boAt Xtend Sport Review: An Affordable No-Nonsense Smartwatch

Last Updated on July 31, 2022 by Asif Iqbal Shaik

We have reviewed the boAt Xtend Sport, a newly-launched smartwatch that costs ₹2,699. boAt has been offering ultra-affordable smartwatches for quite some time now. However, none of its entry-level smartwatches had to face competition from international companies. That’s because those brands never cared about launching a smartwatch in the entry-level price segment. So, the affordable smartwatches from boAt usually went up against local and less popular brands. In short, boAt had it going easy. 

Well, that isn’t the case anymore. Recently, Realme launched the Realme TechLife Watch S100 with a price tag of ₹2,499. At that price, the Realme TechLife Watch S100 gives tough competition to all the entry-level smartwatches (which are usually from less popular brands such as boAt and Noise), including the boAt Xtend Sport. Amazfit has also entered this segment with the Amazfit Bip 3. So, unlike the smartwatches from boAt in the past, the boAt Xtend Sport has a real completion.

On paper, the boAt Xtend Sport has a similar set of features as the Realme TechLife Watch S100, which includes a large colour touchscreen, heart-rate sensor, SpO2 sensor, skin temperature measurement, sleep and fitness tracking, and long battery life. However, if I was in the market for a smartwatch that costs around ₹2,500, I would definitely give preference to the one from Realme as it comes from a more popular brand and also costs less.

With that in mind, the boAt Xtend Sport has to perform exceptionally well for people to even consider this smartwatch over the Realme TechLife Watch S100 but does it? Let’s dive deep and find out in our boAt Xtend Sport review.

boAt Xtend Sport Specifications, Prices, Availability

• Display: Size: 1.69-inch; Type: LCD; Resolution: Unspecified; Brightness: 550 nits (claimed)
• Processor: Unspecified
• RAM and storage: Unspecified
• OS: Unspecified
• Connectivity: Wireless: Bluetooth v5.0; Wired: Pogo pin connector for charging
• Compatibility: iOS 13.0 and above, Android 7.0 and above
• Sensors: Heart-rate sensor, SpO2 sensor, body temperature sensor
• Battery: Capacity: 200mAh; Charging time: 30 minutes (claimed)
• Build: Dimensions: Unspecified; Protection: IP67 rated for water and dust resistance
• Colours: Classic Black, Cool Blue, Ashen Grey
• Price: ₹2,699
• Availability: boAt, Amazon

How Is The Build Quality Of The boAt Xtend Sport?

The boAt Xtend Sport has a plastic case. The quality of the plastic is really good, and so is the fit and finish. As a result, the watch does not squeak no matter how hard you try to flex it. Usually, the buttons on entry-level smartwatches wobble. The boAt Xtend Sport does not suffer from that issue either. The power button is tactile and feels firm. 

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As for the looks, the boAt Xtend Sport looks like a typical smartwatch but with one difference. There is a red-coloured strip running around the smartwatch, which makes it look cheap. In my opinion, the watch would’ve looked much better without it.

Is The Display Of The boAt Xtend Sport Bright Enough Under Sunlight?

The boAt Xtend Sport comes with a 1.69-inch LCD. Due to its rectangular design, you can see much more content on it than you can on a display with a circular design that some of the smartwatches in this price range, such as the Realme TechLife Watch R100, offer. 

For instance, when you are working out, you can see more statistics related to the workout on the display of the boAt Xtend Sport than you can on a smartwatch with a circular screen. Similarly, you can see more notifications in the notification bar of the boAt Xtend Sport compared to that on a smartwatch with a circular dial.

The brand says that the Xtend Sport has an “HD” display but it hasn’t disclosed the resolution. Well, whatever the resolution is, the sharpness of the display is excellent, with all the UI elements looking crisp and clear. The company also claims a brightness of 550 nits. In real life, it is more than enough to see the content on the display clearly under direct sunlight.

Displays of entry-level smartwatches usually have poor colour reproduction. Take the Realme TechLife Watch R100, for example. The colours on its display look washed out. Well, that’s not the case with the boAt Xtend Sport. The colours on its display look vibrant and don’t make you feel like you are using a smartwatch that costs only ₹2,699.

Watch Faces And Raise-To-Wake

The boAt Xtend Sport comes with five pre-installed watch faces, which is also the maximum number of watch faces you can store on the smartwatch at a time. You can download additional watch faces to the smartwatch from its companion app, boAt Crest. There are about 126 watch faces to choose from in the companion app at the moment.

