The 2021 Audi S3 Sedan is quite a special car, we had the pleasure to spend some time with it and boy did we have a great time.

Over the years, Audi has carved its name out in the auto industry as producers of vehicles that have the ultimate combination of sophistication, understated class, reliability, and cutting-edge design. Their latest offering of the S3 Sedan epitomises these features, in its tango red metallic paint splendour.

Upon first glance of the S3, we can’t help but take a moment to marvel at the brilliance in its design, from the strikingly edgy headlights, the small lip just above the grill creating a more distinct look, as well as the extended grill finished off by minimalistic side skirts. With subtleties abound, Audi has made sure that pockets of considered design elements are so well placed that the car’s boldness is unmistakable, while it maintains its elegance with sleek and strong finishes. The 19 inch 5-Y-arm structure style rims, although quite underwhelming for a vehicle of the S3’s caliber, are probably the best in the four rim offerings for the range. Audi may have overcommitted to the subtleties on this front.

Our attention quickly turns to the generous and visually appealing panoramic sunroof, which extends from the windscreen, creating a smooth effect over the roof of the car.

Excited to hop in, we immediately unlock the S3, it responds with a theatrical greeting displayed on it’s Matrix LED headlamps, almost like Michael Knight’s Kit, as the lights perform a pre-programmed greeting routine. The door handles are ergonomically shaped, allowing for a soft and effortless opening of the light but firm doors. We are welcomed by a driver-centric interior, where the cabin is slightly angled towards the driver’s seat, giving you full control of the cabin. No one’s left out of the fun though, because occupants of the car get to enjoy the soft and cool Nappa leather draped seats, which are also heated and multi-way electrically adjustable with lumbar support.

We place our phone onto the wireless charging pod, which faces away from the driver, ensuring ultimate safety during the drive, by limiting distractions from notifications that pop up on the screen. You might be thinking, “well how do I know when someone’s trying to reach me”? Worry not, the S3 comes readily equipped with wireless Apple Carplay, which we connect to seamlessly. To honour the Kit comparison, the latest version of Apple Carplay and Android Auto reads out our Whatsapp Messages and allows us to respond verbally, whilst it types out the reply (don’t worry, it reads this back to you before asking you to confirm to send).

With standard keyless button-to-start technology, we switch on the ignition, and at a touch of another button open the panoramic sunroof to let the bright Joburg sun in. You know we can’t pull off without selecting our chosen playlist for the ride, which we do with ease on the generous infotainment system. The roar from the Bang & Olufsen premium sound system with 3D sound complements the roar from the engine and also ensures that the insulation from city sounds provided by the car is enhanced by clear and crisp audio.

The S3 comes fully equipped with a punchy 213 kW/400 Nm engine, which essentially means it has the power to take you from 0-100km/h in under 5 seconds, and it literally does. We take off quite speedily, and the ride is quite phenomenal. The S3 takes corners with an exquisite sturdiness and has the adequate power, weight and size to switch in and out of lanes without your passengers spilling their cups of coffee all over their seats. The S tronic transmission offers you the option to enjoy the control and more sportier manual transmission, whilst the automatic drive provides just as much joy and performance on the road.

The sports steering wheel gives you full control and has an easy to grip leather wrapping. All controls are at your disposal as you drive, including cruise control which can be set from as low as 40km/h, allowing for an effortless cruise in high traffic areas.

The S3 gets a super thumbs up on:

• Superior interior and driver centric infotainment system;
• Superfast engine at 213 kW/400 Nm and 0-100 in under 5 secs;
• Edgy but classy angled finish to the overall exterior design;
• Comfy nappa leather seats with electronic adjustments and dual driver profile memory and;
• A bonus point for its exquisite engine roar

The few thumbs down elements include:

• Plastic finishes below the dash and around the cabin;
• Underwhelming alloy rim options

Overall, the S3 Sedan is a fantastic car, offering the bells, whistles, and roars. It’s well priced and is an excellent choice for your everyday drive and fun trips over the weekend. Price as tested and pictured here: R987 800.

