LEMFO C21 PRO, an economic smartwatch with good features

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There are two things I have never bought and have almost always had due to circumstances. One is a TV, which I don't intend to ever buy, the other is a watch.

I have always resisted "smart" watches because we already have enough things connected at home that need to be taken care of and charged. First it was the mobile phone so as not to depend so much on the computer for simple tasks and to that we had to add a watch that depended on the phone.

Now, by the vagaries of life, I've just released this Chinese smartwatch and after ten days of use, here's a quick review.

It is a LEMFO C21 Pro that arrived in a box without much frills.

The contents of the box are as you can see in this picture. It contains the manual, two silicone straps, the dial and the traditional charging cable with magnets.

The user manual in several languages which you can download here only in English in PDF.

Spare strap with camouflage decoration for when you decide to start a new life as a mercenary.

The dial is somewhat large and is made of metal and plastic. Its frame is quite thick and wide compared to other watches of this type. It looks sturdy and has a very decent finish. It has two push buttons and is decorated with an orange edge that is not too garish.

In terms of battery life, it's not bad.

Its 410 mAh battery took about two hours to complete its first charge and lasted almost 9 days with normal use (perhaps with more active screen time for the first few tinkers and configurations) with notifications turned off and the dial auto-on paused overnight.

This model has a speaker and microphone and allows you to make and receive calls via BT as long as it is synchronised and at a minimum distance from the phone. In tests, this distance ranged from two to three metres without obstacles.

Its microphone can also be used to activate the phone's voice assistant.

The speakerphone also makes it possible to play music, as it has a modest 128 Mb of memory that can be used for a few audio files. I haven't figured out how to add them to the watch, though, and it's not something I think is really necessary.

For the configuration and synchronisation with the mobile phone, an App called FitCloudPro is used which, although it is rather poor, after a good while of confusion, trials and errors, it does the job.

The truth is that both the App and the instructions are ambiguous or poorly written. They contain phrases and single words that are either not well translated or appear in other languages such as Brazilian and English.

Although it is not possible to access the watch from a PC to add dials from other independent designers, there are plenty of designs available. While some of them are somewhere between outlandish and hideous, there are enough of them that you can find some nice-looking ones.

The first of these templates (the one with the editing pencil icon) is for uploading a photo and configuring just the basics such as colour and position of the time and date.

The rest of the functions are the usual ones for this type of "sports" watches.

Blood pressure monitor, calories, respiration, heart rate (you know that these measurements are estimates that can not be considered accurate or medically reliable indicators), sleep measurement (which is carried badly counting the time of naps). Step counter, water and sedentary alerts, to ring your phone if you can't find it at home or to find your watch by ringing it from your phone. It also has the typical alarm clock, a calculator, calendar and the usual sports mode scroll.

Depending on its lifespan, which remains to be seen, it's a good option that can be found from just over 25 to 40 euros.

The brand markets another, slightly cheaper model, though with a smaller battery capacity and a single button, with a slightly smaller dial and no bezel.