Review: Martian Victory Voice Command Watch

By Niall Donnelly

I got an average of 5 days’ use on the smart watch battery, but thankfully, the analog watch continues its life span with an estimate of two years’ life.

So I have finally got my hands on what appears to be a classy looking watch that doubles as a voice command smart watch.  

The ‘Martian Victory Watch’ is quite the smart watch and sells for a not so ridiculous $300 in Canada. Martian offers many watches with classy designs from their non-voice activated ‘Notifier’ series ($150) to their voice activated ‘G2G’ series ($250) and higher end ‘Passport’ and ‘Victory’ series (both $300). The whole line of Martian watches comes with a 1-year limited warranty and is compatible with Apple and Android smartphones and tablets.

Being quite a watch enthusiast, I was very happy to take this for a spin.  I find the current smart watches normally repulsive because I find them clunky, uncomfortable and useless once the battery life is depleted. 

This watch looks like an analog watch versus a slightly redesigned calculator. I received several comments about my new watch and no one realized that it was a smart watch.

What does it do and does it do it well? First off, this is a very comfortable watch and it has a comfortable band that breathes well. I am not a large fan of using leather watches on a day-to-day basis, so this ribbed silicone band offers a perfect level of comfort.

 

This watch does a good job with its vibration reminders, letting you know when you have received a text message or a telephone call without blatantly revealing to everyone that you are reaching for your more interesting phone.  

The notification appears on the screen clearly, scrolling across slowly. You can read a few lines of the text or email and ignore it for the moment or reply using the assistance of the voice command to record your voice and send the response in text. 

If you receive a call on your phone, you are notified on your watch and can simply click a button on the watch to answer it, obviously after you verify that you want to talk to the person who appears on the display.

The watch has a good built-in speaker with noise cancellation to communicate clearly. I have to say it is not a great way to communicate if you are in a location that is producing too much background noise. A few people I talked to using the watch claimed it was quite clear.

I got an average of 5 days’ use on the smart watch battery, but thankfully, the analog watch continues its life span with an estimate of two years’ life.

Some other added features this watch offers over the lower priced non-voice activated model watches is a stainless steel case with an anti-scratch glass crystal face and connectivity with older Apple products such as iPhone 3GS / iPod Touch (4^th Generation) and iPad 2. 

All of the Martian smart watch lines offer firmware updates with new features on a fairly regular basis.

My main complaint is that I was unable to use my email. One of the reasons I wanted this watch was to access my email and unfortunately at this time, Martian does not support Microsoft Exchange, which is my current email service at work. 

This is a large hole in this watch’s functionality. My other complaint using this with an iPhone 5 is Siri. This is not at all Martian’s fault. I wish she were a little bit smarter and made fewer mistakes with voice commands. If you hate using Siri and plan on using this exclusively with an iPhone for voice commands, you may be disappointed with this watch.

While in the drive thru at Tim Hortons, somehow, without realizing, I clicked Siri on and she recorded my full order in text of a steak and cheese Panini, a medium double-double coffee and a fruit explosion muffin. It was even sent to a friend by text message. 

I can only imagine how sending this to a business client could be a bit of an awkward move as my friend was incredibly confused by this message. This spat with Siri made me decide I needed a break from our relationship. After about two weeks, I found that I was only using it for the notifier purposes. 

If you want the watch for the notifications, voice activation and phone calls and you feel that $300 isn’t going to break the bank, I would recommend this watch for people comfortable with Siri’s functionality or if you are an Android user.  

If you are only after the watch for notifications, the Martian ‘Notifier’ is your best bet with a very affordable price tag.