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Lava’s Prowatch X review: Affordable smartwatch that doesn’t compromise on features
The Prowatch X features essential sensors like heart rate and SpO₂ monitors, GPS, and health tracking. While it excels in accuracy, some additional features like AQI monitoring may be inaccurate. It offers decent battery life and Bluetooth calling, making it a competitive smartwatch at ₹4,499.
While the smartwatch segment in India is going through a bit of a crisis and many brands are even considering exiting the segment, Lava has decided to double down on its efforts by introducing an ambitious new offering called Prowatch X. Priced at ₹4,499, the new smartwatch from the Lava sub-brand is an attempt to go head-to-head with the premium offerings in the market. But does the home-grown brand succeed in its attempt? I've been testing the Prowatch X for the last 15 days and here's my detailed review of the new smartwatch.
Unboxing and design:
As a brand, Lava has been very consistent with providing a very premium unboxing experience, and the Prowatch X is definitely not an omission to that trend. The new smartwatch comes in a neat black coloured rectangular package, upon opening which you are greeted with the Prowatch X in all its glory, followed by a magnetic pin charger, some stickers (which look pretty cool in my opinion) and a black coloured paper with the QR code for user manual (well played Lava).
Moving on to the design, the watch comes with a circular display with a curved glass that accentuates its personality. On the right, you get the two buttons: the first one takes you to the menu and back to the home screen, the second one launches the exercise panel.
There are three choices for the strap: Silicone, Nylon and Metal. The Nylone strap looks best in my opinion but it got a bit loose for me after a few weeks of use which makes Silicone one a wiser choice.
Display:
The 1.43-inch 30Hz AMOLED screen on the watch is pretty good for the price and remains legible even in bright outdoor light. However, if you're spoilt for choice, this watch doesn't have an automatic brightness function like the CMF Watch and you'll have to go into the menu to adjust the brightness.
On to the good stuff, the screen is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass 3, while the watch has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, meaning it can be submerged in up to 1.5 metres of water for up to 30 minutes.
Another good thing about the Prowatch X is that there are plenty of watch faces to choose from - they claim over 150 watch faces, but it's hard to verify the actual number - and most of them are pretty good, meaning you can easily customise the look of the smartwatch.
Functionality:
The Prowatch X comes with all the usual sensors for the price, including heart rate monitor, SpO₂ monitor, body energy meter and even VO₂ Max tracking. The watch comes with support for built-in GPS and other key features include Air Quality Index (AQI) monitoring, Find My Phone, women's health tracking, event reminders, Pomodoro timer, barometer, compass and altimeter.
Prowatch had focused a lot on the smartwatch's accuracy during our briefing session, and I'm happy to report that the Prowatch X delivered similar results for most metrics when pitted against the OnePlus Watch 2R - which, incidentally, costs more than twice as much.
I also did a simple walk where I took exactly 100 steps and compared them with the Prowatch X's results, and the numbers were very close, suggesting that the watch does indeed live up to the company's claims of accuracy.
What really worried me was that some of the additional features offered by the Prowatch were quite inaccurate. In particular, the AQI monitor implemented by Prowatch - while a welcome step for us Delhi-NCR residents - tends to show a higher AQI than it actually is. Similarly, the temperature displayed by Prowatch X was mostly wrong. These aren't deal-breakers, though, and can be easily fixed with a software update.
Software:
Speaking of software, the Prowatch X comes with the company's own interface, which does the job well. The watch is connected to the Prospot app, which allows users to easily track health metrics such as heart rate, daily steps and more.
Two issues with the watch that you'll notice immediately are that the touch response isn't that great, but that's to be expected given the price point. Secondly, the vibration of the watch is not just bad, it's borderline obnoxious and you'll be forced to turn it off sooner or later.
Another minor issue I have with the watch is that it comes with a very limited set of ringtones (both for calls and notifications), which aren't that great and tend to significantly reduce the user experience of what is otherwise a pretty decent product. Again, this is something that Lava can easily fix with a software update.
Bluetooth Calling:
The Prowatch X can accept and reject calls, and there is also the option of playing some pre-recorded messages (set by the Prospot app) when a call is rejected. There is also a built-in dialler that can be used to dial any number, and you can also add up to 10 favourite contacts that can be dialled directly from the watch. Call quality is good, but the speakers aren't anything to write home about.
Battery life:
The Prowatch X is equipped with a 300mAh battery which, according to the company, can last up to 8-10 days on a single charge. While this promise turned out to be largely true, there are two caveats to add here. Firstly, you will definitely get over a week of battery life, but only if you have the Always On Display turned off (which it is by default). If you turn AOD on, the battery life drops to around 4 days in my experience.
Secondly, the battery seems to die much faster once it reaches the 20 percent mark. This is not a major issue and the watch does more or less deliver on the battery life promised, but I thought it was worth mentioning here in case you end up buying the watch.
Verdict: Worth the price?
Lava's Prowatch X punches above its weight in many categories, adding many important features such as SpO₂ monitor, body energy meter and VO₂ Max tracking. This smartwatch isn't perfect either, with a few major issues including poor haptic feedback, limited ringtone options and some software optimisation issues.
However, the Prowatch X does deliver on the basics - good-looking and durable build quality, accurate tracking metrics, support for Bluetooth calls with an in-watch dialer, long battery life and a good-quality AMOLED display - which makes it a definite buy on my list.
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Business NewsTechnologyTech ReviewsLava’s Prowatch X review: Affordable smartwatch that doesn’t compromise on features
First Published:2 Mar 2025, 01:05 AM IST
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