Design and Build Quality: A Familiar Yet Refined Aesthetic
The Noise ColorFit Pro 4 Alpha doesn’t deviate drastically from the established design language of its predecessors, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It features a robust, utilitarian build centered around a 1.78-inch AMOLED display, which is encased in a metal alloy mid-frame. This construction gives it a premium feel on the wrist, distancing it from cheaper, all-plastic alternatives. The watch is available in a range of colors including Jet Black, Midnight Blue, and Space Blue, with silicone straps that are 22mm wide, easily swappable, and comfortable for all-day wear, including during intense workouts and sleep.
Weighing in at approximately 50 grams, the ColorFit Pro 4 Alpha is lightweight enough to be forgotten during daily tasks but has a noticeable presence. The right side houses a functional rotating crown and a single programmable shortcut button. The crown provides tactile feedback when scrolling through menus and notifications, a significant upgrade over purely touch-based navigation. It also serves as the power button. The back of the watch is home to the proprietary charging port and the array of health sensors, which sit flush against the skin for improved readings.
With an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, the watch can withstand splashes, sweat, and rain, making it suitable for workouts and handwashing. However, it is not recommended for swimming or submersion in water, a limitation compared to some competitors with 5ATM ratings.
Display: Vivid and Highly Responsive
The centerpiece of the user experience is the 1.78-inch always-on AMOLED display. With a sharp resolution of 368 x 448 pixels and a pixel density of 326 PPI, it is exceptionally bright, vibrant, and crisp. Text is sharp, watch faces are detailed, and colors pop, making it a joy to interact with outdoors, even under direct sunlight. The Always-On Display (AOD) functionality is a key feature, allowing users to glance at the time, date, and battery status without a wrist flick or button press. While the AOD does impact battery life, it is a trade-off many users find worthwhile for the convenience.
The touch response is smooth and lag-free for most operations, a marked improvement over earlier Noise models that sometimes suffered from UI stutters. The combination of the responsive touchscreen and the physical rotating crown makes for one of the most intuitive navigation experiences in the budget smartwatch segment. Scrolling through widgets, notifications, and the quick settings panel feels natural and efficient.
Software, Interface, and Latest Updates
The watch operates on Noise’s proprietary RTOS, which is optimized for performance and battery life. The software experience is fluid, with smooth animations and swift transitions between menus. The primary interface consists of a vertical-scrolling list of widgets (Tiles) and a horizontal-scrolling app list accessible from the watch face.
Recent firmware updates have significantly enhanced the user experience:
- Bluetooth Calling Enhancements: The signature feature, Bluetooth calling, has seen improvements in call clarity and connection stability. The built-in microphone and speaker are surprisingly competent, allowing for clear hands-free conversations in moderately quiet environments. The latest update also optimized the dialer interface and call log synchronization.
- Expanded Sports Modes: The watch now tracks over 100 sports modes, a common but impressive-sounding spec. The most used modes—like Running, Walking, Cycling, and Hiking—provide detailed post-workout data, including distance, pace, heart rate zones, and calories burned. Recent additions include more niche activities like Basketball, Tennis, and Yoga, with specific metrics for each.
- New Watch Faces and Customization: The NoiseFit app offers a vast library of over 150 cloud-based watch faces, ranging from informative digital designs to sleek analog styles. A recent update added a section for “Premium” watch faces with more complex animations and data complications. Users can also customize certain watch faces with their own background photos.
- Improved Notification Handling: Notifications from a paired smartphone are delivered promptly and are easy to read on the bright display. The latest software allows users to dismiss notifications directly from the watch, and for Android users, there are limited quick-reply options with pre-set messages.
- Menstrual Cycle Tracking: A notable addition in a recent update is the menstrual cycle tracking feature, which allows users to log their periods, receive reminders for their upcoming cycle, and track symptoms, providing a more holistic health overview.
Health and Fitness Tracking: Comprehensive but with Nuances
The Noise ColorFit Pro 4 Alpha positions itself as a comprehensive health monitor. It continuously tracks heart rate, blood oxygen levels (SpO2), and sleep patterns.
