Kospet Optimus 2 (Hardware)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Official Store: https://www.kospet.com/products/kospet-optimus-2
Kospet has been making smartwatches for some time now and its growing catalogue ranges from fitness-focused smartwatches to more versatile ones. The newly-released Optimus 2 under review ranks among the latter. It is surely a fitness device as it packs the gamut of heart rate monitor, pedometer, activity tracking, and the hot new addition, oxygen saturation detection or SpO2 (while the Optimus 2 isn’t a medical device, SpO2 has been gaining some attention lately as it can indicate respiratory illness even before symptoms show). But the Optimus 2 is more than just a fitness tracker as it is essentially a phone on your wrist since it includes a nano-SIM slot and runs on Android 10.
You can find more about the specs below:
With these beefy specs (for a smartwatch), you can expect the Optimus 2 to be pricier than the sub-$40 Kospet watches like the Magic 3 and Rock that we previously reviewed. The official price tag amounts to $249.99 for the Optimus 2 on the official website but is at a discounted $179.99 at the time of writing. And for that price, you get the following items:
- Kospet Optimus smartwatch x1
- Charging cable x1
- Screen protector x2
- Manual x1
- Warranty card x1
For this review, Kospet also provided a magnetic charging dock that doubles as a 1000mAh power bank. It is sold separately for $20, but I would recommend getting it if you plan to get the smartwatch as it nearly doubles the battery life of the device. The Optimus 2 is also practical to use given its pocketable form factor, however, it takes well over 1 hour to charge. But it's still a useful accessory that wasn't available in older generations of full Android smartwatches.
Once out of the box, it’s noticeable that the Optimus 2 is wider and thicker than most watches or even smartwatches. At about 52.5 mm in diameter and 17 mm thick, it is quite conspicuous once wrapped around the wrist. Thankfully, it isn’t as heavy as it looks (although heavier than a regular watch, you can get used to it over time).
Aesthetically, other than its large design, it looks like a watch with a decent build quality which is a mix of ceramic for the middle portion while the front and back parts are made of tough plastic.
Wearing the Kospet Optimus 2 is very comfortable thanks to the included silicone straps which you can also easily change/replace with the accessible spring-loaded lock mechanic. Kospet sells spare straps separately for $10, should you want to change looks or are looking for a replacement.
Using the Optimus 2 is very easy; in fact, you don’t need to pair it with a phone to use it as a fitness tracker. There are only two physical buttons (the upper power/home button and the lower back button) and everything else can be controlled via the touchscreen. You can just power it on and select the appropriate workout to track from the 31 sports modes included in the fitness tracking app. You will also have access to the built-in heart rate and SpO2 monitor apps. While these aren’t medical-grade sensors, they can help provide an indication about your fitness level and they are quite handy inclusions. Another app that I found to be useful is the ‘BreathTraining’ app, which helps you perform guided breathing to relax and de-stress.
Despite that, to make the most out of the Optimus 2, you will have to download the GaoFit app from Google Play Store. This lets you pair the watch to your phone and view your fitness data in more detail. Once paired with your phone, it will mirror your apps’ notifications to the smartwatch (albeit with a little delay and only see them without being able to reply/like) as well as answer calls from the watch itself since it has a built-in mic and a speaker.
But while the smartwatch’s stock fitness tracking app offers a selection of 31 sports modes, it lacks the one I’ve been mostly turning to during the pandemic: weight lifting. This isn’t a particularly rare activity so it’s quite surprising that Kospet didn’t include it. But it’s not totally Kospet’s fault as the company is only using an Android skin that is rather generic for those fully Android-powered smartwatches that the company’s competitors also use, like Zeblaze. Well, maybe it's a little bit of their fault for not investing in designing a skin of their own and improve on what the generic one already offers.
This Android skin has been optimized for rounded screens like those smartwatches use. Swipe right to access to app menu and again to access quickly fitness modes. Swipe down for quick settings and swipe left for notifications. The OS is quite fluid and responsive, although I had some trouble tapping app menus that are closer to the edges. Of note, not all apps will look good on the round screen as they haven’t been optimized for that form factor and some aspects won’t be visible or reachable. Luckily, you’ll find a “square screen” mode accessible by long-pressing on the power button. This turns the screen into a more traditional squarish view so that you can see all of the app’s content on-screen. This makes the content and writing look smaller but it makes the apps more usable.
Full screen vs square screen mode
That said, the Optimus 2 is still running on full Android, and version 10.7 at that. This means that more apps are compatible than the previous gen of full Android-powered smartwatches like the Kospet Prime and Zeblaze Thor 5 Pro which both ran on Android 7. So this means that you have the whole Play Store app suite at your disposal to fine-tune your device to your liking. And of course, you can also easily sideload apps. For instance, the built-in fitness tracker app might lack your favorite activity but you can find it in another app like Google Fit and install it on the watch to track. However, the watch’s heart rate monitor won’t be recognized in this case or with other third-party fitness tracking apps.
