Today, 1/4/2024, I believe I finally discovered why my sleep function would come and go over
the past year. Since my last update, nearly 6 months ago, I have had a couple of additional “No Data” experiences, when trying to determine how well I slept the previous night. I tried everything, even moved the watch to my other wrist and still the problem. I did clear the cache memory again for this app on my phone and was about to hit the reset button which would have erased all my exercise and sleep history, when it occurred to me.
It was a simple problem which had nothing to do with the app or the watch itself. About 5 months ago the wrist band strap, which prevents the wrist band itself from flapping at the end, had broken. I replaced it with an older wrist band strap, from another watch, which stopped the flapping, but it was still loose up and down the band. I compensated by tightening the watch band 1 or 2 notch holes. This prevented the flapping but it apparently was too tight for the sensor to monitor my circulation sleep data at night. When I returned to the original notch hole position, sure enough…..sleep data this morning. Pretty sure this was the problem. I will use a tighter watch band strap. So I am changing my review to 5 stars today…….excellent value and information for a $30 starter smart watch. Just don’t squeeze it too tight around your wrist.
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Today, 6/18, the Sleep Function data from last night showed up this morning. I am not sure why. This is the first Sleep Data that got to my HerobandIII app since 5/14/23.
The only thing I did last night was charge the watch up to a full 100%. I will now give it a 4* rating.
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I never thought I would need or want a smart watch. However, as I got older, I wanted something to keep track of my health functions, especially sleep, HR, BP, and exercise data, walking 3-5 times per week. So I found this $30 Kalinko, and figured why not give it a try. I knew it wouldn’t be as accurate against standard monitors or other smart watches ,but at least is was mobile. So my expectations were very low to begin with. If it was junk, so be it, and I would spend a little more to get a watch that would give me a higher level of performance
I now have read many of the other reviews, especially the 1 or 2 stars to find out what others have been upset about compared to the one and only problem I have had so far.
First, some facts I learned along the way and data to do a level set:
1. I purchased my Kalinko P22 in late December, 2022
2. The basic HR, BP, and O2 measurements are not accurate (10-20% lower) because the accelerometer
the Chinese manufacturer uses is very basic in order to improve their profit margin for inexpensive retail price you pay.
However, THIS IS NOT IMPORTANT, believe it or not. What is important are the measurement changes you see in the history log.
The differences will give you a trend line against previous measurements. Don’t
compare it to other more accurate devices like BP monitors and cuffs or other instruments at the
doctor’s office. Even those only give you single data points, and no trend lines good or bad.
3. I believe the Steps function is not a measurement of your walking or physical steps with your feet. Think
of it as an “Activity” monitor. It measures movement of your right or left wrist, even at night ,
when you toss and turn in your sleep or get up to do normal functions that wake you up. I set
daily goal steps to 10,000 steps, which is just about right for my age and activity level.
4. Don’t expect and help from this Chinese manufacturer. No phone or email and expect poor english
if you do get a hold of someone. Most Chinese products have little help available as I found out
with their remote cameras and other products. The best you can do is download their User
Guide which is still substandard but better than nothing. Also, the included setup guide is so small (font
size 1 or 2) you can’t read it.. I had to copy it to my printer and increase the copy size by 50%.
5. Don’t buy this watch for yourself or someone that is not good with IT. If you want the full function
bluetooth hookup with the HerobandIII App on your smart phone, you must have a smart phone
and understand QR codes to perform the link. Otherwise you will just get the watch functions with
no exercise or sleep data history which is kept on the phone
6. Keep this watch on most of the time unless you are taking a shower, swimming, or in water. If you
have a regular watch, keep the Kalinko, on your other wrist, hopefully on the hand you use the
most. You will get use to it. The rubber band is basic. Still have my original but you can get
fancier ones if you want.
7. The battery is good and lasts me normally around 7 days before I charge it up at 20%. The magnetic
contacts are a little weird and it’s easy to lose contact with the watch. Look for the dashed
green lights that indicate “charging” and finally “charging complete” and 100% Don’t move the
watch while charging. Normally takes about 2-3 hours for me with the USB plugged into one of
my computer ports.
8. The night light Torch function. An unexpected surprise at night or dark places is the single
watch button turns on a very bright face light to find things and places without a flashlight or
light switch. It gives you about 5 seconds to locate anything within 5 feet.
9. Don’t care about other functions like weather or remote control for camera shots or messages or music.
The Find Phone option might be helpful if you misplace it nearby. It
So, why just 3 stars?
1. It’s a beginner smart watch for $30. It’s ok, and I might just keep it until I find a more
accurate or reliable one for $200 or more.
2. I am an avid walker and hiker. The Exercise function has never failed me for this type of
exercise. I can go back to December 2022 history on the watch and get information
as to how much I have progressed on the same walks and hikes showing, HR, miles,
and how they rate for my age on standard, weight loss, aerobic, and anaerobic functions.
This gets a 5 * rating and worth the $30 all by itself.
3. The Sleep Function is the most important function for me. It is the only function which
you don not have to manually start and stop with the watch. It depends on the quality and
accuracy of the accelerometer on you wrist. It worked perfectly for 137 nights from December
until mid-May. It gave me good info on total sleep time, deep sleep, and times I woke up
during the night. Even a sleep quality score. Then nothing with a “No Data” message when
I woke up on the 138th morning. The User Guide says it is possible that individual sleep
apps can lose data if you don’t clear the cache memory on the HerobandIII app on the smart
watch. This had to be it, I thought. So I cleared the cache of the 7.8 mb, which should have
cleared the problem. However, it didn’t and I still have all the sleep history on a calendar going
back to December, but No Data for the past 2 weeks. The only other option would be to clear the
data or reset the watch which defeats the history I want to keep. Not sure what else I can do, and no response
from their “helpdesk” email address, or even their app developer. So a 1* for me on this watch on this
aspect.
Final Summary.
Unless the Sleep Function “No Data” can be restored, no more Kalinko $30 specials for me. I will
only use this watch for Exercise History, Health Trend, and the torch function for seeing in dark
areas at night. If anyone else has solved the Sleep Function “No Data” problem. Please document.
Thanks.
Genie - Research Bot
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