Cogito Pop quick review – somewhere between a watch and a smartwatch

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As smart watches become more and more popular and find their way to being useful to a lot of consumers, we are trying to keep up and review as many models as we can. Not long ago we reviewed the Cogito Classic connected watch, which had some of the functions of a smartwatch, while retaining the classic look of a wristwatch. Now we are going to take an in-depth look at another device from the same company – the Cogito Pop.
The watch features a stylish design, with a nice feel to it, as well as water resistance, very high battery life, notification alerts and other functions.

Contents


Whats in the box

The Cogito Pop comes in a simplistic, transparent plastic box, which has the Cogito Pop logo on its top side. Inside we find the watch, resting on a protective foam surface, secured by two straps. Also encased are a quick instruction guide and a sheet with barcodes for the Connected Watch app on Android and iOS devices.

Cogito POP box2

Design and construction

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Cogito Pop measures at 257 mm long, 14 mm thick and 20 mm wide. The range of the straps is 218 mm with the main piece at 43 mm. The watch was designed by the award winning french designer Xavier Houy. His idea behind the device was to create a watch that consumers would want to wear, one that naturally merges connectivity with a conventional timepiece.
It features a simple, yet elegant look, with the design of a classic analog watch. It is similar to the Cogito Classic, but there are some slight differences. For starters, the top side of the device is plastic, unlike the Classic, which has brushed steel top, and there are only two buttons total on it, compared to to the four of the Cogito Classic. We find the same flexible and stylish silicone straps with dotted texture finish, which are very comfortable and durable, but the lock is different and instead of two keepers, there is only one. Cogito Pop fastens as a standard single pin watch and there isn’t any excess rubber flapping around once you put it on. The bottom side of the device is more or less the same as that of the Cogito Classic, both of them featuring stainless steel back.


Cogito POP face2The face of the watch features lines for each of the twelve hours, and Cogito’s logo replaces the three o’clock mark. Telling the time was easy on the unit we had for the review (Black Panther). Both the lines for the hour and minute marks, as well as the hands, are purple colored, while the background is in dark and light gray tones. At the top part of the screen you have four white icons, each representing different notifications. Surrounding the screen is a rotational bezel with increments for every five minutes – from 0 to 55. You can turn it to measure elapsed time.

As we mentioned earlier, the Cogito Pop has only two buttons. They are both placed on the right side and between them we find the crown for adjusting analog time. The command button is the top one, and respectively, the power button is the bottom one. All these elements are made of metal and they add a bit of a premium look and feel to the overall design. Analog time is adjusted by pulling the crown halfway and pushing it back in when you’re done. We didn’t have any problems using the watch, as the buttons were very responsive and easy to press.

Cogito POP side1

Just as the Cogito Classic, Cogito Pop feature 10 ATM water resistance. That means the watch can be submerged in water down to a depth of a 100 meters. This feature is especially useful when you can’t take out your phone (e.g. when it’s raining) and want to see if anyone has contacted you, or you can’t take it with you (e.g. when you’re in the shower) and you are awaiting an important call.

Display

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The display of Cogito Pop is almost identical to that of a wristwatch. There aren’t any digital sections or even a backlight. You have the hour and minute marks along with the hands and four icons –(from left to right) a speech bubble, a message icon, social icon and information icon. Each of these icons represents different types of notification grouped by type.

The speech bubble will notify you when you receive a text and multimedia messages. The message icon will alarm you when you have received an e-mail, while the social icon is for Facebook, Twitter, Skype or other social media notifications. Finally, the information icon acts as a reminder for calendar events and alarms.


Cogito POP closeup

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Pop1

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Each of these icons flashes when you have a missed notification of the given type. You’re probably wondering “How will this watch notify me of an incoming call if there is no icon for that?” Well, since calls are often very important and you would not want to miss one because you didn’t notice a small icon flashing, Cogito have made all four icons light up, when you are receiving an incoming call. As with other notifications, the watch will try to draw your attention by vibrating as well. There is an option to add a single beep sound when you have an incoming notification, but it’s relatively hard to hear in a loud environment.

