I'm thinking seriously about buying an Urbane 2 LTE, but have several concerns and thought perhaps you guys might be able to answer them. And all of my questions relate to when it is NOT connected to a smartphone, but rather being used as a standalone device.
1. Will it send and receive calls even when connected to wifi (I don't mean through wifi as I know that isn't possible)? I read in one review that this was a problem.
2. Can I receive my Exchange email through the watch? If not, what do you do about email?
3. Are you able to connect to a secured wifi network (i.e., insert a password) without being connected to your phone? Again, this concern came up in a recent review.
4. Can the watch accept Google Voice text messages?
5. How is the call quality talking (for the person you call) and listening (is the speaker loud enough under normal conditions)?
6. Can you easily connect the watch to a bluetooth headset?
7. How is OK Google working? One reviewer said it failed a bunch.
8. How well does it maintain a steady data connection with a link to a phone? Another reviewer concern.
Thanks in advance.
I'll answer at least a few:
1. Yes, I tested this out myself at home. I put my phone on airplane mode, and I had wifi and LTE both turned on on the watch, I was able to call a buddy no problem. Using it this way forces the watch to use it's own phone number though, and not your regular number associated with the phone.
2. With your phone off, you won't be able to receive any notifications. The way the data for the watch works is it uses it's own LTE to talk to the cloud, which then talks to your phone. So if you get an e-mail, it'll pop up on your phone, and then it'll be passed along to the watch. Without your phone having a data connection, there isn't anything to pass along. Does that make sense?
3. For wifi, you can't connect to a network that your phone has never been connected too. There isn't a prompt (and well, no keyboard) for inserting passwords into the watch. But if your phone has ever been connected to it, then your watch can as well independently of your phone.
4. Don't use Google Voice, so can't help there.
5. The call quality is surprisingly good! The few conversations I've had on it so far, nobody was able to tell I wasn't on my phone. Actually, once I told my buddy I was on my watch, he thought the sound quality on his end was better than my phone! That being said, the speaker sounds great, but it's doesn't get very loud. In a crowded place or on the subway or something it probably won't be loud enough. But then again, why would you be talking on a speakerphone then anyway?
6. Don't have a BT headset, so can't help.
7. Ok Google works darn near perfectly. Just as good if not better than my 2nd gen Moto 360. Ambient noise, like if the TV is on and loud, are usually the biggest things that will screw it up...
8. Do you mean while the watch is using it's own LTE data? If so, again, your phone has to be on to connect, but I haven't had any trouble. Obviously it depends on how good the cell signal is when you're using the watch.