“The watch you wear because you stopped wanting a watch you have to think about.”
A compact square dial, a soft silicone strap, and a week between charges. Four restrained colourways for the days when you want to see the time, the steps, the calls — and nothing more.
We chose ZL54CJ because it doesn't announce itself. Lightweight aluminium body, a strap thin enough to disappear under a cuff, and typography quiet enough to leave the rest of your wrist alone.
Heart rate, sleep, SpO₂, a dozen sport modes, and a battery that runs about a week. Pair it with your phone in thirty seconds and forget it's there.
Sounds ridiculous I know. But I was using my AW for like 3 things — time, heart rate, alarms — and charging it every night. This does those three things and I charge it once a week. The army green one is what I picked, looks great with hiking gear. Not as fancy obviously, but for what I actually use a watch for, it's enough.
Was skeptical. Most cheap watches feel like a plastic toy on the wrist. This one doesn't. The case has actual weight to it (not heavy, just not hollow), and the strap is softer than the silicone on my old Fitbit. Battery's been 6 days each charge, close enough to the 7 they claim. Heart rate is within 3-4 bpm of my Polar chest strap which is fine for me.
The watch itself is solid for $30. Display is crisp, battery is real, the gun metal one looks understated. My one gripe is the companion app - it crashed on me twice in the first week and the syncing was slow. Got better after an update. Wouldn't pay $200 for this but at $30 I'm not complaining.
I got the silver, he got the gun metal. We've been using them as a way to share our step counts (small competition going). Battery has been 7 days for me, 5 days for him because he uses the workout mode more. Sleep score showed me I was undersleeping by an hour each night - useful info I didn't know I needed.
Wanted something that doesn't look like a fitness tracker at work. The rose gold strap with that square dial actually goes with my office clothes. Sleep tracking has been useful, I've actually changed my bedtime because of it. App is okay - functional, not pretty.
Watch face and internals are great for the price. The strap though — mine started getting a bit loose at the keeper loop after 3 weeks. Not falling off, just not as tight as day one. Might just be how silicone breaks in. Otherwise fine, sleep and step tracking has been accurate, calls through the watch work.
