‘I tried Amazon’s gold smartwatch and it’s ideal if you want bling on a budget’

TV writer Jake Hackney sampled the Maxcom FW65 Iron S, Amazon’s budget smartwatch and fitness tracker designed for those who like the finer things in life

I’m not normally one for extravagant clothing or accessories, so when I was offered the chance to try out the Maxcom FW65 Iron S – a gold, jewellery-style smartwatch – I wasn’t sure it was one for me. But in a world dominated by the Apple Watch, I thought it was worth trying something new – and I was pleasantly surprised.

I received the gold version, but it’s also available in silver or black, all of which recently dropped from £89.99 to £69.99 at Amazon. The Iron is touted as combining ‘elegance with functionality’, crafted with brushed steel and a stainless steel bracelet – it also has a black silicone strap if that’s more your style.

It’s ideal for those who like sporting a bit of bling and even has a bit of weight to it like a genuine gold watch. There’s hundreds of customisation options in the app’s watchface store, many of which are in the style of high-class brands like Louis Vuitton – as well as a variety of more sporty or cartoonish ones.

Argos beats Amazon as Garmin smartwatch with no negative reviews reduced in Easter sale

Woman lost more than 13 stone after deciding to ‘delay not deny’ food

In terms of style and price, it’s markedly different from the latest Samsung Galaxy or Apple Watch models, yet has many of the usual features you’d expect from these premium brands. Getting the watch up and running was quick and straightforward, with the free FitCloudPro app synchronising to my iPhone within minutes.

The Iron S is smooth when navigating the different menu screens thanks to its chunky body housing a 1.95” AMOLED display. The Iron S can be used to receive calls and messages, and control the music playing through your phone. Other basic functions include a stopwatch, alarm clock, calculator and compass, and a remote camera control – something I haven’t seen before on a watch in this price range.

All of these are alongside a wealth of health and fitness features, including plenty of sport modes like running, cycling and football. Like its premium rivals, this watch allows the wearer to monitor heart rate, blood pressure, calories burned and sleep, but one fitness feature that really stuck out to me is the Maxcom’s activity rings.

One of my Mum’s favourite things about her trusty Apple Watch Series 6 is closing her activity rings at the end of the day, so I was surprised to find the Iron S has a similar feature allowing you to set and track daily exercise goals, but for half the price of a refurbished Apple Watch 6 from Back Market. It also displays data such as steps over 24 hours and seven days, with more data and fitness reports available on the smartphone app.

I’m not the most active person in the world so I wore the watch while walking my dog and the number of steps registered appeared largely accurate – at least compared to those registered by my phone. Another standout feature on the Iron S is its ‘Find my watch’ function.

With this, you can use the mobile app to make the watch vibrate and emit an audible sound, so you can easily track it down if it’s misplaced. All in all, the Maxcom smartwatch is extremely user friendly and has more than enough features to justify its price tag.

However, I did come across a few niggles in my time using it. Firstly, when connected to my phone via Bluetooth, audio – whether that’s from Apple Music or an Instagram video – automatically plays through the watch.

Some may view that as a positive, but for me, it became frustrating as I had to keep switching the audio back to my phone. But the biggest flaw for me was the difficulty in adjusting the strap.

The watch comes with tools for shortening the bracelet and changing the strap, but no instructions on how to do so. Out of the box, the strap was a little too big for my wrist and for the life of me I just could not figure out how to extend it.

Someone with experience in adjusting a watch strap may not have a problem, but for someone like me who has never owned a watch with an adjustable strap, I may as well have been trying to split the atom. Ultimately, this was the only major downside to an otherwise decent watch.

Given the Iron S’ more affordable price tag, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of features and their quality, its ease of use and its robust build, especially compared to others in the same price range, which can sometimes feel cheap.