# Anyone familiar with FOREVER GPS SW500 smartwatch



## k482dge

Hi! i am expecting that watch next week and except the description and function of the producer Telforce and brand Forever I really cannot find any other review or video on the web. 
Is anyone familiar or own that watch to advice a bit further? 
Thank you!


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## BarracksSi

I'm not familiar with it.

When you get it, post a review.


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## kramer5150

Thats a new one by me. Doesn't even have a youtube presence. Usually the first thing these manufacturers do is saturate the youtube product review communities with review samples so they can get hits on YT and Google searches. Feel free to post comments and impressions... just like we would do with any new watch.

Manufacturer site here:
https://sklep.telforceone.pl/en-gb/product/2209330/2168144/gps-watch-sw-500

Some take aways
>Proprietary OS

>350 mah battery, this is typical. Battery capacity specs usually range from 300~450 mah. The largest I know of is 500 mah and 900 mah.

>It uses an IPS touch screen display, 1.3" diameter which is _slightly_ smaller than most. Unsure of the ppi pixel density. PPI over ~220 is plenty good for a screen this size, but the higher the number the sharper, clearer, crisper the display image. IPS displays are less power efficient than oled/amoled and far less efficient than transflective displays.

>Wifi radio can be a source of short battery life, its best to leave it off unless you are under your own network and need to turn it on for software updates or new app downloads. Note this varies greatly from watch to watch though. On my moto360 I can leave wifi radio on all day and have no problems making it through the day on a single battery charge. But I turn it off anyways unless I need it to download apps or watch faces.

>GPS likewise can deplete battery (severely mind you). Its best to leave the stand-alone GPS radio off unless you really need it to track a run or an activity. As an alternative, some watches have the option to connect to the phone via bluetooth and gather GPS location data from the phone. Cell phone/bluetooth tethered GPS data doesn't burn through battery nearly as fast as stand-alone watch GPS.

>Bluetooth conversely can be surprisingly efficient. I leave mine running/connected to my phone all day and can easily make it 2 days on a single battery charge.

>Heart rate sensor can also deplete battery. I find its like bluetooth though in that I leave it running all the time with minimal impact to battery life. Mine takes a heartbeat reading every ~2 hours. I am running the moto-body fitness app that came OEM with the watch. I can run different fitness apps that have settings to change how often heart-rate is measured. I like the moto-body app. Its compact, lean and very efficient with battery consumption on the phone as well as the watch.

>5 day standby / 9 hours GPS... Those numbers look inflated. Unless "Standby" means turning off ALL sensors, radios, and the IPS display screen, and likewise "GPS" means turning off _EVERYTHING_ except the GPS radio. But I doubt those numbers can be achieved with daily wear-usage. Most of these watches have a built in gyro and are continually detecting motion. So just having it on your wrist consumes battery, albeit a very-very small amount.

These comments are on the hardware only. The software and OS experience is a whole nother' ball game, and that can make or break the product just like anything else.

The biggest mental adjustment for the traditional collector is getting accustomed to a watch with a blank-black watch face... since "usually" continually illuminated IPS displays paired with batteries this size can't make it the whole day on a single charge.

Good Luck!! Hope it all goes well for you.


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## k482dge

Yes i will because it seems a value for money watch!


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## k482dge

kramer5150 said:


