The VolkanoX Quantum smartwatch can be found amusingly close to R2,000 if you're looking hard enough. Even at its R3k recommended price, the display and dual GPS tracking make it an affordable alternative to everyone else's offerings. There will be some app-based kinks to contend with (or maybe you'll get lucky), but the Quantum pays for it with accurate tracking and a serviceable build.
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Design
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Features
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Battery
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Tracking
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Value
The VolkanoX Quantum GPS smartwatch is a R3,000 wearable that hopes to outcompete more expensive competitors for space on your wrist. Based entirely on the company’s packaging, it might have a hard time against bigger brands. Unwrap the thing, though, and VolkanoX’s option starts to look a bit more enticing.
But is it enticing enough? Huawei is a touch more expensive, but it’s also rocking a proven operating system. The software for VolkanoX’s Quantum is more generic, even if it’s closer in physical design to wearables that cost at least twice its asking price.
Circular Volkano
Volkano’s wearable looks similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Watch series or Huawei’s Watch or Watch GT lineup. That is, there’s a metal casing topped with a circular touchscreen face. Two physical buttons live on the right-hand side. The layout makes the Quantum a mild annoyance if you’re left-handed, but it’s no worse than everyone else’s efforts. The lower button is… well, a button. The upper is a rotating crown that’ll let you browse menus if you’re too lazy to use the touchscreen.
The silicone strap is a little slicker than we’re used to, but it handled itself well enough, whether wet or dry. Underneath, there’s a central heart rate sensor cluster. The charging ports live there too. Handily, the magnetic attachment lives on a cable with a USB-C port on the other end. We don’t see that option enough. The choice makes it easier to charge the Quantum via laptops and even smartphones, if needed.
The whole watch is relatively lightweight and sits easily on a wrist. The only time you’ll be properly aware of it is at night, when the Quantum’s profile will seem more obvious. Since it features sleep tracking, you’ll just have to get used to its presence. At least it doesn’t feel like it’s dragging at your shoulder joint.
Gets the job done
VolkanoX’s hardware emphasises two things: the display and the GPS. Which, if we’re being totally fair, are the main selling points beyond a wearable’s battery. There’s a 1.43in 466 x 466 AMOLED embedded in the face, and the company has opted for a dual-band GPS resident in the watch.
The battery is a 450mAh cell, which will run for between one and three weeks. Three weeks means it’s just functioning as a watch. If you’re running the GPS full-time, you’ll charge the Quantum smartwatch daily.
The default apps are comprehensive enough to cover everything this wearable tracks. Heart rate, sleep, SpO2, stress levels, and recovery are featured. So is menstrual tracking, if you’re of a feminine persuasion. Volkano has included options for controlling your music, weather and calendar updates, and, for some obscure reason, games. As in games you can play on your wrist. Calling them time-wasters would be the most charitable assessment.
Functionally fit
Happily, the tracking comes across as reasonably accurate. Measurements between a Huawei Watch Fit 4 Pro and the VolkanoX Quantum were more or less identical for basic movement and heart rate. The VolkanoX app hadn’t had enough time to learn to fudge any numbers, either, so the sensors seem to know what they’re doing.
Workouts are similarly well looked after. A few minutes of strenuous movement reliably popped up a request to start tracking the workout the Quantum thought we were doing. Even better, it was mostly accurate with its guesses there, too. Of course, you can manually activate workout tracking if you’d rather not wait ten minutes for the armwear to guess. There are fewer exercise options than you’d find on a Huawei or Samsung wearable, but it covers enough for anyone who isn’t training professionally.
The VolkanoX app is less reliable. We completed setup and registration, paired the wearable cleanly, and were greeted by a decently detailed overview of our movement records. It’s more than functional in that regard. However, at some point during the review, the app just… forgot. Everything. Setup had to resume from the beginning to get access to the app again. We think a two-factor security measure went a bit screwy. It’s… not ideal.
VolkanoX Quantum GPS smartwatch verdict
The VolkanoX Quantum smartwatch is normally R3,000, but you’ll pick one up for less if you look around even briefly. You’re getting your money’s worth from the hardware alone, but you’ll need to put up with a few foibles from the budget brand. That’s the price of putting a decently attractive circular smartwatch on your wrist, we suppose. It’s certainly cheaper than shelling out eight grand to Samsung for something that’ll do much the same work.
