One problem with smart phones is that the vibration feature barely works. I guess the manufacturers make it that way on purpose to extend the life of the phone. In my real-life job, I ABSOLUTELY have to have all phone sound completely turned off for hours at a time, but I need to know when I'm getting certain calls. Beepers and feature phones always worked well in this regard, but not smart phones. The vibration in my Samsung Fascinate is so weak I just can't feel the vibration. So I started looking for a remote accessory that somehow would be connected to the smart phone and vibrate adequately for calls and notifications. For me, it wouldn't even have to be wireless. Anyway, that's how I got to this device.
Although the mini-pamphlet (four double-sided pages) gives the appearance of a generic product manufactured in Asia, the instructions were straightforward and easy to understand -- setup was easy. They advise 3 hours for initial charging. A green pilot light activates during the charging process and goes off when the bracelet is fully charged. I then "paired" the bracelet with the smart phone. The instructions for doing that were more than adequate. If you're not familiar with bluetooth stuff, you activate the pairing feature on the bracelet. Then on the phone, turn on bluetooth and hit the scan button to search for nearby bluetooth devices. Wait a few seconds for the bracelet to be recognized by the phone. On the smart phone, click the bracelet when it appears as a recognized device. Very simple. Takes less than a minute. I then tested the bracelet a couple of times and it worked OK. The vibrations are VERY brief, and unfortunately, not that strong. On a scale of 10 -- with an old-time beeper being 10 and a smart phone being 1 -- I'd rate the vibration strength of the bracelet as maybe a 2, 3 at the most. There is, unfortunately, no way to control the vibration strength. There is no such control on the bracelet. Setting the strength at the maximum on the phone has no effect on the bracelet. So up to this point, I'm OK with the device. I'm a little disappointed in some things, but it's probably going to fulfill my needs.
The next morning, I leave for work. Despite all their claims about how fashionable the bracelet is, I don't want people wondering if I'm on house arrest. Nor do I want to give the appearance of being someone who obsessively buys electronic devices to control every part of their life. Even if there's some truth to it. So the plan all along was keep it in a pocket, like an old beeper, where I could easily feel the vibrations thru clothing. Around noontime, I realized I had not yet felt the bracelet vibrate. I checked the smart phone and saw several incoming calls. The smart phone was with me at all times and within the 5-10 yard range. So I checked the bracelet. The charge had died. It had been fully charged for the first time only 18 hours earlier. So I checked the instructions again. They claim a charge is good for "up to 60 hours." That's two and a half days. I fully charged the device again. This time I put it out of range of the phone (so that nothing would use up the charge) and noted the time. I left the bracelet power on. About 12 hours later, the battery indicator was down to one bar. At 16 hours, the charge had completely died.
So that's a bigger problem. The bracelet may have to be charged twice a day. If it charges throughout the night, and you leave for the morning with a full charge, it may work the entire day and evening. But you have to remember to leave it charging all night so that it's at 100% when you leave in the morning. I'm sure there's some kind of routine for making sure the bracelet is always charged, but I don't think something this simple should take that much effort.
