I remember the first wearable that I used. It was a Boat Wave Call 2 that I received as a Diwali gift for a gig in college three years ago.
So, when Boat sent us the Ultima Vogue 2 to review, life almost came full circle. And it made me quite excited to see what this wearable had to offer.But wearables can be tricky, especially one like the Ultima Vogue 2 that costs Rs 2,799.
While such devices are quite affordable, a user expects to get a similar experience to what true smartwatches offer. Not to mention that the competition is quite stiff in this segment.
So, what does the Boat Ultima Vogue 2 have to offer? We have spent some time with the wearable at India Today Tech, and here is our full review.Boat Ultima Vogue 2 design and fitWhen you hear the word “Vogue” attached to anything, you likely expect something that may turn heads at a fashion week.
The Boat Ultima Vogue 2 may not be that extravagant, but it does look quite classy. You get a rectangular metallic frame which feels decent for the price.
There is a crown with the Boat logo – but more on that later. You also get the USB-C port beside the crown.
The Ultima Vogue 2 comes with a sleek design, but the strap is not the best. The Jade Green unit we received comes with a pale gold-like shade, paired with a green strap.
The strap has a silicon finish on the part that sits on your wrist, but the front has a thread-like design. Though the quality of the strap could’ve been better.
You do get two keepers on the strap, so you won’t find the strap hanging if you have slim wrists. The Boat Ultima Vogue 2 does not feel bulky when you wear it.
After a while, you forget that it is even there.Boat Ultima Vogue 2 displayNow, let’s talk about the display. The Boat Ultima Vogue 2 comes with a 1.96-inch AMOLED display.
There are some thick bezels around it, but then again, it is a budget wearable. Since the device comes in a single screen size, it may be a bit big for some users.
The Boat Ultima Vogue 2 has decent AMOLED screen but the bezels are on the thicker side. While the company does not specify display protection, after over a week of use – sometimes hitting objects with it accidentally – there are no scratches on the display.Boat says you get up to 1,000 nits of brightness on the Ultima Vogue 2.
There are five different brightness levels to choose from. For the most part, the wearable does get decently bright, even outdoors.
But there is no auto brightness, which does make things a bit cumbersome. You do get an always-on display, and raise to wake.For the price, the display is fairly responsive on the Boat Ultima Vogue 2.
The raise to wake works quite well too. But you do notice some jitters while using the wearable.
Now, you may argue that a crown should help matters when it comes to scrolling the screen, but that is not really the case here. The crown on the Ultima Vogue 2 is a bit stiff, and you really need to put some effort in to move it – using the screen itself is easier.There are also tons of watch faces.
While you can store only 5 on the device at one time, there’s plenty to choose from in the Boat Crest app. You can also create your own watch faces with any photo or video.Using the Boat Ultima Vogue 2Speaking of the Boat Crest app, it serves as the hub for everything you want to do for the wearable, including the setup.
Once paired with your phone, the Boat Ultima Vogue 2 works like other wearables at this price. Pedometer, heart rate monitor, SPO2 sensor, sleep tracking, and more.
You get a bunch of health tracking metrics on the Ultima Vogue 2. While using the Ultima Vogue 2, I compared the wearable to the Noise Rep and the CMF Watch 3 Pro.
I found that the step-count and other fitness tracking was quite close to the Noise wearable, though there were some discrepancies, that is to be expected.One thing I did appreciate on the Ultima Vogue 2 was the IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. This allowed me to wear the watch worry-free, especially during light rain.
It will also protect the watch from accidental splashes.Sleep tracking on the Boat wearable was alright. The duration of the sleep was fairly accurate on most occasions, but not always.
The breakdown of the sleep into REM, light sleep, and deep sleep was sometimes a bit off though.The auto-workout detection on the Boat Ultima Vogue 2 works fairly well. The wearable is able to detect when you are working out or taking a walk, usually after 5-7 mins of activity.
Once started, you can view the activity on the screen, and later get a complete record on the app.There are some more things that the Ultima Vogue 2 brings, including camera control and music player. You can also make calls from the wearable.
The speaker quality is okay, but you may want to stick to your phone’s earpiece unless you are in a quiet area. The camera control feature is also inconsistent, and sometimes did not work.
Like other wearables, the Boat Ultima Vogue 2 also shows you notifications, but you cannot reply to them from here.Boat Ultima Vogue 2 battery lifeA big pain of owning a wearable is to charge it. Luckily, the Boat Ultima Vogue 2 delivers decent battery life.
While the company claims up to 10 days of endurance, I found that you can easily get a week on a full charge. Granted that the battery will drain faster if you have AOD on.
There is USB Type-C support for charging. Charging is where the Ultima Vogue 2 brings in the USB Type-C port.
For someone who hates having to keep a separate charging puck for a wearable, this felt like a boon. Instead of ensuring that I don’t lose the puck, I could simply charge it with my phone charger.
But charging is not the fastest. It takes nearly 2 hours to fully charge the device.Boat Ultima Vogue 2 verdict: Should you buy?Now that we have covered everything about the Boat Ultima Vogue 2, the question is, should you buy it?
Overall, the Boat Ultima Vogue 2 is a fairly decent package. The wearable looks cool, and the screen is not bad either.
The health tracking does the job for the price, and the USB-Type C port is a major pro. Boat Ultima Vogue 2 is a decent pick at this price.
The Ultima Vogue 2 comes punching above its weight, giving budget-conscious buyers plenty to look forward to at a time when prices of electronics products are generally getting high day in and day out. At a price of Rs 2,799, the deal seems pretty tempting.- Ends