Kospet Tank X2 Ultra GBAtemp review
Hardware
Product Information:
- Official Store: https://uk.kospet.com/products/kospet-tank-x2-ultra-smartwatch
Review Approach:
Following the Prime S, Magic 3, Optimus 2, Rock, Prime, M2, T2, and T3 Ultra reviews, Kospet bounces back with yet another in the Tank series: the Tank X2 Ultra!
Not to be confused with the £129.99 (£99.99 on sale) Tank X2, the Tank X2 Ultra costs £149.99 (£119.99 on sale) and offers a stainless steel body and dual-band GPS tracking over the Zinc alloy body and GPS-lessness of its non-ultra counterpart.
Technical Specifications:
- MCU+DSP: ATS3085L
- Memory: 256M NOR
- Dimensions: 52×34×14mm
- Weight (without package): 75 g
- Bottom Shell Materials: Polycarbonate + 15% (Fire-Proof) Glass fibre
- Protective Glass Material: Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
- Buttons: 2
- Water-resistance Grade: 5 ATM&IP69K
- Display Material: AMOLED
- Display Size: 1.64"
- Display Resolution: 280×456
- Display PPI: 326
- Battery Type: Pure cobalt battery
- Battery Capacity: 290mAh (rated value)
- Charging Method: Magnetic charging cable
- Theoretical Charging Duration: Approx. 2 hours
- Typical Usage Scenario Battery Life: Up to 8-12 days
- Heavy Usage Scenario Battery Life: Up to 5-7 days
- Standby Mode Battery Life: Up to 44 days
- Continuous GPS Workout Usage: Up to 10 hours
- PPG Heart Rate Sensor: VC9202 +VP60A2
- G-Sensor: STK8325
- Positioning: Dual-Band positioning, 6 satellite positioning systems
- Outdoor Sensors: Compass, Barometric altimeter
- Connection: BT V5.3
- Material Strap: Silicone
- Buckle Material: Stainless steel
- Strap Width: 20mm
- Min &Max.Wrist Dimensions: 150mm-200mm
- Removable Strap: No
- Sports Modes: 170+
- Smart Recognition: 6 sports movements(Walking, Running, Cycling, Elliptical trainer, Rowing machine, Still)
- 24H Health Monitoring: Heart rate, Blood oxygen, Blood pressure, Stress level, Emotion
- Manual Measurement: Heart rate, Blood oxygen, Blood pressure, Stress level, Emotion, Test 3 Metrics in 1 Tap
- Sleep Tracking: Sleep stages (including REM), Naps, Sleep schedule
- Health Alerts: Abnormally high & low heart rate, Low blood oxygen, Sedentary reminder
- Other Health Features: Menstrual cycle tracking, Breathing exercise
- System Requirements: Android 5.0 and above, iOS 12 and above
- Languages: English(default), Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Polish, Greek, Danish, Romanian, Ukrainian, Czech, Hungarian, Finnish, Norwegian, Turkish, Swedish, Hebrew, Persian, Arabic, New Zealand, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Bengali, Urdu, Khmer, Traditional Chinese
Stunning in the Looks Department
Out of the packaging, this smartwatch feels great. The 1.64" AMOLED screen spans your wrist nicely and the stainless steel body feels high-quality and built to last. The screen is bright, vibrant and large enough to display a whole host of information succinctly.
There are just two buttons controlling the initial interface of the watch, a "power" button and a "sport" button. The latter simply plunges you directly into a mode whereby you can measure your chosen sporting pursuits within 2-3 clicks. I like the fact they have leaned into keeping it incredibly simple, and the UX definitely benefits from this stripped-back elegance.
Notably, there are also 170+ sport modes usable, though only six of the main ones average users might enjoy have auto-detection.
The power button gives you access to all the other built-in apps, which include music, weather, daily activities, calls, heart rate, sleep tracking, blood pressure monitoring, compass, barometer, timers, and off-watch functions such as find my phone and camera shutter for example.
