On June 3, Go out and ask officially released Ticwatch2 smart watch and ticmirror (ask magic mirror) and tickeye (ask magic eye), two on-board intelligent hardware. Ticwatch2 is the most mature smart watch product in China. Now let's take a look at its performance.
Background and parameters
Go out and ask was founded in October 2012. On December 19, 2014, Ticwear, the first Chinese smart watch operating system based on Android Wear, was launched. In June 2015, Ticwatch, a smart watch, was launched. In October of the same year, it received a round C investment of $75 million from Google (also the first time Google has invested in a Chinese company since leaving China). 70% of its team of more than 230 people are engineers. At the press conference, it was announced that Ticwatch has more than 100000 users, claiming that it is the smartwatch with the highest sales volume in China except Apple Watch.
The performance configuration of Ticwatch2 is consistent with that of the previous generation. MediaTek MT2601 (1.2G dual core A7)+512M memory+4G storage+300mAh battery. In addition to the screen, the hardware changes mainly include the built-in eSIM 3G card and GPS, which support the off wrist lock screen, but the waterproof level is reduced to IP65 life waterproof, and changed to OLED material screen (which can support the constant light mode). The PPG optical heart rate meter and magnetic wireless charging have upgraded the speed, and the official claim that 0-100 charging only takes 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Ticwatch2 is divided into three series, namely, pleasing, classic and fine porcelain, with 11 preset styles. The main configuration difference is that the 3G is canceled for the Yuedong series of silicone watchbands, and 6000 series aluminum alloy body is used, while the most advanced refined porcelain series uses ceramic cover and sapphire glass.
Appearance and design
Ticwatch2 maintains the previous generation's full circle dial design, with a certain degree of simplification in appearance lines. The overall appearance is very close to that of a conventional watch with a watch ear. The frame is very narrow, and the screen proportion is up to 73.5%. Officially, Ticwatch2 claims that it is a pure round smart watch with the highest screen proportion.
The size of the dial is reduced from 46mm to 42mm (Apple Watch provides 42 and 38mm dials). The dial glass is 0.5mm taller than the metal front cover. With a 45 degree chamfer, there will be a slight sense of drop when sliding over the edge, so that the fingers can sense the position of the screen touch. The design is ingenious, but it may increase the risk of screen fragmentation when falling.
The screen is slightly reduced to 1.4 inches compared with the 1.5 inches of the previous generation, but the pixels have been increased to 400 * 400, the PPI has reached 287, and the screen has been changed to OLED material. The screen has high saturation visible to the naked eye. When displaying black patterns, you can turn off specific pixels to achieve pure black, thus improving contrast and saving power. The system provides five levels of brightness adjustment, and the maximum brightness is close to S6 edge (the default maximum brightness of the machine is about 330 nits). It can basically maintain readability in strong light, and performs well.
Ticwatch adopts the design of metal front watch cover+plastic/ceramic rear watch cover, while the picture above is a classic version, which is a plastic back cover. The center of the back cover is the first Pixart PPG optical heart rate sensor in China. Green LEDs are on both sides of the opening, which claims to improve accuracy and anti-interference ability. Because it is a polishing material, certain patterns may be accumulated after long-term use. Of course, no one saw the flowers
The only mechanical button is on the left side of the watch body. Click it to directly return to the time table (the status is the same as the desktop). The thickness of the watch is thinner than that of similar smart watches, but it is still thicker than the conventional watch, especially when the dial is smaller.
There is a hidden touch bar on the right, which is the unique interactive hardware of Ticwatch, The official name is Tickle - Scratch, which can be used as a touchpad for sliding and clicking operations. The watch dial is very small, and the fingers often block the target content when operating on it. Therefore, when no specific click is required, its operation efficiency is indeed higher than the simple touch screen operation.
The machine adopts a design similar to that of Apple Watch, which is used to remove the watch strap by pulling the metal bar on the strap. At the bottom right corner, you can see the microphone opening behind the ear.
There are four speaker holes in the center of the top. The external volume of the machine is normal (to protect privacy?). You have to be close to your ears to hear clearly in noisy environments. If you want to listen to music while exercising, you still need to use a Bluetooth headset.
Disassembly
Official Structure Chart
Disassembly parts drawing
Motherboard front
Back of motherboard
Touch screen and control chip
Wearing feel and size
Low light constant light mode
In terms of wearing feel, the polished back cover has an arc around it. In addition, the watch body is light, so the wearing feel and visual experience are quite similar to those of traditional watches. The pleasing version of the 6000 series aluminum alloy front cover is lighter than the classic version of the 316L stainless steel front cover, but they are much lighter than expected, not much different from traditional quartz watches, and much lighter than mechanical watches.
Respectively, it is a moving version, two classic versions and refined porcelain version
The refined porcelain version is much heavier. If it is an all metal strap, the weight will be more impressive. Some users who like the sense of quality may prefer it, but it is estimated that the classic version sandwiched in the middle will be more popular.
In terms of watchband, the watchband of the Joy Mobile version is made of soft silica gel with a little powder. The classic version is almost all leather watchbands, which will definitely be more breathable and comfortable to wear, but it will not feel good after being soaked in wet water or sweat. The metal watch strap is durable and new resistant, but it is heavy (the buckle is even heavier than the watch body), and the joint is easy to hide dirt. Of course, this is a material problem that has plagued the watch industry for hundreds of years. It's just good to choose the strap according to the selection standard of conventional watches.