> Thats a new one by me. Doesn't even have a youtube presence. Usually the first thing these manufacturers do is saturate the youtube product review communities with review samples so they can get hits on YT and Google searches. Feel free to post comments and impressions... just like we would do with any new watch.
> 
> Manufacturer site here:
> https://sklep.telforceone.pl/en-gb/product/2209330/2168144/gps-watch-sw-500
> 
> Some take aways
> >Proprietary OS
> 
> >350 mah battery, this is typical. Battery capacity specs usually range from 300~450 mah. The largest I know of is 500 mah and 900 mah.
> 
> >It uses an IPS touch screen display, 1.3" diameter which is _slightly_ smaller than most. Unsure of the ppi pixel density. PPI over ~220 is plenty good for a screen this size, but the higher the number the sharper, clearer, crisper the display image. IPS displays are less power efficient than oled/amoled and far less efficient than transflective displays.
> 
> >Wifi radio can be a source of short battery life, its best to leave it off unless you are under your own network and need to turn it on for software updates or new app downloads. Note this varies greatly from watch to watch though. On my moto360 I can leave wifi radio on all day and have no problems making it through the day on a single battery charge. But I turn it off anyways unless I need it to download apps or watch faces.
> 
> >GPS likewise can deplete battery (severely mind you). Its best to leave the stand-alone GPS radio off unless you really need it to track a run or an activity. As an alternative, some watches have the option to connect to the phone via bluetooth and gather GPS location data from the phone. Cell phone/bluetooth tethered GPS data doesn't burn through battery nearly as fast as stand-alone watch GPS.
> 
> >Bluetooth conversely can be surprisingly efficient. I leave mine running/connected to my phone all day and can easily make it 2 days on a single battery charge.
> 
> >Heart rate sensor can also deplete battery. I find its like bluetooth though in that I leave it running all the time with minimal impact to battery life. Mine takes a heartbeat reading every ~2 hours. I am running the moto-body fitness app that came OEM with the watch. I can run different fitness apps that have settings to change how often heart-rate is measured. I like the moto-body app. Its compact, lean and very efficient with battery consumption on the phone as well as the watch.
> 
> >5 day standby / 9 hours GPS... Those numbers look inflated. Unless "Standby" means turning off ALL sensors, radios, and the IPS display screen, and likewise "GPS" means turning off _EVERYTHING_ except the GPS radio. But I doubt those numbers can be achieved with daily wear-usage. Most of these watches have a built in gyro and are continually detecting motion. So just having it on your wrist consumes battery, albeit a very-very small amount.
> 
> These comments are on the hardware only. The software and OS experience is a whole nother' ball game, and that can make or break the product just like anything else.
> 
> The biggest mental adjustment for the traditional collector is getting accustomed to a watch with a blank-black watch face... since continually illuminated IPS displays paired with batteries this size can't make it the whole day on a single charge.
> 
> Good Luck!! Hope it all goes well for you.


Thank you!!! The strange is that i never received a reply from the manufacturer when i asked why there are not any videos available. So what? Nobody bought that watch to make an unboxing and review it ?


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## kramer5150

Looks like telforce (link I mention above) is just a www retailer.

Forever looks like a rebranding manufacturer. They sub-contract with the various Asian OEMs who produce product to their spec with the Forever brand and logos.

Their action cameras and fitness tracking bracelets definitely have a YT presence. Its possible they are just now getting into smart watches, and have not had a chance to distribute review samples to reviewers. They definitely seem to be targeting Europe with their watches though.

Here is their smart watch page:
Smartwatches |

There are some higher res pics on this site... nice looking watch IMHO.
https://allakces.pl/index.php/smartwatch-forever-gps-sw-500.html

It does not look like any of the Asian watches I have seen from Kingwear, LEMFO, Zblaze, Finow, NO.1... etc.


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## k482dge

kramer5150 said:


> Looks like telforce (link I mention above) is just a www retailer.
> 
> Forever looks like a rebranding manufacturer. They sub-contract with the various Asian OEMs who produce product to their spec with the Forever brand and logos.
> 
> Their action cameras and fitness tracking bracelets definitely have a YT presence. Its possible they are just now getting into smart watches, and have not had a chance to distribute review samples to reviewers. They definitely seem to be targeting Europe with their watches though.
> 
> Here is their smart watch page:
> Smartwatches |
> 
> There are some higher res pics on this site:
> https://allakces.pl/index.php/smartwatch-forever-gps-sw-500.html
> 
> It does not look like any of the Asian watches I have seen from Kingwear, LEMFO, Zblaze, Finow, NO.1... etc.


It passed my mind and i asked them if their watches are new entry but i never received any reply.
But watch seems ok... I ll find out of course after receiving it and experiment with.

Anyway thank you for your time! I downloaded the Android app Forever and it seems ok though... Hope watch is ok also... Take care


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## Black5

kramer5150 said:


> Some take aways
> >Proprietary OS
> .


Looks remarkably like Tizen?

If it is, It's open source and supports HTML5 so pretty straight forward to adapt from a developers perspective.

The challenge is finding developers willing to invest time and effort into supporting new platforms and ecosystems for limited, or no return.

Sent from my SM-N950F using DeX


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## kramer5150

Cool... I didn't know Tizen is open source. I always thought it was a Samsung proprietary OS.


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