The majority of these are nice to have but just how accurate they really are remains to be seen. As expected, the advice given on the main medical apps is that these statistics should not be used as medical facts; but rather just as a guideline for a healthy lifestyle.
The silicon strap is tough and rubbery, and the steel body and Gorilla glass coating make this watch feel indestructible. I have a terrible habit of bouncing my smartwatches off walls, tables and door frames, and I have to say that the Tank X2 Ultra stood up to this battery without flinching.
Over the course of a couple of weeks, I found that I couldn't scratch or dent it no matter what I did in it, and it still looked great after a gritty-rain-soaked hike or two across the marshlands and slamming aggressively through bushes on my bike.
Upgraded Tech, Questionable Accuracy
The inclusion of BT 5.3 means that this smartwatch finally ushers in an era of low latency combined with low power consumption when it comes to taking calls on your watch. I rarely ever take calls on my watches, because the clarity is lower than just using my phone, but when I'm in a pinch I'll quickly answer on my watch to reply or react ASAP.
The Tank X2's clarity is great, with the speaker delivering decent sound quality when receiving an incoming call, and even when replying through the wearable.
Sadly it also only boasts 256 MB of NOR memory so you couldn't even pack it full of music and connect a headset directly to the watch when on a run or ride, which is not the end of the world, but would have been cool to do!
For app testing and comparison purposes, I opted to try wearing my daily driver Apple Watch on one wrist and the Kospet Tank X2 Ultra on the other. This meant that I could take an objective baseline of results and compare the two fairly over the shared feature set.
In practice, I found a few big differences when it came to the accuracy of the metrics. First and foremost, the step counter on my Apple watch after a brief walk tallied 2.1 miles and 4627 steps, whereas the X2 Ultra counter was 4190 and 1.94 miles. Nearly 500 steps and 0.15 miles difference across the two devices.
This may not sound like much, and if I hadn't had the Apple Watch to compare it to, would I have ever known? Well, that's not the point, the point is that in 2024 we should have basic metrics, like step count, in perfect parity across any device. I don't feel like this is a Kospet-specific issue, it's more of an "each company measures each thing their way" trait of modern technology.
I want to mention that the GPS tracking was also quite erratic in pinpointing my exact location, the compass app was easily swayable by putting another device next to it (whereas the Apple Watch wasn't), and the other features for "Emotion" and "Stress" are nice to have but I can't fathom how they could work reliably.
Awesome, but not Perfect
I'm a big fan of Kospet's Tank X2 Ultra despite its obvious gimmicks and quirks. The watch itself is gorgeous, with a big, bright, vibrant display capable of lasting a heck of a long time between charges. There have been some seriously great OS updates under the hood since I last reviewed a Kospet product, and the UX is really strong now, however, I wouldn't use this watch for any sort of accuracy in measurements, I would purely use it as a smartwatch for displaying the time and comfortably looking great on my wrist.
The included magnetic charger is so minimal it feels like a Temu product, like, why is the thing so cheap-feeling and fly-away light in comparison to the sleek look and feel of the watch itself? I think they could certainly do better in this department, buffing up the accessories to match the quality of their main product to give an overall elevated feel to the package.
Overall, I feel that if you're looking for a striking smartwatch with an abundance of features, for under £150, then the Kospet Tank X2 Ultra is a solid choice for anyone hitting up the sites to find a quality device for their wrist. Though this thing is virtually indestructible thanks to the Gorilla Glass facade, do not count on it for reliable, accurate metrics, just use them as a guide!
Product Links
Are you interested in purchasing a Kospet Tank X2 Ultra? You can do so via the following store links:
Verdict
- 5-44 day battery life depending on usage
- Dual-band GPS
- BT 5.3 upgraded audio
- 1.64" 280x456 AMOLED is vibrant
- The stainless steel body is great
- GPS + Tracking accuracy is not 100%
- The magnetic charger is underwhelming
- No removable straps
- Weak vibration