While the design of watch faces is subjective, to me, the watch faces don’t look as premium or well laid out as the ones Realme offers with the TechLife Watch S100. There is also no option to customise any watch face. That being said, with so many options to choose from, I am sure that you can find the one that suits you perfectly.

boAt has also done an excellent job with the raise-to-wake feature. The display turns on every time you raise the wrist to look at the watch. That wasn’t the case with the Xiaomi Redmi Watch 2 Lite and the Realme TechLife Watch R100.

Is The boAt Xtend Sport Fast?

boAt has not revealed what processor the Xtend Sport uses. However, the smartwatch has fast performance. It performs all the actions quickly without any drama. Unlike the Realme TechLife Watch R100, the animations also appear very smooth, which quickly makes you feel that the boAt Xtend Sport has a powerful processor.

How Is The Software Experience On The boAt Xtend Sport?

The boAt Xtend Sport uses a proprietary operating system. Considering that the brand did not launch a lot of products where it had to design the UI, one would think that the OS in the boAt Xtend Sport might have lesser features than the competition. However, that’s not the case. The software gets all the features that are essential in a smartwatch.

For starters, the OS has a notification bar which can be accessed by swiping to the left on the watch face. It shows your messages (SMS) and e-mails (from Gmail) along with notifications from popular applications such as Instagram and WhatsApp in a well-laid-out manner. The watch can also notify you of the calls that you receive on your phone.

You get a control panel by swiping down from the top of the screen. It has essential quick settings toggles, including the ones from brightness and ringer controls. There is an app drawer with applications for health and activity tracking. You can also use the smartwatch to control the music playback on your smartphone.

The companion app for the smartwatch is called boAt Crest. Surprisingly, it has a modern and elegant design. Despite the low ratings for the app on the App Store, it is free from any kind of bugs and works very well. It even comes with integration for Apple Health and Google Fit. 

For a smartwatch that costs ₹2,699, the overall software experience with the boAt Xtend Sport has been excellent. The company can improve a lot though, especially when it comes to watch faces, their design, and customisation options.

How Is The Battery Life Of boAt Xtend Sport?

According to the brand, the boAt Xtend Sport smartwatch can offer a battery life of seven days and that’s true in real life as well. On a full charge, the boAt Xtend Sport offered me a battery life of around six days. That, I think, is in line with what you get with other smartwatches in the price range. 

boAt claims a charging time of 30 minutes. That’s four times faster than other smartwatches, and to be honest, sounded too good to be true. So, we put the smartwatch at its pace. Surprisingly, the boAt Xtend Sport charged from 0% to 100% in 31 minutes, just like what the brand claimed. The fast charging time makes it very convenient to use the smartwatch. However, fast charging could adversely affect the battery in the long run.

How Accurately Can boAt Xtend Sport Track Fitness Activities?

The boAt Xtend Sport comes with a heart-rate sensor and a SpO2 sensor. So, it is well-equipped to track your health vitals. However, it misses out on GPS. While it would be too much to ask for GPS from a smartwatch of this price category, I was concerned about the outdoor workout tracking accuracy of the smartwatch.

To check how well the smartwatch tracks outdoor fitness activities, I wore the boAt Xtend Sport and the Apple Watch Series 7 that I own personally and went for an outdoor walk. The results were quite impressive.

The statistics of the outdoor walk that I got from the boAt Xtend Sport were identical to what I got from my Apple Watch Series 7, which costs almost 20 times more. Not only the walking distance but also the walking pace and the heart rate that the boAt Xtend Sport recorded were in line with what I got from the Apple Watch Series 7. I have attached a screenshot for your reference. Overall, the boAt Xtend Sport can be used to track day-to-day fitness activities.

Should You Buy boAt Xtend Sport?

The boAt Xtend Sport has left no room for complaint. It has an excellent display, fast performance, bug-free software with all the essential features, very accurate fitness tracking for a smartwatch without GPS, long battery life, super-quick charging, and good build quality.

But is it the best smartwatch in this price segment? Is it better than the Realme TechLife Watch S100? Well, we haven’t tested the Realme TechLife Watch S100 yet. So, we can’t say if the boAt Xtend Sport is the best option you’ve got. What we can say though is that if you buy the boAt Xtend Sport, you won’t regret it.