The 42mm dial is a relatively normal size. Normal adult men don't feel at odds when wearing it. Female users may wear it too big, but this problem is much lighter than the previous generation of 46mm dials.
Version Difference
The positioning of the motion version is similar to that of the Moto360 sports version, which only provides a pure white and black+silicone strap version. The dial is made of anodized matte material, which will look more low-key and textured. Users who like lightweight watch bodies and have little demand for 3G, personally recommend this version. It would be a good choice to buy a leather or metal watch strap later (the official watch strap is not available for the time being, but it is probably a standard size, which can be confirmed only after the test machine is available).
Except for one version of bamboo stainless steel watchband, the classic version is all leather watchbands with gold, silver and gray dial. It has 3G function, but the dial and back cover are not as good as the fine porcelain plate, which is expected to be the most popular version.
The refined porcelain plate is a ceramic back cover. Its hardness is second only to diamond and sapphire. It has the texture of polished metal/glass on the touch, and its weight is significantly larger than other versions (plastic back cover). The current versions are all bamboo shaped metal watchbands, and the weight must be in the style of business people.
system
clock dial
Settings page
System application
Weather, Heart Rate and Calculator
Quick Card
The machine is equipped with the new Ticwear OS 4.0 system, which has set a complete interaction framework in the previous version. This generation mainly includes:
Strengthen quick operations such as navigation, taxi, hotel search and quick payment;
Quick card enhancement, news, ticketing and other cards, and public comments and other information can also be added;
Add and update built-in apps such as calculators, news, maps and players
One handed operations such as shaking the wrist twice, returning and hanging up the phone are added;
Add the wrist lock screen to enhance privacy, such as pop-up messages only when you raise your hand;
Declare that the machine can save 20% power than before
You can make calls directly without your mobile phone (depending on the newly added 3G network)
Offline dial download and replacement (depending on the newly added 3G network)
Low power consumption low light constant light mode is added. After the set screen lock time, the time will be displayed in low brightness black and white (depending on the new OLED screen)
In addition, this is also the Android smart watch with the highest support for Apple mobile phones. Of course, it will have fewer functions than when connected to Android mobile phones.
Experience and concerns
For smart watches, in addition to watching time, pushing notifications, counting steps and measuring heart rate, the most practical/compelling scenarios are navigation and payment, which have been supplemented on Ticwatch2. The deepest experience of the machine itself is that the speed and availability of voice recognition are much better than expected. Of course, the search itself must be limited by the 3G network speed (when connecting mobile phones or using wifi, it is the network speed).
The engineering machine on site slides smoothly, but the opening speed of some applications needs to be improved. In general, the completion of the machine is already very high. The biggest unknown of the machine must be its endurance: the same performance configuration and battery, improved screen PPI, and added 3G networking and GPS. Even though the new system saves more power and the OLED screen saves more power, the endurance of the machine is estimated to be close to that of the first generation.
Price
In terms of price, the Joy Mobile version is 999 yuan, the classic series is 1299-1699 yuan, while the refined porcelain version is from 2199 yuan, which is a little more expensive than the previous generation and inWatch and other similar products, but it is much cheaper than Moto360 and other international brand machines.
In addition, Ticwatch is a smart watch with a built-in 3G card, which will cost one more than conventional smart watches (except for the Joy Mobile version). The network service is provided by the virtual operator (whether to use Mobile, Unicom or Telecom is still unknown). 0 month rent is provided, with calls of 0.15 yuan/minute and traffic of 0.15 yuan/M; The 9.9 yuan monthly fee package includes 30 minutes of voice and 50M traffic (the excess fee is the same as the monthly rent), and even 5-50 yuan of traffic packages.
Onboard hardware: ticmirror and ticeye
In addition, when we went out to ask questions, we also released two on-board intelligent hardware, ticmirror and ticeye. The former is an intelligent rearview mirror with built-in voice and tachograph, a 7.84-inch 1080 * 400 resolution touch screen+MT8665+2G memory+16/32G storage, a 160 degree wide-angle 1080P camera, Beidou GPS dual-mode positioning, and 4G full network access; The latter is an ADAS driving aid with a 44 degree narrow angle lens, which began its public test on June 30.
The normal state of ticmirror is a rearview mirror. When the screen is lit, there are indicator lights on both sides for use with ADAS, which will remind the user to return to their own driving line or warn the approaching vehicles with a height of color.
On the left side of the bottom is the action sensor (wave trigger switch function), voice, home page, mute button, and the screen light button is placed directly below the fuselage.
It is surrounded by a cooling grid, and the back is a 160 degree super wide-angle lens that can adjust the angle by itself.
In terms of software and performance, it is more like an Android tablet, a familiar setting page, a permanent return button on the left and a voice trigger button for going out and asking.
The system is simplified to weather, navigation, music, driving record, Himalaya (network radio), telephone and other functions. It can be matched with the optional rear camera to display the reversing image, while the driving record will be displayed in the form of half screen.
The public test of the machine began after June 30, and the machine could not be put on the road. Although the response speed of the on-site prototype was good, the driving video and ADAS functions could not be experienced.
