Zeblaze Thor 6

The Zeblaze Thor 6 is a android 10 smartwatch released in November 2020. The Zeblaze brand is owned by the Chinese company Hanzion Limited.

The Thor 6 is using a Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 processor. The Mediatek Helio P22 MT6762 is a midrange smartphone processor with decent performance. The hardware on the watch is adequate and performance is snappy with no lags.

The operating system for this watch is Android 10. Full Android 10 watches are designed to replace your smartphone rather than complement it. Essentially it is a smartphone shrunk down so it can fit on your wrist. If you are looking for a watch to complement your phone smartphone, this is a negative. If you want to replace your smartphone with a watch, Android 10 watches fill that void.

As a full Android smartwatch, you have access to Google Play Store to install 3rd party apps. This is a great feature when compared to smartwatches with proprietary operating systems and no access to 3rd party apps.

Full Android Supply Chain

If you are familiar with the full Android watches, you will notice that many watches are very similar if not identical even though they have different brands. They also work with the same app. This is due to the common supply chain for these watches which follows this pattern:

1. Solution Provider – Creates the printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) that includes the processor and initial firmware for the watch. One of the primary solution providers is a company called Wiite but there are others
2. Factories – Design and build the watch based on the PCBA. They add the case, sensors cameras and adjust the firmware. Factories include KingWear, Microwear NJY, Ledai, etc. These factories sell the watches to brands in large order quantities. Sometimes they sell under their own brand as well
3. Brands (LEMFO, Kospet, Zeblaze, Rogbid, etc) then purchase the watch and could include some small customizations or firmware tweaks for logos

Hence this family of watches are nearly identical or in some cases identical.

Design

The Zeblaze Thor 6 has a circular watch face design and is quite sleek and attractive. The watch is available only in black. The case is plastic. This smartwatch is on the larger size at 54 x 51 x 17.8 mm and weighs 74g. The 17.8 mm thickness is bulky and could be uncomfortable to wear while sleeping.

The Thor 6 comes with a 22 mm silicone interchangeable strap. The strap is available in black, orange or blue straps. Unfortunately the strap is not the greatest quality, appears a bit cheap and the holes are not pre-punched like most smartwatches.

You can interact with the watch using the touchscreen and 2 physical buttons. The touchscreen works very well with no lag. Fonts, menus and icons can easily be read and navigation is not too complex. However it does take a few seconds for the screen to turn on when raising / turning your wrist to look at the watch.

The Thor 6 is not water resistant which is quite disappointing. The SIM card slot cover is rather flimsy and could be a source of entry for water.

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Never wear this watch in the shower or when swimming. If the watch accidentally gets wet, dry it quickly to avoid any damage.

Screen

The IPS screen of the Zeblaze Thor 6 while not as good as AMOLED screens, does a fine job. The 1.6″ IPS Touchscreen comes with 400 x 400 pixels. Indoors the display is good while outdoors it is not the greatest but is acceptable.

Zeblaze does not indicate what screen protection is provided which is disappointing. The bezel around the watch should provide some protection but it is too early to tell long term durability and how well this screen will stand up to day to day use.

Unfortunately, the watch does not have an always on screen option. On the positive side, the watch allows for custom watchfaces which is a nice feature.

Battery

The Thor 6 comes with a 830 mAh battery. Zeblaze claims that typical usage battery life is 2 days and watch mode battery life is 3 days. Real world battery life is a bit less with many people getting just over 1 day with normal usage.

This is is acceptable for a full featured Android watch but is very poor when compared to some of the simpler smartwatches that have battery life measured in weeks not days. Since this watch is so large and it does not have sleep monitoring, most people will just remove it at night and charge it.

Connectivity Features

From a connectivity perspective, the Thor 6 has good functionality and can receive and respond to notifications from the watch. You will need to install either WiiWatch 2 or Watch Droid on your Smartphone for this to work. These apps while decent, are not the best and there have been complaints of connectivity issues and duplicate notifications.

The Thor 6 has both a speaker and a microphone but like all Android 10 smartwatches, does not have the ability to answer or place calls via Bluetooth. Instead, the Zeblaze Thor 6 has a built in 4G LTE SIM slot for cellular connectivity.

The Thor 6 has 2 cameras. The front facing camera can be used for selfies and video calls. The side camera can take photos as well. While Zeblaze claims that the front camera is 5MP and the side camera is 5MP, the actual resolution is 1.5MP for front and 1.5MP for rear. Note the picture quality is below average and not that impressive for either camera.

On the positive side, it does come with built-in GPS. GPS connectivity is fast and accuracy is ok. Finally, Near Field Communication (NFC) is not supported, hence you cannot use this smartwatch to make payments. The lack of Google Pay is one of the disadvantages of all Android 10 smartwatches.

Health and Fitness Features

The Thor 6 comes with 3 sensors: Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Heart Rate Monitor (HRM). These only cover a few fitness and health areas. These sensors allow you to track the following 4 metrics: Calories, Distance, Heart Rate, Steps.

Also included are 9 different sports modes. When compared to more fitness or health focused watches, the Thor 6 is quite limited. If fitness and health monitoring are key features you are interested in, this watch is not ideal.

WiiWear, WiiWatch 2, Watch Droid App

The Zeblaze Thor 6 does not have a dedicated app, rather Zeblaze recommends using the WiiWear, WiiWatch 2 or Watch Droid apps. These apps essentially allow notifications to be sent to and from your smartphone to the watch.

Known Issues

As this watch has just recently been released, there are no common known issues.

Verdict

The Zeblaze Thor 6 is very similar to the other Android 10 smartwatches recently released (LEMFO LEM12 PRO and Kospet Prime 2). Battery life, no water resistance and bulky style are drawbacks. Also Zeblaze has a history of poor quality on previous models and non-existent customer service.

The Thor 6 is not the best choice for an Android 10 watch out of the three. Would suggest looking at the LEM12 PRO and hope that it proves to be reliable or hold out for upcoming Android 10 watches. You can discuss this watch with other owners on our Full Android forum here.

Specifications

Published: December 09, 2020