This $160 rugged smartwatch made me reconsider spending so much for a Garmin

With so many new wearables on the market, most of my time is spent testing watches from the popular brands. But some of the lesser-known brands have some interesting products that deserve attention, as well. 

Case in point is the latest two Tank models from Kospet, the M3 Ultra and T3 Ultra 2, two models that are basically the same watch with round and square form factors. I’ve been testing them for the past month or so, and have been impressed with the look, feel, and quality of the hardware, especially for their low cost: just $160. 

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Let’s break down the differences between the two. The Kospet Tank T3 Ultra 2 (the round one) looks like a traditional rugged smartwatch with a brilliant AMOLED display. There are four physical buttons on the watch, and it supports touchscreen navigation. The watch’s bezel and side case are made of metal, which makes it feel durable and well-made. Additionally, the side buttons are textured and easy to activate.  

The internal components and features of the Kospet Tank M3 Ultra are the same, but in a circular watch face reminiscent of the Apple Watch. It supports standard 22mm watch bands with quick release pins, and has comfortable silicone straps included with the watch.

The watch also supports dual-band positioning with six GNSS receivers. Both watches are very durable with 5 ATM, IP69K, and MIL-STD-810H certification so you can take them with you diving, swimming, and exploring in just about any environmental condition. When I compared these watches to Garmin, Coros, Polar, and Apple watches I found the distance, pace, cadence, stride length, and steps to be almost exactly the same even when running in tree-covered trails.

The heart rate measurements regularly reported about 10-12 beats per minute higher than other watches when running, but were spot on while indoor rowing. Unfortunately, the watches don’t support external heart rate sensors, so keep an eye on the heart rate accuracy when you’re doing something with lots of movement. 

I was unable to test the watch’s swimming features, but these watches are optimized for the pool in addition to the more than 170 other sports modes. The Kospet Tank M3 Ultra and T3 Ultra support stroke recognition, stroke count and rate, average swim pace, and lap count so if you spend time swimming and want an affordable wearable, these watches would make a fantastic consideration. 

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Kospet advertises about two weeks of battery life for typical usage, and in my experience, that seems about right. Continuous GPS tracking is estimated at 30-35 hours, so you can easily use the watch all week for typical smartwatch and workouts. The Tank M3 and T3 Ultra also have an integrated speaker and microphone to support Bluetooth calls and emergency SOS.

The smartphone companion app is well designed and capable with a customizable home screen, plenty of personalization options, third party service connectivity, and much more. It did take several hours to update the firmware with me having to repeatedly choose manual update in the app, however, so you may need to be patient with the updates. 

ZDNET’s buying advice

At just $160, the Kospet M3 Ultra and T3 Ultra 2 opened my eyes to the affordable smartwatch market. The watches are well built, pass all of the durability standards, have brilliant AMOLED displays, and sport long battery life. My only issue with the metrics was the heart rate monitor, which skewed too high. It’s rather surprising that there are not more compromises at this price point, but waiting patiently for updates is a small price to pay for a capable smartwatch.