We had it over one of the warm long weekends and have a lot to share about our time with it, climb inside!

The cabriolet we had the pleasure to zip through the city in was the Dolcevita trim, which is one of two trim levels for the 500 Cabriolet range, the other being Sport. With its third instalment of the 500, Fiat has defined the different personalities of this iconic car in four trim levels, being Cult, Connect, Dolcevita and Sport.

Beautiful both inside and out.

We marvel at the exterior of the 500C, with its Ice White colour, as I am introduced to it with its soft top closed. It welcomes me in its petit splendour, sporting chromed touches on the handles, front bumper and rear tailgate. The 16 inch alloy wheels provide some reassurance that it can fill big shoes, whilst the Dolcevita badge provides a stamp of authority, signifying the iconic style of the 2021 500C offering.

Dolce Vita!

Entering the cosy front seat felt a bit tight at first, but was surprisingly snug and comfortable in no time. The dash and interior came in an Ice White colour, which matched the striking exterior. I already feel like speeding up the hills and down the valleys of Sicily to grab the creamiest cappuccino, but I digress.

A disappointing feature of any car range that seeks to appeal to the young and sexy market, such as myself, is not having a keyless start function, and unfortunately, this is the case with the 500C. Worry not, because it does pack some new technology, including Apple CarPlay, allowing us to extend our phone experience to the Uconnect 7’’ display. The full spec of the infotainment system includes: radio with Navigation, DAB, Apple CarPlay compatibility, and Android Auto integration. We must note that in order to access the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto function, you must connect via USB cable. The 500C also has bluetooth compatibility for a simpler less immersive entertainment experience.

As we get ready to rev up the engine, we revel at the splendour with which the interior was designed one last time, taking time to notice the multifunction steering wheel with chromed details featuring 8 buttons, giving us full control of this atomic 500C at our fingertips. Skipping to our favourite song on the steering wheel buttons, we also take note of the 7” TFT DISPLAY. For those of you who might not know what that is, it’s the screen that you can see in front of your steering wheel, showing your odometer and rev count.

Now we’re ready to go.

The drive

Although compact, the 500C comes with 7 airbags to ensure that impact is minimised during a collision, we pull off having engaged the automatic gears and notice a slight pullback effect with every gear change as the car speeds along the road. This jerklike motion can be a bit frustrating at times, but was reduced as our driving style became more adapted to the 500C’s transmission.

At our first traffic light, the hill hold function kicked in, allowing us to feel safe and relaxed, knowing that the cool technology is keeping us from holding back. We speed off onto the highway, zipping through the traffic like an Olympic gold medallist on ice, swift, sophisticated and safe. It’s a noticeable pleasure to drive the 500C, even though it’s not the fastest car out there, it carries a number of pleasures. The “Capote” or cabriolet top, can open whilst driving, only under speeds of 50km/h and can close within the same speed range.

The standard engine details are: a 0.9-litre 2-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, delivering 62.5 kW and 145 Nm and an impressive fuel consumption of 4l per 100 km.

Hills and Valleys

The oxford definition of Dolce Vita is “a life of heedless pleasure and luxury”, and the Fiat 500C definitely fits that definition in many ways, with it’s impressive:

• Bold exterior and interior designs and striking colour;
• Beautiful dash with a luxury finish and up to date technology display;
• Easy and fun driving experience with the right technology to help you feel safe;
• The soft top cabriolet allows for enjoyment of the long South African summer days.

Although it’s designed to be compact, it does create room for flaws that can’t be ignored, such as:

• Limited rear seat space;
• Almost impractical boot size;
• Turbulent gear shift on the automatic model;
• No keyless start button function.

You can get the Dolcevita Cabriolet 0.9L for R324 900, with other models starting at R219 900.