Yet, it still provides access to a world of apps that regular fitness trackers or even smartwatches running on WearOS don’t have access to. Facing my computer screen quite a lot daily, I use the app EyeCare 20-20-20 a lot to take breaks, and having it easily accessible from my wrist makes it very convenient. I also like using the Sleep As Android smart sleep alarm app, so rather than having my bulkier phone track my sleep at night, I can have the smaller watch handle it. While working out, I like to listen to some podcasts or my playlists from Spotify. With other smartwatches, I will need my phone close to me to use Spotify while working out. But with the Optimus 2, I can load Spotify (or audio tracks) directly on it and don’t need to carry my phone with me (and encumber me) when I go hiking or running outdoors.
And with the 4G and nano-SIM feature, you can practically use the Optimus 2 as a standalone phone. However, I would not recommend it as network service drains the battery and you’ll get less than a day of use with it. The power bank/charging dock can provide more juice but it isn’t optimal. It does include a ‘Lite Mode’ that consumes less battery but you will be left with fewer apps to use. So to make full use of it, the battery life isn't there yet (it has the same capacity as the Kospet Prime from last gen).
What it’s good for is to read news, check emails, or even for casual gaming. With the old gen smartwatches, the screen would rotate with games, making them unplayable on the wrist. This seems to have been fixed with this new generation and makes the device quite appropriate for casual gaming. With such casual multimedia use and fitness tracking, I would get around a day or a day and a half of use. Factors like screen brightness, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity will heavily determine how long the device lasts.
You can also browse the net or watch videos but the screen size isn’t totally the best for that. But maybe in the future, Kospet could include a USB-C port with video output support so that you can plug it into an external monitor and watch content on a bigger screen. Now, that would make for an even more enticing and practical gadget. Imagine having this device wrapped around your wrist and you just plug it into a monitor at your work desk and use it to work, watch videos and reply to emails with a Bluetooth keyboard, as you would with a tablet, just much more compact. The battery might be the limiting factor but you could also use it while plugged in or with a power bank.
Oh, and this smartwatch also packs a curious camera. It has a resolution of 13MP, has a rotating mechanic, and includes a flashlight. While you shouldn’t buy this smartwatch for its camera, these are already pretty impressive features to include in such a tiny form factor. The quality of the images/videos is fine, although I found pictures to get blurry easily. Of course, your smartphone probably does better shots but a camera on your wrist can help you out in a pinch like when you’re on a hike and find a picturesque spot.
Kospet also designed the camera with a 90° rotating mechanic which conceals it when not in use. This also means that you can change the lens to face forward, point at your face for a selfie or tilt it at any angle between those two extremes. The built-in camera app lets you rotate the image so that you can take selfies or landscape shots in the orientation that you see. In “selfie mode”, you can also use the camera to unlock the watch simply by looking at it.
Despite going the extra mile to pack some rather impressive tech in this tiny form factor, there are some aspects that feel amiss with the Optimus 2. For one, you cannot adjust volume easily on the device. The volume of the built-in speaker is quite loud but you need to go to settings to adjust it. There are no quick settings or even a way to use the physical buttons for that. That’s not very ideal, especially if you plan to use it as a phone/multimedia device and would need to adjust the volume based on your environment.
Another useful feature would be to include NFC support to quickly share files or for contactless payment. But this isn’t included and Kospet could consider it in its future watch.
Overall, the Kospet Optimus 2 sounds like an oddball with it being a hybrid of a phone and a fitness tracker. It impresses on the tech it packs in such a compact form factor, yet it doesn’t execute all of its features optimally. It gives a glimpse of what a futuristic smartwatch can do but there are still aspects to improve upon before making it a must-have. But truth be told, even if niche, we need such devices on the market as alternatives to what Big Tech companies try to populate the market with. I’m glad that Kospet is still coming up and improving on the experience of Android-powered smartwatches.
Discount
If you’re looking to purchase a Kospet Optimus 2, you can use the coupon code below and get a little discount:
Coupon: 333OPTIMUS2
Coupon price: $176.99
Valid till July 28th
Verdict
- Runs on full Android 10
- Handy phone-fitness tracker hybrid features
- Easily swappable straps
- Integrated rotating camera with flash
- Dedicated, portable power bank boosts battery life (sold separately)
- Uses generic Android smartwatch skin
- Trouble with recognizing taps closer to edges
- Heart rate sensor isn’t detected with third-party apps
- Cannot adjust volume from watch
- Battery life isn't optimal















Options
View top chatters