Today I will be reviewing the AEG 8000 Series AP81A25ULT Cordless Vacuum Cleaner - Bronze. I needed a new vacuum cleaner since I move to a new property.
Pros:
Agile in vacuum mode
Decent price
Decent battery
Light at the end to see dark spaces
Cons:
Heavy to use one-handed and if you're trying to vacuum the ceiling
The trash bin is tricky to open
The AEG 8000 costs £390 from AO.
I was initially considering a Dyson cordless cleaner. I had worked for Curry's before and I liked the lightweight nature of a Dyson. They kinda have a reputation for being one of the best cleaners.
However, the AEG gives Dyson a serious run for the money.
The vacuum picks up dirt quite well. It is agile when vacuuming the floor. However, it is not so comfortable for one-hand operation for cleaning ceilings and other tight spaces.
Although it seems like a gimmick, it allows me to see when I'm vacuuming in dark spaces.
The interface of the vacuum is pretty simple too. There are only two buttons. One to turn it on, and the other to adjust its suction strength. The battery indicator isn't too granular and can only measure the remaining power to the nearest 30%
The cleaner also comes with a "tree" to charge and hold all the accessories. That's rather neat and handy for those living in a small house.
However, the vacuum cleaner's bin is a bit tricky to release and re-install. In addition, you have to touch the dust a bit when removing the filter "cap" for the bin.
All in all, the device is a good device at a decent price. The pros of the device greatly outweigh the cons.
Faux leather/silicon wrist strap (if that's your style)
Activity tracker
An extremely readable secondary display
Cons:
Short wrist strap
The vibration motor is meh
Protruding side buttons
Leather wrist strap
Proprietary charger
LTE version locked to Vodafone
TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra... that's quite a mouthful. It seems the company is just tacking on words to the name. It reminds me of this video by Mrwhosetheboss.
But I digress. If you have the TicWatch Pro 3, the Ultra version is more or less the same as the TicWatch Pro 3. Unlike the Pro 3, the Ultra has an internal compass. They both have great battery life. In fact, no watch to date beat Mobvoi's Pro 3 and Pro 3 Ultra in terms of battery longevity.
Style
The TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra LTE has a dual-screen display. The second low battery secondary display reminds me of the Casio non-smartwatches.
Unlike the non-Ultra version ie TicWatch Pro 3, the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra's Secondary display can change colors. However, that setting isn't in the main watch settings and is controlled by the Essential mode app.
To change the color:
Open the Essential Mode app (using its launcher icon)
Swipe left for settings
Scroll down until you get the option for backlight color
If you want to boost the brightness of the screen, you can double-click the top page button.
The LTE version is made of faux leather/silicon hybrid. Although it looks more stylish than the non-Ultra or non-LTE version, the leather band has a few caveats.
After about two weeks of wearing, it suffered some stress on the bands, causing marks around the holes.
Also, I find the buttons a bit protruding and uncomfortable under certain conditions. The bezels on the watch are also large, making the watch a bit bulky. However, unlike the Samsung Watch 4, the bezels are useless; it does not have a rotating crown. Although the crown on the Samsung may be a bit of a gimmick for some, I use it fairly often, especially when it's raining since the touches may misregister if the screen is wet.
For me, the strap was a bit small.
In fact, out of the three watches I own, the Pro 3 Ultra is one of the smallest circumference bands. However, you can probably get bigger bands aftermarket.
Technology
Activity tracking
As with the TicWatch Pro 3 (and just about most other smartwatches), this watch tracks heart rate, steps, activity, etc. However, it comes with a few added features. It has IHB AFiB Detection and 24 hours stress monitoring.
The step counter was fairly accurate and was about 50 steps off from the Galaxy Watch 4. This is a small margin of error and can be attributed to perhaps me being more dominant on the arm that I wore the Galaxy Watch 4. One good thing about the Mobvoi watch is that it syncs with Google Fit, unlike the Samsung watch. Samsung Watch only syncs with Samsung Health and you need a third-party app like Health Sync. In my experience, it didn't sense the sport that accurately and you have to manually select the sport.
Vibration motor
The vibration motor on this watch isn't that strong compared to the Samsung but it's strong enough.
Synergy with phone
One feature on the Samsung that I miss is the synergy with the phone. The Samsung Watch syncs the do not disturb mode with the Samsung Note 20 Ultra. In addition, with the Samsung, any alarms ringing on the phone also ring on the watch, which is nice. The TicWatch Pro 3 and Pro 3 Ultra, however, lacks this feature.
Google Assistant
Unlike the Samsung watch, the Pro 3 Ultra comes with Google Assistant. However, during my 2 weeks of use, I rarely use the assistant on my watch. Although it supports control of my smart home devices, it does not support routines. When I'm at home, I tend to use my Google Home Hub Max anyway and if I'm on the way, I will use my headphones to trigger the Google assistant from my phone.
4G/LTE
Although my version provided by Mobvoi is the LTE version, it is tied to the Vodafone network. However, there is an unofficial workaround on Reddit. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is slightly more open but I found out only certain networks and certain plans support the esim on the watch. Your watch and your phone must be with the same provider.
In other words, if you want to use the watch to make independent calls, you need to be with a certain network (on your phone) and you have to pay more to support the watch. Last I checked, none of the supported providers support the watch on their PAYG plan. You need to be in with a contract with the network. There isn't a PAYG plan just for the watch.
I miss my Huawei Watch 2 when you can simply pop a sim into the smart watch and use it as a phone.
Battery life
The TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra has no contender in the battery life category. It has extremely long battery life. With its 577 mAh battery and secondary FSTN display, the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra is the king of battery life. Mobvoi says it would last 72 hours in normal "smart" mode and 45 days in the essential mode. The essential mode only uses the secondary display and allows you to see your steps and battery life along with the time and date.
Wear OS version
The watch comes with Wear OS 2.33. However, no other smartwatch apart from the Samsung Watch 4 comes with Wear OS 3.0, so I'm not going to count this as a con, unlike other review sites. The TicWatch Pro 3 and Pro 3 Ultra are slated to be upgraded to Wear OS 3 later this year.
Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon Wear™ 4100 Platform and Mobvoi dual processor system
Memory:
RAM: 1GB
Onboard storage: 8GB
Display: 1.4“ 454x454 326ppi Full Color Always On Display AMOLED + FSTN
Connectivity:
Bluetooth 5.0
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (Wifi 4)
GNSS: GPS+Beidou+Glonass+Galileo+QZSS
NFC Payments: Google Pay
Additional features:
Speaker
Mic
Vibrator
Barometer
Sensors:
Accelerometer
Gyro Sensor
HD PPG Heart Rate Sensor
SpO2 Sensor
Low Latency Off-Body Sensor
Barometer
Battery capacity: 577mAh
Durability: IP68, Pool Swim/MIL-STD-810G
Conclusion
Mobvoi is a champion with battery life and their dual-display technology is extremely legible even in bright sunlight. TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra continues this trend of excellence in the TicWatch Pro 3. It has a couple of negatives though. The watch is slightly bulky and the wristband is smaller than other watches, including the TicWatch Pro 3. Also, unless you're with Vodafone or plan to switch to Vodafone, don't get the LTE version. The Bluetooth version will suffice and you will save a couple of bucks as well. For a more in-depth review, please see Brian Burriston's excellent review on Notebookcheck.net: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobvoi-TicWatch-Pro-3-Ultra-GPS-in-review-Small-update-of-a-good-smartwatch.574006.0.html.
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