Stepping into the 2021 Ballade, we’re welcomed by the 8 inch Touchscreen infotainment system, we activate the technology by engaging the push engine start/stop button. The fresh additions to the cockpit experience are impressive. Connecting the phone is easy, whilst the car does allow for Bluetooth connectivity, we opt for the USB connection that activates Apple CarPlay for a more immersive and personalised media and communication experience (Android Auto is also available in the Ballade).

There is also an option for USB-C connection, making sure you’re covered if you are connecting with the latest cable connectivity technology. As we select our favourite playlist before take off, we notice a slight smudging on the Touchscreen, which may be frustrating over time, nothing a dry cloth can’t fix.

The multifunction steering wheel puts you in charge of the music/media elements, as well as the speed of the car, with the addition of standard cruise control functionality. The driver also has electronic control of all windows, which also have their own individual electric controls. Honda really wants to make sure that we keep our hands on the steering wheel with steering-wheel-mounted shift paddles that accompany the improved CVT transmission. They’ve clearly pulled out all the stops to know range leaders like the Toyota Corolla off their pedestals.

Song selected, engine started, we engage the automatic gears, as we reverse we notice the music lowering in volume, what’s that beeping sound? It’s the Ballade’s PDC (parking distance control) which comes standard with all 3 ranges of the vehicle. The more time we spend in the car the more impressed we become, and our expectations were already set high.

The drive is smooth, although the engine is a little loud (not in a good way) and it struggles up hills and steep roads. The overall performance of the 1.5l engine is decent, kicking out 89 kW and 145 Nm. The car comes with an Eco driving mode, helping you manage and improve your fuel efficiency as you drive.

Having arrived at our destination at sunset, we’ve kept the lights on and we could see clearly thanks to the advanced LED headlights accompanied by LED fog lights, which are reminiscent of the 2019 BMW 3 Series.

The comfortable and technologically capable experience is thoroughly enjoyable throughout our few days with this simple but impressive stunner.

Ball-ADE Meter – What’s Top grADE and what needs First-ADE?

Top grADE:

• Keyless Stop/Start Engine;
• Standard Rear PDC;
• Multifunction Steering wheel with adjustable limit Cruise Control;
• Touchscreen Infotainment System with Apple Carplay and Android Auto;
• Eco Driving Mode;
• 5-year/200 000 km warranty, 4-year/60 000 km service plan;
• Vanity Mirrors for both driver and passenger

First-ADE:

• All 3 models come in a not so impressive 1.5l engine;
• No anti-fingerprint/smudge technology on the touchscreen;
• No wireless charging, with all the technology in the car, wireless cellphone charging would be the cherry on top.

Overall the 2020 Honda Ballade is a top tier Baller needing very little “ade” as it becomes a serious contender for the best economy sedan available in the country.

It’s also reasonably priced, with the respective models going for:
1.5 Comfort CVT – R336 500
1.5 Elegance CVT – R366 900
1.5 RS CVT – R396 900

When thinking of value, we generally look at a high price tag or high end products and brands. Huawei has been defying that notion for quite a while now and its latest offering is a strong witness to the fact that value can come at a lower price.

The Huawei Y8p is such a pleasure, a true underdog that delivers on so many levels. As soon as we unpack it, we are welcomed by its smooth display and the phone itself is very light, weighing in at 163g with a well sized  6.3 inch OLED display and above grade 1080 x 2400 pixel resolution.

We have the crystal coloured version of the phone, which is a trippy crystal blue that has a slight reflection in the light. Although this has a glossy feel, it can come across quite cheap when compared to other phones in the market. This is something we can overlook considering the price range of this great performer.

Inserting the sim is quite simple and the Y8p has up to 4G capabilities, which isn’t a train smash given that 5G is progressively being rolled out in Mzansi and is not an urgent need. We also notice that the phone has a non-removable 4000 mAh lithium battery, which is a positive  feature from a durability and performance perspective. The Y8p also charges quite quickly, taking just over 50mins to fully charge, lasting us an impressive 28-32 hours of full usage on a single charge.

