With every passing year, we are seeing an upward tick in the growth of Indian wearable market. There is of course rise in demand of wrist worn gizmos for their health and fitness tracking benefits, but what evenly backs this is the reduced supply chain costs. Thank to democratization of technology, folks. Even the Govt. of India’s Make in India drive is bolstering the surge of homegrown brands in this space. NCR-based Molife makes the aforesaid case and brings in “made by Indians” products. It also claims to share the ethos of “offering you quality choices without costing you a fortune”. This brings us to the Smartprix review of Molife Sense 500 smartwatch. It is priced at ₹4,049. Read on to know how they work and whether this is worth considering if you are on the lookout for a budget smartwatch.
Molife Sense 500 price and specs
| Model | Molife Sense 500 |
| Display | 43mm, 1.7-inch TFT 240×280 Pixels 2.5D Curved Glass Full-color, touch screen |
| Body | Black/Silver Color, Aluminum Alloy Frame, Detachable silicone free-size strap, IP86 water resistance |
| Water protection | up to 1.5m |
| Sensors | 24Hr Heart Rate Monitor, SpO2 Monitor, Blood Pressure Monitor |
| Features | 8 sports activities, BT Call Function (with the built-in speaker and microphone), Phone Camera control, Weather, Music Playback Control, Messaging Support, Notification sync, Calorie Count, Step Count, Heart Rate Monitor, Voice Control, 50+ cloud-based watch faces & unlimited customization, menstrual cycle monitoring, 8 sports modes |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 |
| Processor | Realtek |
| Compatibility | Android 4.4+ and iOS 9.0+ |
| Battery | 220mAh: 3 days, up to 15 days of standby mode; magnetic charger |
| Weight | 35g |
| Price | ₹4,049 |
Molife Sense 500 Unboxing
- Watch
- Charging cable
- User manual
Contents
- Molife Sense 500 Design and Display
- Molife Sense 500 Software Experience
- Molife Sense 500 Performance and Battery
Molife Sense 500 Design and Display
Looking at this Squircle case, you’d get the sense of a popular watch that Molife has clearly taken inspiration from. But, that doesn’t in any way take away the sheen from this smarty. Rather, I would say, it attracts more eyeballs for the design familiarity. The aluminum casing also builds confidence about, well its build quality. The attached detachable straps are also smooth and rubbery. Having it wrapped around the arms for hours, you won’t feel any heft or hassle, except the sweat stains (if you happen to live in hot places like Delhi).
Also, being IP86 rated for ingress protection, it can take some water splashes. Yea, there’s swimming mode here (more on that later).
The screen is flanked by speaker slits on the left. Meanwhile, on the right side, there is a button that lets you power on/off the watch, go back to previous screens, and turn the screen on/off. Beneath the button, lies a microphone hole.
Coming to the screen, the Molife Sense 500 sports a touch screen TFT panel with 2.5D curved glass on top. So neither OLED nor protection here. It stretches 1.7 inches diagonally and goes edge to edge endowing a full view. Indoors, resolution at 240×280 pixels is serviceable. But outdoors, things get a bit challenging due to the lesser pixel density. Lack of auto-brightness and sub-par peak luminosity is also a reason for this. The touch response is also rough which makes navigating across screens a tedious affair. This is aggravated by the slow software animation.
Molife Sense 500 Software Experience
First of all, the software within the watch is pretty straightforward.
- Do a swipe left from the homescreen for the app drawer. It can be arranged in a honeycomb style or as a vertical list. I prefer the latter for its simplicity.
- Do a swipe down from the top to access the control center with options like menu style (honeycomb/vertical), brightness, flashlight, DND, and other settings.
- Do a swipe right to view the widgets such as step count, sleep tracker, various health tracker results, and the dial pad.
- Press the homescreen to get to the watch face gallery. At a time, you can choose from 5 designs. You can assign more watch faces from the Da Fit app. The app has got a decent library of options.
Da Fit app is compatible with Android 4.4 and later as well as iOS 9.0 and later.
