Fobase Air and Air Pro Smartwatches: Blatant Apple Watch clones with 1.54-inch color screens and continuous heart-rate monitoring from US$29.99

When you’re the maker of the #1 smartwatch in the world, you have to expect others to ape your style. However, while Apple can set a price tag from US$399 for its Watch Series 5 models, copycats have to rely on much lower price points and of course buyers should definitely beware. Fobase is one of these companies that has blatantly copied Apple, with products such as the Fobase Air Smartwatch and Fobase Air Pro Smartwatch, which are currently on sale.

For US$29.99, shoppers can pick up the Fobase Air Smartwatch, which is normally listed at a price of US$49.99. Along with the already mentioned features, the Fobase Air comes with Bluetooth 5.0, is waterproof (either IP67 or IP68 standard; web page mentions both), has 64 MB flash storage, a 200-mAh battery, and it comes in a range of different colors. The wearable can be synched with an iPhone for call services, and its sport modes include tennis, cycling, and swimming. OS compatibility is with Android 4.4 and above and from iOS 8.0 and above.

The Fobase Air Pro Smartwatch, now priced at US$39.99 on the company’s website (although, confusingly, also usually listed at US$49.99), can actually be picked up for US$29.99 via online retailers such as AliExpress. While the latter third-party retailer states 128 MB storage for the Pro variant, the official website states 64 MB under “Product Parameters”, which might be just sloppy website editing or another reminder of caveat emptor in this instance. Still, if US$399 is simply too much to pay for a smartwatch, there are worse places to start with than the Fobase Air and Air Pro smartwatches.