The Cheapest Rugged Bluetooth Calling Smartwatch 2023! Zeblaze Ares 3 REVIEW

The new generation of rugged smartwatches from Zeblaze is here! We have already tested Zeblaze Ares and Zeblaze Ares 2 on our channel Tech Brothers. Now, we have the third generation of the smartwatch – Zeblaze Ares 3.

You know the new watch has received significant upgrades, so even if you already have the first or the second generation of Zeblaze Ares, you will be very interested in the new model.

For example, Zeblaze Ares 3 has a much bigger display than the previous versions of the watch – 1.52 inches. It also comes with a military protection standard, a navigation crown, Bluetooth calling, 25 days of battery life and other features.

In this article, I will try to tell you all about the new Zeblaze Ares 3 smartwatch. Let’s start with unpacking.

Unboxing

As you can see, the watch on the box is in black color, but the sticker on the back says that I have the wild green version.

In general, you can choose a smartwatch from black, green, and blue. I think the green version looks better for the military. Would you agree?

Inside the box are the watch and detachable strap, magnetic charging cable and user manual.

Design

I thought I didn’t tell you this, but the main feature of Zeblaze Ares smartwatches is the rugged design. The first generation of the watch had a retro rugged design with a square display. The second smartwatch was similar to the first, but it came with a round screen.

The new watch Zeblaze Ares 3 looks very different. It no longer has a retro but military design. Although, if you buy a watch in black or blue, it won’t look so military.

As I already said, the screen is much bigger, but we will talk about it a little later.

The frame of the watch is made of zinc alloy, while the main body is plastic.

The buttons and crown on the side are also zinc alloy.

On the back, there are heart rate and spO2 sensors, as well as magnetic charging contacts.

Zeblaze Ares 3 supports Bluetooth calling, so the watch has a microphone hole and a speaker.

As for the strap, it is made of liquid silicone. The strap is removable, and it has a width of 24mm. You can replace it with any other strap of the same size, but I am afraid a leather or metal strap will not match the green body of the watch.

I have already told you that Zeblaze Ares 3 is a rugged smartwatch, and it has an IP68 waterproof rating, Corning Gorilla Glass on the screen, and has been military-grade tested.

Finishing with the design, let me tell you the size and the weight of the watch. The watch case is 53 x 53 mm, while the thickness is 14.5mm. The weight of the new smartwatch with a strap is 62 grams.

So, Zeblaze Ares 3 is a lightweight but rather massive smartwatch, especially when compared to the first and second generation of Zeblaze Ares.

Display

Returning to the display, it has a diagonal of 1.52 inches, and a resolution of 360 x 360 pixels.

You know, it is an IPS panel, not AMOLED, but the watch still supports Always-On Screen. To be honest, I thought Always-on Mode was only available on AMOLED panels. However, Zeblaze Ares 3 also has it. You can select a digital clock or analog clock in the settings.

I don’t know the brightness of the screen, but it is sufficient for using the watch outdoors.

Functions

OK, now, let’s talk about the functions of Zeblaze Ares 3.

First, the new smartwatch has five watch faces out of the box, but more than a hundred are available in an app on the smartphone.

I like the watch faces because they show the analog and digital time, as well as the day of the week, battery level, weather, distance, and other useful information.

You can swipe up from the main screen to read the new notifications.

By swiping down, you open the quick settings menu, which includes the functions as follows: do not disturb mode, power saving mode, screen brightness, settings menu, find phone, system info, voice assistant, and Bluetooth calls.

The new Zeblaze smartwatch has another menu with some functions such as system info, messages, daily activity, screen brightness, screen time, weather and Bluetooth calls.

By swiping left, you can switch widgets, such as daily activity, hear rate, sleep, weather. You can also add some widgets, such as music and workout, or remove those you don’t need.

Finally, you can press the crown to find all the functions of the Zeblaze Ares 3 smartwatch, such as telephone, contacts, call records, voice assistant, data, workout, workout records, heart rate, sleep, blood pressure, blood oxygen, messages, weather, female, music, breath training, stopwatch, timer, alarm clock, calendar, calculator, find phone, compass, camera and settings.

Settings

By the way, let’s have a look at the watch settings.

First, we can change menu style. There are four styles available.

In the display settings, we have watch face switch, brightness, screen time, raise to wake, and Always On Mode.

In the battery menu, we can see the current battery level and turn on/off a power saving mode.

Other options in the settings are vibration and ring, language, QR Code, password, and system, such as system info, shutdown, and reset.

App

OK, before talking about sports modes and Bluetooth calling, we need to connect the watch to the smartphone app.

The app is called FitCloudPro, and it is available on Android and iOS devices.

On the home screen, we can see information about activity and health, such as steps, calories, distance, sleep, heart rate, blood pressure, and spO2.

The Device screen contains watch settings. I want to show you some of them.

As I already said, you can upload new watch faces to the smartwatch.

In addition, the new Zeblaze Ares 3 has an elevated heart rate measurement and automatic health monitoring in the app.

By the way, if you plan to call from the watch, first you need to select favorite contacts in the app.

Bluetooth Calls

Let’s take a look at Bluetooth calls.

Once the watch is connected to a smartphone, you can open the telephone, and enter the phone number to call.

You can also select a contact from the list and make a call.

When you receive a call on your smartphone, you see the following screen on the watch. You can accept or reject a phone call.

Sports Modes

As for the sports modes, the manufacturer says that Zeblaze Ares 3 supports more than 100 workout modes, but I found only nine.

In addition, the sport modes have very limited functions. You can only see the training duration, heart rate, steps, calories, distance and pace.

Unfortunately, you cannot even control the music on your smartphone while playing sports with the smartwatch.

Health Monitors

Now, let’s measure heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen.

You know, the measurement results look accurate, but if you have a serious health problem, do not trust an ultra-budget smartwatch like Zeblaze Ares 3. It is better to use professional medical equipment.

Battery

The last feature of Zeblaze Ares 3 is a battery life.

The new smartwatch is equipped with 400mAh battery that provides 15 days of battery life in normal use, and even 25 days in power saving mode.

I think it is a good battery life for a budget smartwatch with a big screen.

Conclusion

I have probably told you everything about Zeblaze Ares 3 except the price. You can buy it on Aliexpress for only $35. Perhaps I should have started this article with the price, because for the money it is a great smartwatch.

The new Zeblaze watch has a rugged military design with a metal frame and navigation crown, a big display with Always-On mode, Bluetooth Calling and a long battery life.

However, I am not sure if it is a good smartwatch for sports, because there are only nine modes available, and they offer very little information about workout.

From the other side, I cannot complain about that, because Zeblaze Ares 3 is only $35.