- 24/7 Heart Rate Monitoring: The optical heart rate sensor provides consistent resting heart rate data and alerts for high or low heart rate. During workouts, it does a decent job of tracking heart rate zones, though, like most optical sensors, it can struggle with rapid intensity changes compared to a chest strap.
- SpO2 Monitoring: The blood oxygen tracking can be measured on demand or automatically during sleep. This is particularly useful for spotting potential trends in sleep apnea or for assessing recovery after high-altitude activities. It’s important to note that these readings are for wellness insights and are not medically graded.
- Sleep Tracking: The watch provides detailed sleep analysis, breaking down sleep into Awake, Light, Deep, and REM stages. The data is presented clearly in the NoiseFit app, offering a sleep score and insights into sleep consistency. The accuracy is generally good for detecting sleep and wake times, though the distinction between deep and REM sleep can be variable across all consumer-grade devices.
- Stress Monitoring: Using heart rate variability data, the watch provides a stress level measurement. It also includes guided breathing exercises to help users manage acute stress moments.
- Step Counting and Calories: The step counter is reasonably accurate for daily activity. The calorie burn estimate is derived from a combination of Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and active calories, providing a rough guide for energy expenditure.
Battery Life and Charging: Meeting Expectations
Noise claims up to 7 days of battery life on a single charge, and this is largely achievable under typical usage conditions. Typical usage includes continuous heart rate monitoring, SpO2 monitoring during sleep, approximately 1-2 hours of workout tracking per day, and receiving a moderate number of notifications. Enabling the Always-On Display will reduce this to approximately 2-3 days, which is still respectable. A dedicated battery saver mode can extend usage for several more days in a pinch.
The watch charges via a proprietary magnetic puck. A full charge from 0 to 100% takes roughly 2 hours. The charger is compact, but the proprietary nature means losing it can be problematic, a common drawback in this category.
Performance and Connectivity
The internal hardware has been upgraded to ensure smooth performance. Pairing with both Android and iOS devices is a straightforward process via the NoiseFit app. The connection remains stable within the typical Bluetooth range of around 10 meters. Notifications for calls, messages, and apps from your phone are delivered to the watch with minimal delay. The Bluetooth calling functionality requires the watch to be connected to your phone, but it allows you to take calls directly on your wrist, a highly convenient feature when your phone is in another room or a bag. Music and camera control functions are also present and work as advertised, providing remote control for your phone’s media playback and shutter button.
The NoiseFit App Ecosystem
The companion NoiseFit app (available on Google Play and the Apple App Store) is the central hub for all data. Its interface is clean, intuitive, and well-organized. The home screen provides a snapshot of daily activity (steps, calories, distance), sleep score, and heart rate. Tapping on any metric reveals more detailed historical data and trends. The app is where users manage watch faces, set activity goals, view workout histories, and configure watch settings. While it is not as feature-rich as Fitbit or Garmin’s ecosystems, it covers all the essentials effectively and without clutter. Data synchronization is generally reliable, though occasional delays can happen.
User Experience: The Verdict in Daily Use
In daily use, the Noise ColorFit Pro 4 Alpha excels as a stylish, functional, and responsive smartwatch. The brilliant AMOLED display is its standout feature, making every interaction pleasant. The addition of the rotating crown significantly improves navigation efficiency over touch-only models. The health tracking provides valuable insights for fitness enthusiasts and general wellness-minded individuals, though users with serious medical conditions should not rely on it for diagnostic purposes. The battery life is a strong point, easily lasting a full week for most, eliminating daily charging anxiety. The Bluetooth calling, while not crystal clear in very noisy environments, is a legitimate and useful feature. The iterative software updates show that Noise is committed to refining the product post-launch, adding features and squashing bugs. For its price point, it delivers a premium feel and a feature set that punches above its weight, making it a compelling choice in the crowded budget smartwatch market.