Mooney_Driver wrote:
all the shops I went to told me they are not authorized to open a Breitling
Perhaps a Swiss thing. I don’t believe all Breitlings go to factory. All Emergencies, that I would believe. I also understand that some shops are afraid/ reluctant to open expensive watches they don’t have experience with. This is similar with some JDM watches which you can’t get serviced outside of Japan.
400€ is what I heard as well at first, then I was told 600 CHF, which is about € 550
Did you send it via a dealer/ service center? I know that some like to add a “handling fee”. I assumed you sent it to Breitling directly since you’re in Switzerland. You have possibly the worst model when it comes to service.
I’ve replaced the batteries in my Emergency Titanium twice so far with no issues. First year I got a free service and second time it was around €500, I nearly passed out..
I never use it to swim or anything like that, as I left the original seals intact and I just lubricated them with some silicone grease. I will probably have to bite the bullet next time and send it in for service and a seal replacement. The good news is it will come back like a new watch, and I don’t want to remind myself about the bad news..
Service center nearby. I did check though, prices are the same if you go to Grenchen directly. They also told me that in the shop but I checked anyway.
Ultranomad wrote:
Please keep me posted once you receive it and get a chance to tinker!
It arrived today. I notice also that it is much lighter than even my Swatch, which is surprising with the size of it.
Will report on the usability once I get it going.
So. Played around with it for a few days and have to say:
I am impressed. For 70€ worth every penny. If you use it in a reasonable way.
(Ali Express)
My first impression when I took it out of the baggy it arrived in (no, no box for this one) was, “gosh, is this light”. Weight is comparable to a Swatch. For such a tremendous size (watch wise) that is very nice indeed.
This is what comes with it. A manual (better have a microscope ready, the writing is pure AME test material), a charger, headphones and the cable.
Putting in the sim card and the sd memory card is fiddly but I managed on my first try. There were others who apparently did not. I’d say anyone who can do it in a normal phone without running to the shop should be ok.
(anadfashion)
I put the battery in and connected the phone to the charger (Any USB charger will do, the one they deliver it with doesn’t fit the swiss plugs, it would work in an airplane toilet though 
, the receptible is the same as with Samsung phones, Micro USB I am told). Suprprise of the day: Charging it from zero to full took 45 minutes. Started it up and set it up as I do my other Android phones, no problem whatsoever, but for longer use strong reading glasses are recommended. W-Lan worked without a problem.
Battery: When I used it, w-lan and phone enabled, it worked for about 4-5 hours. With w-lan off it is distinctly more, about 5-8 hours, in airplane mode it will last for about a day. Replacement batteries turned up on aliexpress now, which is great, they are 12$ each. Ordered a few immediately.
The display is christal clear. very well readable, again a big surprise. Google store and all that is pre-installed. First apps I installed are my daily work tools in aviation, which is the Meteo Swiss App and Aviation Tools Free. Those both work without a problem, so does Telegram. Had a problem with Skype, won’t sign in, need to check why.
Biggest problem is the miniscule internal memory of the watch. It only has 180 mb available for apps. Of that, Google already takes away some 50mb, so in reality, you can use some 100-120 mb for apps, then the dreaded android error appears which will stop you from installing anything else, despite plenty of space on the SD card (the watch actually moves all installed apps to SD, but keeps some residual stuff on the internal memory. I read on the net that if you root the watch and then use some app to move the apps (eek…) it will create a huge partition on the SD card for that, must try it out. Reading up on that fault, it appears to be an android problem generally and does not only apply to this watch, but here with the small app memory it is especcially stupid. However, there is that workaround.
The other bit is, you need to be careful with the screen. It scratches very easily. I had it under a scratchy pullover and it shows minor scratches already.
So is it usable for aviation? I’d say yes, if you don’t expect unreasonable things from it. I will primarily use it for Aviation Tools (Notam/WX), for Telegram (autorouter) and for simple things such as phone, sms and so on and there as backup for my existing phone. It is not bad however to have a device like that on your wrist when you want to go walking e.t.c without your normal phone with you.
I did not expect much so I was pleasantly surprised. And what it does is that: It draws looks at work and at the pub 
Excellent! Did you try any GPS applications?
I read on the net that if you root the watch and then use some app to move the apps (eek…) it will create a huge partition on the SD card for that, must try it out. Reading up on that fault, it appears to be an android problem generally and does not only apply to this watch, but here with the small app memory it is especcially stupid. However, there is that workaround.
This is also a problem of many Mediatek-based tablets, and the easiest and the least risky workaround is to move the application folder from the system partition to the SD card and replace the old folder with a symbolic link to the new one. One of the applications to do it is Link2SD.
I read on the net that if you root the watch
Rooting a phone is normal (indeed necessary IMHO ) but rooting a watch has to be the ultimate measure of geek-ness
(says he who has just been tweaking the memory speed in the BIOS, having put in a QX9650 CPU, 2008 vintage ex Ebay… hoped this would be less work than putting in a new I7 MB)
Another thing which interests me about the watches is the simple usability, for “older people” who otherwise need reading glasses. I do not doubt one can squeeze a million pixels onto the small LCD but …
>>Excellent! Did you try any GPS applications?
I tried GPS Test which came with it and it got a fix almost immediately.
Ultranomad wrote:
the easiest and the least risky workaround is to move the application folder from the system partition to the SD card and replace the old folder with a symbolic link to the new one. One of the applications to do it is Link2SD.
Oh, perfect. I am going to try that.
Peter wrote:
Rooting a phone is normal (indeed necessary IMHO ) but rooting a watch has to be the ultimate measure of geek-ness
Might have something to do with the fact that it is rather a phone which looks like a watch than the other way around
Peter wrote:
Another thing which interests me about the watches is the simple usability, for “older people” who otherwise need reading glasses. I do not doubt one can squeeze a million pixels onto the small LCD but …
I use bifocals with +3 on the narrow part and the only thing I had problems reading was the manual. The screen is perfectly readable, so are the Metars and so on I looked at in Aviation Tools. I am surprised how well it works actually, for such a cheap device. If i can get the memory limitation sorted, this is a quite serious kind of tool.
I saw this the other day
Unlike most smart watches, this one has a “water resistant to 50m” version so much more usable in practice.
Reassuringly expensive but the £3500 version is the 46mm model and is not the waterproof one! The 45mm model is about £1200.
Presumably, with NFC, you can use it to pay for stuff? Does that work without any connection to your phone? In fact, how much of the functionality works without your phone? With no GSM connectivity (SMS or mobile data) the whole messaging functionality will need the phone, surely?
Is there any connectivity/interaction with panel mount avionics (whether useful or not)?