Battery life

Just as with the Cogito Classic, Cogito Pop’s battery life is one of its best features. The low energy consumption of the Bluetooth Smart technology and lack of backlight allow the device to run on the same button-cell battery for about a year. The unit in the device is a Standard CR2032 battery. Once it is drained, you just easily open the back (using a coin or tool of some sort) and replace it.

Cogito POP battery

Connectivity and software

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The Cogito Pop can be connected to both iOS and Android devices. The requirements for Apple gadgets is that they have iOS 7 or later on iPhone 4s or newer, iPad Air, iPad Mini, iPad 4th and 3rd generation and iPod touch 5th generation. For Android, you need version 4.3 or newer and one of the following devices: Google Nexus 5, 4, HTC One, One Max, Huawei Ascend P7, LG G series, Motorola Moto G, X, Samsung Galaxy Series and Xiaomi Mi3, HongMi 1S. At this point we aren’t certain whether the watch can’t be connected to any Android device running 4.3 and up.


Connected Watch1

Watch software update

The app which you must install in order to connect your device to the watch is called “CONNECTED WATCH”. Once you have it installed, you must make sure that your phone’s Bluetooth is on and then press and hold the top left and right buttons on the Cogito Classic. You will be notified on your phone if you have successfully connected the watch. If the software isn’t up to date, the app will update automatically and notify you.

The application itself is very user friendly and easy to figure out. On the main page you have the notification icons for text messages, app messages, e-mails, calendar notifications, low battery warning, incoming and missed phone calls. If you activate the latter, the app will log them in the history section found to the right of the icons. The black “CLEAR” icon deletes the notification history from the app.


Device list

Watch settings3

Watch Settings

Camera App

At the top corner you have the Watch Settings menu. There you can choose which alerts and notifications you want pushed to your phone, as well as assign different commands to the command button, activate some additional functions of the device, set your time zone and time format.

At the bottom of the main page you have different icons. They let you see whether the watch is connected and in range of your phone, as well as how many watches you have paired, turn the notification sound on and off, activate the camera app, or even start a sound signal on your watch to help you find it.

In the camera app you can take pictures by pressing the command button on the watch, which allows for easier group photos and selfies, as you can just place your phone away from you and take the shot with your Pop.

Functionality

Cogito Pop2Even though the Cogito Pop isn’t as advanced as other smartwatches, there are many features which make it very useful to the user. Being able to check if you have any missed notifications without having to take out your mobile device is one of them. There are many situations in which we aren’t able to, or it is inappropriate to pull out our device and start swiping just to view if we have missed a message or a phone call. Cogito Pop allows us to do a quick check up, without showing disrespect to others by taking out our phone. Sadly, the information which you receive about the notification is highly limited and basic, and there isn’t anything that you can do with it.

 

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A neat feature is the one that it notifies you if you leave your phone behind. Once the watch senses that you are getting out of range it will start beeping. This is possible thanks to the Bluetooth connection between the devices.

The water resistance of the watch allows you to shower and swim with it. This way if you are waiting for an important call or message and you received it – you will be notified on the spot. By using the control button you can start playing music on your device. This is exceptionally useful if you are out jogging and you’re wearing headphones which don’t have a built-in button. Instead of having to take out your device, you just press one button and you’re ready to go.

The capabilities of the Cogito Pop aren’t sufficient to make it an independent device. The smartwatch is created with the idea of being an extension to your smartphone, not a replacement.

Conclusion

The Cogito Pop left us with mixed feelings. We enjoyed the stylish design, and we especially liked the water resistance and long battery life, but the display and notification capabilities didn’t really please us. Of course, it is nice to know when you are receiving a phone call, message or some other alert, but not being able to see who they are from or what they contain, let alone respond to them, just doesn’t seem enough for a smart watch. The lack of backlight may not be a problem for some users, but to us it is a big flaw. Considering the low price of the device and all the features it has, we could say that Cogito Pop is a perfect choice for a budget smartwatch.

Pros

  • Stylish design
  • Water resistant
  • Very long battery life
  • Music control feature
  • Wide variety of colors
  • Low price (Less than 100€)


Cons

  • Very basic notification information
  • Not being able to respond to notifications
  • Lack of a backlight

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