Design and Craftsmanship: A Statement of Intent
The Noise ColorFit Pulse Grand Smartwatch immediately establishes its design philosophy: bold, contemporary, and unapologetically large. It is not a subtle, minimalist device but rather a statement piece crafted for those who prefer their wearables to be noticed. The centerpiece of its design is the robust 2.0-inch (approximately 50.8mm) metal alloy frame that houses the display. This metallic chassis provides a significant weight and premium feel that is often missing in this price segment, lending the watch a sense of durability and substance on the wrist. The frame is meticulously finished, with smoothly beveled edges that prevent it from digging into the skin, ensuring comfort during extended wear.
Flanking this metal frame are two sturdy, reinforced polymer lugs that seamlessly integrate with the supplied silicone strap. The strap itself is a highlight, featuring a textured, perforated design that serves a dual purpose. Aesthetically, it gives the watch a sporty, rugged appeal, while functionally, it significantly enhances breathability, reducing sweat accumulation and skin irritation during workouts or in humid conditions. The quick-release pins allow for effortless strap customization, enabling users to switch between different colors and materials to match their style or occasion. The overall build quality feels substantial, with tight seams and no creaking, projecting an image of a device built to withstand the rigors of daily use.
The right side of the watch features two functional buttons, crafted from metal to match the frame. These are not mere plastic protrusions; they offer a satisfying, tactile click with each press, providing excellent feedback and resisting accidental pushes. The overall silhouette is undeniably large, making it best suited for average to larger wrist sizes. On smaller wrists, it may feel oversized and could protrude noticeably. However, for its target audience, the design successfully merges a rugged, sporty aesthetic with touches of metallic elegance, creating a distinctive look that stands out in the crowded budget smartwatch market.
The Display: Expansive and Vibrant
Dominating the front of the Noise ColorFit Pulse Grand is its massive 1.78-inch LCD display. With a resolution of 320×385 pixels, it offers a sharp and detailed viewing experience. The sheer physical size of the screen is its greatest asset, transforming how users interact with the device. Notifications are legible at a glance, without the need for scrolling. Reading full messages, viewing caller ID, and navigating the menu system becomes an intuitive and frustration-free experience. The color reproduction is vibrant and punchy, making watch faces and workout data visually engaging.
A key upgrade in the Pulse Grand series is the significantly higher peak brightness of 550 nits. This is a crucial improvement over its predecessors and many competitors. It ensures that the display remains clearly visible under direct sunlight, eliminating the need to cup your hand over the screen to check the time or stats during an outdoor run. The touch response is fluid and accurate, allowing for swift swipes and precise taps. While it is not an Always-On Display (AOD), the raise-to-wake gesture is highly responsive, activating the screen the moment you lift your wrist. The inclusion of multiple always-on display (AOD) watch face options mitigates this limitation to some extent, allowing key information like time and date to be perpetually visible at the cost of some battery life.
Performance and Software: Smooth and Feature-Packed
At the heart of the ColorFit Pulse Grand lies a capable processor paired with 256MB of RAM. This hardware configuration delivers a consistently smooth and responsive user experience. Navigating through the vertically scrolling menu, switching between watch faces, and launching applications like weather or music controls is executed without noticeable lag or stutter. The watch operates on Noise’s proprietary RTOS (Real-Time Operating System), which is optimized for efficiency and battery life rather than running a full-fledged wearable OS like Wear OS.
The software experience is rich with features. The interface is organized into a clear list of tiles, accessible by swiping up or down from the watch face. These include essential modules like heart rate monitoring, SpO2 (blood oxygen) tracking, sleep analysis, weather updates, music playback controls, and a camera shutter remote for your smartphone. A significant and highly marketed feature is Bluetooth Calling. The watch comes with a built-in speaker and microphone, allowing users to make and receive calls directly from their wrist. The call quality is surprisingly clear for the speaker, though it is best used in moderately quiet environments. The microphone adequately captures speech, making it perfect for quick calls when your phone is not immediately accessible.
Health and Fitness Tracking: Comprehensive for the Everyday User
The Noise ColorFit Pulse Grand positions itself as a comprehensive health and fitness companion. It is equipped with a suite of sensors to monitor various metrics 24/7. The optical heart rate sensor provides continuous monitoring, with data accessible through the companion NoiseFit app. It also tracks blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) levels on demand, a feature that gained prominence for general wellness awareness. Sleep tracking automatically monitors different sleep stages (deep, light, REM) and provides a sleep score, offering insights into sleep quality and duration.
For fitness enthusiasts, the watch boasts over 100 sports modes. These range from standard running and cycling to more niche activities like cricket, badminton, and yoga. While it cannot match the sensor accuracy of dedicated fitness trackers from brands like Garmin or Polar, its performance is more than adequate for the casual to moderately active user. It reliably tracks core metrics like steps, distance traveled, calories burned, and workout duration. The watch lacks built-in GPS, relying on your smartphone’s GPS for mapping outdoor activities like runs or rides. This is a common compromise at this price point. The data syncs seamlessly with the NoiseFit app, which provides a clean and detailed breakdown of all historical health and activity data, allowing users to track their progress over time.
Battery Life: The Marathon Runner
Battery performance is a cornerstone of the Noise ColorFit Pulse Grand’s value proposition. Housing a 260mAh battery, Noise claims an impressive battery life of up to 7 days on a single charge under typical usage conditions. Typical usage includes regular notifications, sporadic health metric checks, and a few minutes of call time daily. In real-world testing, with the raise-to-wake gesture enabled, continuous heart rate monitoring, and receiving a healthy stream of notifications, the watch consistently achieves between 5 to 6 days of usage. This is a standout result.
Enabling heavy-use features like continuous SpO2 monitoring or the Always-On Display will naturally reduce this duration, but even then, users can expect a solid 2-3 days. For the vast majority of users, this translates to charging the watch just once a week, eliminating the daily charging anxiety associated with many other smartwatches. The magnetic charging puck attaches securely and replenishes the battery from 0 to 100% in approximately 2 hours.
Connectivity and App Integration
The watch maintains a stable connection to your smartphone via Bluetooth 5.3, ensuring a reliable link for notifications and call functionality. The range is effective, maintaining connection throughout a typical home environment. The companion NoiseFit app (available for iOS and Android) is well-designed and intuitive. It serves as the central hub for all data synced from the watch. The app’s homepage displays key daily stats like steps, calories, heart rate, and sleep. Digging deeper reveals detailed historical graphs and logs for every metric.
The app is also where users can manage watch settings, install new watch faces from a vast and frequently updated library, set alarms and sedentary reminders, and configure notification preferences. The process of pairing the watch and syncing data is straightforward and largely automatic. Notifications for calls, messages, and apps from the phone are delivered promptly to the wrist with good readability, and the ability to dismiss them directly from the watch is a convenient touch.