With a standard storage of 128g, there is a lot of room for all our apps, videos and images, which have superb clarity thanks to the 48MP back camera with  8000 x 6000 pixel autofocus optical image stabilization. The 16MP front camera also makes sure our selfies are as clear as day. It’s important to note that this (the 16MP) is a higher MP level than that of the iPhone 11 which comes in at 14MP.

The phone’s performance is higher than the standard for its price range and we can swiftly move through and within apps which is as a result of the Octa-core, Quad-core 2.2 GHz Cortex-A53 processor. Yes, we know that’s quite a mouthful, it just means that the phone really fast in geek-talk, and you don’t experience lag when taking videos, switching through apps or scrolling through your Instagram whilst speaking to your mate on a phone call.

There are a lot more impressive specs that we can share, but from a practical perspective, the phone feels great, has all the standard features that come with a high end smartphone and also performs great. It’s so light that it has a forget-me-risk (yes, we just made that up), it also fits snuggly in your pocket or handbag.

Summary:

The High-wei:

• Well priced at R4999;
• Lightweight – 163g;
• Great Camera –  48MP back camera and 16MP front camera;
• FM Radio

The Low-wei: 

• Limited colour options – only comes in black and crystal;
• No wireless charging;
• Plastic elements may make the phone age faster than higher value models.

It’s fair to say you’d be hard pressed to find a worthy contender for the Huawei Y8p from a price and performance perspective. A great buy for anyone really, the Y8p is a value champ!

From a secure feeling of impregnability on off-road excursions, to exuberant and robust agility in the city, the Jeep Wrangler Sahara edition is one of the most exciting drives of our time.

The 2020 Sahara screams adventure and is packed with all the latest essentials to keep you connected to the new and fast changing world, whilst maintaining the age old reliable ruggedness and appeal we’ve grown to expect and love in a Jeep.

Opening the driver’s door and hopping into the car in itself is a bit of a fun exercise, almost a right of passage into a new world – if you must. Once you’re in it you immediately feel secure, with all essential buttons feeling firm and reinforced with rubber, reminiscent of a helicopter or army tank. The car feels sturdy and the cloth fabric seats aren’t too much of a turn off with the leather steering and dashboard making up for them. The keyless start button, which is waterproof, is a standard feature and the key itself feels like a little grenade in your hand. The car’s size is definitely intimidating, but the steering wheel is soft and responsive, ensuring that you feel in control.

Getting on the road, the car is definitely a smooth ride and packs the necessary punch to dash forward. We have the 3.6 V6 Pentastar petrol engine mated with the 8-speed automatic transmission to thank for that, churning out 209 kW with 347 Nm of torque at 4100 rpm.

There is a lot of kickback when you step on the accelerator however, and one could argue that it’s a tad too hyper-responsive which could make it hard to drive long distances comfortably. The flexible cruise control makes up for this shortcoming and is perfectly placed on the steering wheel along with display and other multimedia controls.

One thing to note is the high profile of the car, allowing a deeper sense of safety and control, with an added benefit of confidence and full view over vehicles ahead, almost like a periscope to avoid traffic or even potholes and obstacles. This will definitely come in handy off-road and should fare better than most 4x4s seeing that the profile of the Sahara is higher than most SUVs on the road.

Messing around with the entertainment system whilst trying to find the best place to take the Sahara off-road, we discover the off-road display which provides essential metrics such as GPS coordinates, roll, altitude, drivetrain power distribution and pitch, amongst others. Multiple USB ports, including USB-C, in the console and alongside the seats ensured that we are plugged in and connected to the fourth-generation Uconnect system which includes radio and smartphone connectivity compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

We’ve found the off-road spot and set up cell phone navigation for directions along with our favourite song to hit the road to, and BOOM! A perfectly balanced, crisp and loud sound system introduces itself and is definitely a welcome addition to the exhilarating experience that is the Sahara. The Alpine Premium Audio System comes standard across the range, with a 552-watt 12-channel amplifier, eight speakers and a rear subwoofer, which is where the party’s at! Did I mention that the sound is perfect?