The main screen houses the health stats. Either you can glance through them or tap to see the in-depth deets. For instance, you will have the step data presented on a daily/weekly/monthly basis along with extras like time/distance covered and calorie consumed. You also get to see your accumulated METs per minute which is an acronym for metabolic equivalents, which tells the intensity of your workout in terms of energy depleted.
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Or in the case of sleep data, you can take a look at the sleep quality score, and 7 days sleep trend. Even heart data is offered in terms of continuously recorded rate including resting state.
Let’s see how it all plays out.
Molife Sense 500 Performance and Battery
There is a bunch of sensors here that lets you track everything from heart rate (incl. resting) and blood pressure to SpO2 (blood oxygen levels). Now there is no way for you to be sure of its accuracy. There isn’t a point either for they are not medical devices. Still, in my tests, I had it pit against the Oppo Band Style (review) and there was a 10-20% difference between the two. For example, I walked a 400m stretch and the Sense showed 0.46kms, while the Style clocked 0.42kms. Similar was the case with indoor workouts and sleep logs. Speaking of sleeping, it was far from precise about my siesta. But, for what it’s worth, it does recognize them.
Note, there’s no GPS integration, so it depends on your phone’s location sync. Another thing is the option to set goals for step counting. And no, there is no goal-setter for other activities.
Now, a USP of Sense 500 has to be its Bluetooth-based calling facility. It is equipped with a fair loudspeaker and a microphone. You can dial numbers, call the saved contacts (up to 8), and view the call records all from the watch. Darn cool! The conversation was audible for both parties.
Then there are goodies like music controls, use the onboard speaker for music playback (if that’s your kinda thing), shutter for phone’s camera (3-second timer, and the photos are saved in a separate gallery altogether), stopwatch, alarm, countdown, and screen flashlight. Handy to have them all at an arm’s distance.
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All of these comes powered by a 220mAh battery which gives out around 3 days worth of juice. I started using it from a Friday evening (6 PM) and the thing drove till the following Monday morning (11 AM). The battery life is average and okay, I would say. When it asks for refill, use the bundled magnetic charger. Yea proprietary which means it’s one more thing to carry around if you go about far and long.
That brings us to the end.
Molife Sense 500 Review: Should you buy it?
I was a bit skeptical while getting into this review as this is my first stint with a Molife product. But, it was the calling feature that caught my attention. And I must say that really works functionally, so much so as in its favor. Besides, you are also getting a stylish and sturdy build, which is IP68 certified for some durability assurance. There is also a healthy dose of sensors and sports modes in the mix with an expected margin of error. Well, that, the slow display responsiveness, and the meddling battery life are some of its weak points.
Now at the time of typing this, Molife Sense 500 is priced at ₹4,049, which for sure, puts it amidst a fair bit of competition. These competitors shine where it wanes. But I can’t think of any of them having the nifty call feature. So, if that’s something you want, Sense 500 would make sense to you. It is currently available via Flipkart, Amazon, and Molife website.
Pros
- BT Calling
- Stylish and Sturdy build
- A healthy dose of sensors and sports modes
- IP68 water and dust resistance (incl. swimming)
Cons
- Slow plus Low-resolution display
- Meddling battery life
Molife Sense 500 FAQ
Q. Does Molife Sense 500 have GPS?
A. No, Molife Sense 500 doesn’t support built-in GPS. But it can sync with phone’s GPS.
Q. Does Molife Sense 500 have an Always-on Display?
A. No, Molife Sense 500 doesn’t have an Always-on display.
Q. Does Molife Sense 500 come with a screen protection?
A. No, Molife Sense 500 doesn’t have any form of display protection save for a screen guard.
Q. Is Molife Sense 500 waterproof?
A. Yes, Molife Sense 500 features IP68 water resistance up to 1 meter.
Q. Can you take calls on Molife Sense 500?
A. Yes, you can make and receive calls over Bluetooth thanks to a mic and speaker on the Molife Sense 500. There is no chip or SIM though. So, it cannot act standalone.
Q. Can you replace the straps of Molife Sense 500?
A. Yes, you can quickly release the current strap of Molife Sense 500 and switch it with any other compatible strap.
