I picked up running a year ago. I started participating in local Parkruns to stay consistent and make new friends. It’s a great reason to get out there and stay active, as cycling (as much as I love my bike rides) sometimes makes me feel isolated (I prefer solo rides). In both cases, one thing remains true:
If it’s not logged on Starva, does it even count?
I have a new watch on my wrist to test! I received a KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2 to complement my workouts. It’s time to log some adventures!
KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2
If you head to KOSPET ‘s website, you’ll see quite a broad selection of smart wearables to pick from. The product line offers products for all price ranges. KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2 is their premium smartwatch, so my expectations are appropriately set. It’s their top-tier watch, but with a £159.99 (Use code KOSPETSA to claim an extra 5% off) price tag, it’s very affordable. Should you buy it?
A hybrid wearable
While it looks and (for the most part) works like a smartwatch, the KOSPETTank T3 Ultra 2 is a hybrid (as I like to call them), a perfect blend between smart sports bands and trackers and a “proper” smartwatch. These hybrid devices offer long-lasting battery life and a watch-like design at the expense of some of the advanced features available on typical smartwatches. Kospet Tank T3 Ultra 2 strikes a perfect balance between being feature-rich and not requiring a charge every second day.
While some “proper smart watch” options aren’t available (can’t send text or use on watch keyboard), KOSPETTank T3 Ultra 2 offers cool features not often featured on other inexpensive wearables.
You can use the built-in speaker (which is very loud and clear) to initiate conversations with your phone’s assistant or start (and answer) a call as long as you are within Bluetooth’s range. In KOSPET FIT (Android app), I can configure notifications, making sure I’m not getting flooded with everything that shows up on my phone and tailor these to my liking. The app has plenty of watch faces to customise the display – enough options to spend an hour or so tailoring the watch to your liking.
Rugged but fancy
A vibrant 1.43″ AMOLED display (resolution 466 × 466) is encased in a stainless steel case designed with male adventurers in mind. Packed with sensors and GPS, the watch conforms to 15 U.S. MIL-STD-810H standards and offers 5 ATM & IP69K ratings. My unit was sent to me with a silicone strap, but you can customise it with any straps that fit 22mm lugs.
Sensor-wise, it’s impressive what the KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2 managed to pack inside this watch: Heart Rate, Blood Oxygen, Blood Pressure, Stress Level, Emotion, Dual-band 6 Satellite Positioning Systems, Compass, Barometric Altimeter…
It links to your phone with Bluetooth and handles phone calls, notifications… There is more… On paper, it feels like a great companion. What’s it like in practice?
It’s bright. Even in direct sunlight, I was able to see clearly what notifications I received on my phone (or use quick replies). The buttons are handy, and in combination with the touchscreen, KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2 offers a very good user experience. With all the weatherproofing, I’m not afraid to get it wet while doing dishes or taking a shower (it’s way too cold in the UK right now to go for a swim).
Sensor accuracy
I don’t own medical-grade devices that would provide me with an absolute reference for my measurements; therefore, take my findings with a pinch of salt. Based on other devices I own (and used in testing), I found the KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2 to report in line with my Amazfit T-Rex 3.
It’s worth noting that I wear my watch relatively tight due to the weight, and I shave my wrists to allow optical sensors to have better reads. If your wearables misreport, and your arms look like a werewolf during the full moon – try it!
My heart rate feels spot on and reflects my efforts during my exercises. The sleep pattern sensing is also spot on, and while the watch doesn’t record my awake times at night well (I don’t toss and turn enough), the length of the sleep and relative energy levels seem to be on point.
I don’t have sophisticated enough gadgets at home to confirm blood oxigenation or pressure, but I’m not dying; the values are within healthy range – so I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Overall, the sensors seem to be accurate, and I’m happy with my readings!