Off-road, the Sahara is like a well behaved Rhodesian Ridgeback, firm, agile and sturdy. Powered by the Command-Trac® 4×4 System, which features a completely new full-time mode that will automatically switch from 2WD to 4WD when conditions dictate, the Sahara is well balanced to suit first timers and experienced off-roaders. The sharp turns, rocky climbs, muddy ditches and dusty steeped hills were everything but too much for the Sahara to handle, with all features and systems working together to conquer any obstacle put in front, behind or even next to the Sahara.

Back in the city, the Sahara proved to be nimble and quick, pacing through traffic and fitting in snuggly into narrow parking spaces where the ParkSense Front and Rear Park Assist come in very handy to make sure you’re aware of surroundings.

Life is definitely much more vibrant with the 2020 Jeep Sahara. All this and more starting out at R849,000 is well worth the adventure!

What made us warm up to this little companion? Upon unboxing, it was very easy to underestimate the performance quality of the watch due to its small size. This quickly changed when we put it on and felt how light and comfortable it was, especially considering that it will be worn throughout the day and night, and most importantly, during intense workouts. The fact that the face is the same width as the band is a positive as it doesn’t dig into your skin no matter how much you twist and turn during exercises or sleep. The display was also simple and easy to navigate because it doesn’t contain complex options, other than the time and a slide through menu of your tracker metrics, starting with total steps and heart rate amongst others. 

Now you might be asking, “What’s so special about the watch if it’s small and simple?” Well, like all superheroes, the Charge 4 has a companion that backs it up and allows it to perform as impressively as it does, the Fitbit App. Let’s jog your memory, remember that there are great features like 24/7 heart rate tracking and fitness challenges amongst others? Well the app is the sidekick that carries all the equipment you need to be fully immersed in an amazing world of fitness and wellness. On the app you can access in-depth fitness and wellness reports such as, total steps for the day and a detail of how your daily progress has been over the past week or month. We found this especially cool because you can set a minimum number of steps per hour and the watch nudges you (via a soft vibration) 10 minutes before the end of each hour reminding you of the number of steps you need to complete to meet your preset quota. 

Other reports include sleep data, where the quality of your sleep is scored out of 100 and can be assessed using the detailed reports; Heart rate and calories are also reported on the app. The calories aren’t just counted during workouts but throughout the day, including in your sleep. How in the world does that work? When you register your profile on the app, you provide your height, weight, age, body shape and fitness goals, these are used to estimate the number calories you burn per minute. In the app, you can also input your meals which will automatically calculate the number of calories per food type, making it extremely simple to measure whether you are burning more calories than you take in, which has been said to be the best way to lose weight or maintain weight levels by many experts.

The Discover area of the app gives you access to a variety of guided fitness programmes, challenges & adventures, mindfulness programmes and workouts that range from beginner to expert levels. This is one of our favourite areas on the app, it allows you to get creative, challenge friends or other unknown users and stay motivated with new and different movements. This is especially welcomed during lockdown and COVID-19 as it allows you to be connected to the fitness world in the comfort of your own space.

Well stretched is the perfect description of how much has been packed into the Charge 4 and the accompanying Fitbit App, let’s summarize the main points:

Push-ups:

• Great size – weightless feel on wrist;
• 24/7 heart rate and calorie counter;
• Long lasting battery (2 to 3 hour charge lasted at least 6 days)
• Sleep monitoring;
• Competitive pricing;
• Wide-range of in-app features;
• Fitbit pay (paying through watch, which is positive for social distancing);

Pull-downs:

• Limited watch face display due to small size;
• App requires premium (paid) account in order to access some report details (this costs R149pm);
• Reliance on app features instead of watch.

