things, but that only made me feel better when I got it.

More on topic: it's easy to find accesoires/replacement parts for my watch, it's easier to get it repaired, both at garmin as well as a local shop, the software has a lot of integration option with other software (strava, komoot, etc.) and i can download apps and watch faces other people with the same watch built and i can be sure my alarm goes off in the morning. I don't expect the temu watch to have these things. For me it was worth to pay a bit more. Sidenote: I did get a screen protector for my watch from AliExpress, so apparently I'm not against that 😏

9

Seems like asking for disappointment

if you want a decent cheap option, the wyze watch seemed okay

9

When smart watches were begining to be a thing, a friend of mine bought a smartwatch for like 5$ in Ali express. When I asked him how the watch is he said "I am surprised that even for this low price, they still managed to disappoint me"

6
- I recall there being a LOT of those watches out that were "mobile data connected" for very cheap.
  
  The catch? The mobile data radio was 2g, and those networks are all obsolete and gone now (I think)
  
  1
Thanks for the suggestion!

4
Someone close to me had positive things to say about the Wyze watch as well. If apple and android are tier A, wyze is below that, but above all the F tier temu and amazon junk.

2
- All of the wyze stuff seems to be decent, but not super premium.
  
  The headphones are 85% as good as the Bose, but for $49
  
  The scale is quite good, nothing even remotely off about that and it integrates with Fitbit just fine.
  
  The Color smart bulbs have been solid. One of the wyze smart plugs lost its memory once and needed to be re-setup, but fine since.
  
  The cameras all work great too, as long as you're comfortable with the fact that the video goes to some cloud location.
  
  1

As someone who has bought a fair number of smartwatches and fitness trackers and always over-researches every decision I make:

See the rest of the replies for info on cheap smart watches. They're basically a cereal box toy.
Depending on what you need, the MiBand or Amazfit bands had excellent battery life and there used to be 3rd party apps for your phone that did a much better job collecting and displaying your stats than Zepp or MiFit (the official apps) did. I miss my 1.5 month battery life. Its also possible to use gadget bridge so it's all 100% offline though I understand its still a bit more rudimentary than a corporate cloud-based solution. I remember the bands I got from them running $25-50 USD
Used Garmin devices or previous gen garmin devices can be had MUCH cheaper than list price on Amazon or so. I picked up a Fenix 6 a few years ago for less than half of the $600 list price. I love the lack of touchscreen because the button navigation is absurdly fast and no mistouches! This suits how I use a watch much better than trying to put a tiny a 2x2cm touchscreen on my wrist. These are fitness watches, but some have a few smart features. Depends on what you plan to use it for I guess.
If you are a nerd (a good thing) and want to contribute to a cool project, Pine Computers, which makes the pinebook, pinetab, pinephone, etc. makes a device called the pinetime that is basically a smartwatch that is open to the community's hacks and modifications. I haven't bought one because my biking depends on my Garmin stats, but I am tempted to grab one to mess with it.

None of these are fancy "smarts first" watches like an Apple Watch or an Android Watch. I found I needed less smarts than I thought as I usually carry my phone at all times anyway. It is nice to have the doorbell ring on my wrist and to reply to texts by choosing from a few pre-written responses while biking, or otherwise unavailable to text. If you really want a bunch of apps and integration with your phones OS, Apple and Android are the big two and its not really feasible to go 3rd party for the same experience.

6

Pros: Might look cool, is cheap.

Cons: Won't be very durable, the app for it will be shitty and closed-source(probably malware), the battery will probably suck, any vital sensors won't be accurate, the screen will probably suck, and it will probably have a bad UI.

In summary: Save up for a better watch.

6

It's cheap

6

I have some strict rules about buying things where I cannot verify the used materials:

Nothing that goes into my body
Nothing that goes on my body
Nothing that touches my food
Nothing my pets touch
Nothing that needs to be plugged in or charged

A smart watch violates multiple of those rules. I wouldn't want to risk it.

6

While I completely appreciate your perspective, I do have to ask: what with how interconnected, not to mention fucked up, the world is today, wouldn't pretty much everything violate at least two or three of those rules?

5
- I took that one to mean You know your Samsung S21 was made by Samsung. That suspiciously cheap "hoverboard" with the lithium ion battery was made... in china... somewhere.
  
  6
Nothing that needs to be plugged in or charged

How are you using this site?

3
- where I cannot verify the used materials
  
  1

Pros:

Cheap
May still have regular capabilities
not a big deal if it breaks
They usually don't require "service," just Bluetooth and being connected to a phone.

Cons

Usually they require an app, that could just be Spyware
it will not last long
the capabilities it will have will be a poor imitation of the original.
Could be irritating (to the skin). It may not fit right.
Poor battery life
Additional E-waste when you do get rid of it once it dies.

5

Pro: Price, Convenience, Looks

Cons: Much like buying an "iPhone" from Temu, the price is usually reflected in the quality.

Don't get me wrong, there are cheep smart watches if you look for them or go second hand. But what you'll find advertised on Temu isn't it.

Build quality is usually the first to suffer, but you'll find mislabeled battery info a 500mah instead of the promised 1000mah. Or an LCD instead of an OLED.

But those are things we can adapt too. The biggest problem is software. That'll do and close enough has been the name of the game for years now. And sometimes "smart" just means it can (badly) track your steps and pretend to check your heart rate with a led pretending to be a sensor.

Alternative

If you are looking for any budget electronics try looking for last years or a few years ago models. I got a Garmin Forerunner 235 in 2022 for 1/5 of its asking price because I found a deal on eBay.

I'd also look into the landscape of the market you are buying into and seeing who is actually making these things, and what is running on it.

For smart watches I found the answer was

Apple

Android with Watch OS (Samsung google and many more)

Garmin

If the watch isn't running android watch os or is made by Apple or Garmin. Assume its good too be true and look into it more, or look elsewhere.

Good news China is lazy and one clone usually is made by many factories and someone else made a video about it. Might not be the same name, but it'll be close enough.

4

CMF watch, the old one, is a nice, cheap option, that works with Gadgetbridge, keeping your privacy intact.

4

No one else has yet to mention privacy. I do like the watch, and it's price as well.

3
- I have been using it for a few months, now. I will say the sensors are not perfect, but they do the job. I needed it mostly for calls and notifications.
  
  2

Can't think of a single pro to having a smart watch tbh. That shit is so dumb.

-4