Getting active with KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2
It’s hard not to be impressed with the list of 170 exercise types (even if some of them are just variations). Thanks to the array of sensors and the dual band GPS, the watch takes a few moments to acquire the position (5 sec in open terrain, 10-20 sec in a park with trees). I checked the post-workout data to see how accurate the positioning was, and I was definitely impressed with the map showing me which side of the road I was following during my run.
Before you even hit the gym or go explore the great outdoors, KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2 is there for you to keep you more active. From step counting to stand-up reminders, the watch displays notifications whenever it thinks you have been sedentary for way too long. If I follow instructions, I’m also rewarded with daily achievements.
One of the functions I particularly like is the cumulative distance travelled (in km for me) combining walking and all exercise activities. It’s nice to see that the distance has hit double digits before bedtime.
Cycling
I took the watch for a couple of rides. I use Wahoo Element with a cadence sensor, chest strap and wheel revolution sensor for very accurate measurements. I quickly noticed that KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2 is overestimating live cycling speeds by about 30%. That’s a lot, and as such, I wouldn’t use it to track your speeds, but once the ride was over, the Kospet app recalculated the ride for time over distance to bring the summary numbers in check.
At no point did KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2 give me the impression that it struggled with the GPS positioning (in fact, the ridden route was very accurate), leaving me to blame the live speed calculations for problems! While annoying, this is something that can be addressed in a firmware update, and I have already reported my findings.
While KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2 can be a very useful logger, especially if you don’t want to spend almost £400 for a fancy cycling computer, speed metrics left me wishing it was more accurate.
Running
I took the watch for a couple of parkruns. I know the route and my performance, so I was pretty confident in the results given to me by KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2. During my runs, the watch displayed a handful of useful data, and thanks to a very bright display, I had no problems monitoring my metrics in direct sunlight.
When wrapped properly (I advise you to remove excess hair from the wrist), the watch tracked my heart rate correctly. The pace and distance were also within what my other watch reported. It seems that the outlined issue with the live speed doesn’t apply to running.
What’s missing is mostly on the software side. Without Strava export, the app doesn’t show individual splits in every km/mile – only the overall summary of the exercise. As I can’t export files manually, my only way to examine the data in a meaningful way is via Strava export.
Other
I tried indoor cycling and rowing to complete the list of the exercises to solidify the sport stracking conclusion. KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2 offers a wide array of ways to start being active and will work best for anyone wanting to get into a more sporty way of living. While it lacks more advanced metrics here and there, anyone just getting into fitness won’t care much about it at all!
It’s a great beginner’s choice.
Battery life
The watch lasted me about a week, claiming 10-20% of the battery’s energy each day, depending on how intensive my exercise regime was. This is within the advertised range, and I run all my sensors and screen at max settings (30 sec screen wake up time) with the only power-hungry option turned off completely being “always on” display. A GPS-based exercise, like running, took about 5-7% of the battery for 45 minutes.
You’ll find yourself charging it weekly… just make sure to keep the included charging cable safe, as once lost, the proprietary magnetic charger will be harder to replace.
Things I love to see
I have been spoiled for choice with my wearables. While I don’t want a traditional smartwatch, there are functions that I care about more than others. To turn the KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2 into a perfect watch, I’d love to see NFC payments and internal storage for music. I’d love to leave my phone behind on short runs, listen to music and pay for an occasional coffee after a good run. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who doesn’t mind leaving my phone behind from time to time.
Hardware will unlikely change, but I hope to see KOSPET taking their companion app to the next level, offering richer ways of interacting with the watch and tracked activities. I have seen this done before with Amazfit, and it’s possible I’d see it again with KOSPET , given the investment in rather nice-looking wearables.
Final thoughts
Overall, KOSPET Tank T3 Ultra 2 is a nice watch with an affordable price tag. It offers great hardware and brings a premium feel, but KOSPET should spend more time working on the software. I’m hopeful that the app will offer more features with time; until then, I will leave the choice to your consideration. Let me know your thoughts in this Reddit thread.
🆓📈💵 – See the transparency note for details.