Chin-up, you don’t have to give up an arm and a leg to join the Fitbit Charge 4 club, with the watch retailing at a reasonable R2 999 and offered in black, rosewood, and storm blue/black.

This watch looks a lot like most smartwatches released over the past several years, with a few watch faces built-in, a few sensors under its hood, and a decent display. But here’s the kicker: It’s got the battery life of your average tablet.

The Watch GT arrived in exciting premium packaging, and inside was a charger base, a USB charger cable, an instruction pamphlet and most importantly the watch! As we put the watch on, we notice that the battery is at 92%, let’s see how long that lasts.

Pairing the watch with an iPhone was seamless and took about 45 seconds to sync. Immediately, we noticed heart rate and steps on the face of the watch (in “clear” mode) this thing is gonna keep us in check, every time we look at the time we see our levels of productivity and “health”.

The watch comes with 14 watch face displays to suit your personality and activity. The “Clear” display mode shows all vital information, being: your heart rate, number of steps taken, calories burnt, the weather, stress levels, battery life as well as time and date. With our general preference being analogue watches over digital, we change the display to a “Classic”, which is a formal Rolex-like display – it looks elegant and still shows time date, steps, heart rate and weather. Through the Huawei Health app, you can unlock and download additional open source faces for your GT. Be warned, there are tons to choose from. 

You have a few options with the display settings for brightness and when the watch displays or goes dark, amongst others. 

Wearing and Activities

The watch strap is a durable rubber strap that is comfortable and soft against the skin. It’s also adjustable to the size of your wrist for the best fit. It feels light and is easy to get used to in no time. The straps are interchangeable, for instance, if Stainless Steel metal is your thing or you prefer genuine leather band strap you can flavour as you like. 

One of the best things about the watch is that it has multiple display options that fits the occasion you are dressed for, without compromising on the vital information that you seek from a fitness/personal assistant watch.

The GT2 is also waterproof so you can keep it on whilst you shower. The more functional use of the waterproof feature would definitely be to track your distance, speed and breathing while swimming.

With storage of up to 500 songs, you can connect your wireless earphones to the watch and listen to music without your phone. It’s suggested that there’s 4GB storage inside, but a quick check in the “Music” section of the Huawei Health app (for watch management on the phone), it’s shown that the watch has an available 2464MB (just over 2.4GB available).

You can also receive calls and texts through the watch, which notifies you when you have an incoming call.

Gym

Our favourite use of the watch is definitely in the gym. You have 16 exercise options to choose from so that you get the best and most accurate stats for your workout, from outdoor runs to the elliptical and rowing.

We tried the watch on the treadmill, it took less than 15 seconds to select the exercise and we’re off. When in exercise mode, the dial changes to an easy to view display showing your heart rate, calories burnt and distance clearly for you to see with a quick glance at the watch.

The watch gives voice notifications at specific milestone times, such as the one kilometre milestone and the 10 minute report, that lets you know that you’ve been exercising for 10 minutes. You don’t have to stop running to hear it as the watch vibrates so you can take a quick look and carry on on your run.

Our favourite part of the workout modes is the “workout records”, which stores each workout you’ve completed for your reference later. This is awesome because it effectively files all your workouts for you so you can track your fitness levels and progress whether you have a specific goal or not. The records include the duration of your workout, the calories burnt during the workout, distance, fastest pace, total steps, average stride and heart rate. There are multiple other features that can be explored depending on how deeply you’d like to analyse your records. 

Did we mention that the watch syncs to an app on your phone? Well, it syncs to the Huawei Health App which stores all the information on your watch for easier viewing and greater detail. 

Through the App you can sync your daily performance to other health Apps such as the Discovery Vitality App, allowing you to seamlessly gain Vitality points, amongst other things.

