By Anand Parthasarathy
August 17 2021:  Smart watches are becoming smarter everyday and many now measure some health parameters of the wearer. The problem, is to find the right combination of price and performance. There is second combo that so few get right: the combination of size and functionality.  I have been trying out this class of wearable for over 2 years now and I do believe  the Kronos Beta from Portronics, a respected Indian consumer electronics brand since 2010,scores high on all four of these features.
For starters it comes with a larger-than-average circular 1.28 inch diameter high resolution TFT screen. You can customise the watch face from a huge range of over 100  designs or even import your own. This allows users to prioritize what they want to see – without having to squint at small lettering.  That for me is straight away a huge plus. At my age I  am not too interested at how much distance I have covered  but  rather like to know the live readings of my  pulse rate and last measured blood pressure. An alarm rings if these exceed safe levels – so that’s important too.
The Kronos Beta  tracks  10 sports modes including steps, distance,  run, indoor walk, hike, stairs,  as  well as gym equipment like rowing or stationary bike.
While many smart wearables also include the ability to take your mobile phone calls, that never struck me  as a very sensible feature --  shouting into your arm is not exactly convenient. I am happy to see the designers of the Kronos Beta agree with me – they have not wasted any real estate on a  microphone , so you can’t take an incoming call, though  notifications will be relayed On the other hand they have  provided 512 MB storage for something like 300 songs – since music-while-you-workout is so common. You can wirelessly connect to your earphones or earbuds.
The large device size allows two other things – a battery big enough to go for a week or so and a large  BP-heart rate sensor. In my experience, larger the sensor, better the skin contact and more accurate the reading.
The watch is also aesthetically pleasing,   with no protruding parts except a single large multi function button. The Kronos Beta  has the classical build of a wrist watch, but its functions and utility is futuristic.
It is currently available with an attractive discount for Rs 3999  here.