The GT 2 has all the same sensors as its predecessor PLUS a couple new sensors for good measure. There’s a new Geomagnetic sensor and a new Air pressure sensor. There’s an Air Pressure app built-in to the watch – so that’s pretty neat to have in play at a moment’s notice. There’s also a built-in compass app – both of these, and the rest, are available via a press on the upper button, while the bottom button allows you to “start a workout” that’ll be recorded in the Huawei Health app.

Sleeping

The app also gives a sleep quality report, which does require you to sleep with the watch on your wrist. We tried this, and upon waking up, we had access to the report on the app which showed the number of hours we had slept as well as the sleep quality shown as a total score out of 100.

There is further detail such as the amount of hours spent on “falling asleep”, “Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep”, “deep sleep” and “light sleep”. Don’t worry, these reports are explained in individual reports and recommended ranges for your sleep score. For example, deep sleep is the deepest sleep stage and the hardest to wake from, and is referenced between 20-60%. Deep sleep continuity statistics also assist in being aware of how well you sleep and what you may need to change to improve the quality of your sleep and inadvertently, the quality of your life and happiness.

Battery Life

In the two weeks we’ve had the watch, we’ve only had to charge it twice, with full use of all the functions. The GT2 takes about 45 minutes to fully charge and one charge lasts approximately 7-8 days, which is quite amazing.

Because the Huawei Watch GT 2 runs with Huawei’s own Kirin A1 processor, it doesn’t seem capable of drawing a particularly large amount of energy from the battery at any sort of speed. The processor is the same as Huawei uses in their earbuds (FreeBuds 3) – so it’s definitely not a powerhouse – and as such, does not require a whole lot of power.

The good and the bad:

Great Battery Life. Device Agnostic, it can pair to any smartphone make. It’s light and Comfortable. It has Multiple Display options. It has a Scratch resistant screen, allowing you to be fully engaged in any activity without worrying about damaging the watch. It has a “Find My Phone” feature which allows you to locate your cell phone when you’ve misplaced it.

Conclusion:

This awesome companion, medical and life assistant and personal trainer is sleek, light, informative and fashionable. There is little to fault on this device, I would buy one for everyone I know if I could. You should definitely experience it for yourself. You’ll find the 46mm Huawei Watch GT 2 available at several retailers for approximately R4999.

Words & Photography by Manqoba Khubeka

Throughout the various workouts, we discovered that the GT 2 gives you all the vital information you would need throughout the day and more importantly during your workout whether it’s at the gym, outdoors, on a bike or even underwater. It is really a personal trainer on your wrist. It stores all your information and displays it as and when you need it, giving you updates every 10 minutes on the progress of your chosen activity and how your body is fairing against the activity.

The notifications we received from the GT 2 included a built in GPS, letting you know where you are or how far you’ve gone on that hiking trail; a calorie counter, which was remarkably accurate; a heart rate monitor and distance tracker, amongst others. You can also configure the watch to your specific workout, in order for it to give you the relevant statistics against your performance. While allowing you to listen to music, receive and speak on calls (only on the 46mm series) from a distance of up to 150m away from your phone, the GT 2 also provides various notifications from your phone, allowing you to decide which ones you’d like to have appear on the watch’s screen.

https://youtu.be/KRYuVWyFppU

As you can already tell, the GT 2 is not just a fitness watch, the design is sleek and slim and allows you to switch the durable rubber strap for a fashionable leather strap. This speaks to how versatile the watch is and how it has literally been created to be your companion throughout the day. The sleek design, when using the leather strap, looks professional, casual and sophisticated, all at the same time. The different looks are also emphasized by the different dial options.

The GT 2 is not just a fitness watch…

The watch also has 4GB of storage, which allows it to keep up to 500 songs downloaded for your listening pleasure and to keep pumped when exercising.

In short, it is actually more than a personal trainer; it’s more of a versatile companion, that fits into every part of your busy schedule, keeping you safe, informed, entertained, and stylish every step of the way, even in your sleep. Pricing for the Watch GT 2 is R4 999 for the most extravagant version of the watch.

Words by Manqoba Kubheka