Cloudpoem Fitness Watch Review: a cheap tracker that does the basics (with a few quirks)

I’ve been wearing this Cloudpoem fitness watch for a bit now, mainly to see if a low-cost tracker can actually replace my phone step counter and give me some basic heart rate and sleep info. I’m not a pro athlete, just someone who walks a lot, does a bit of running, and wants to keep an eye on daily movement and sleep without spending smartwatch money. So I went into this with pretty realistic expectations: if it counts steps roughly right, doesn’t die every day, and doesn’t feel horrible on the wrist, I’m already halfway happy.

Right out of the box, it feels like what it is: a budget fitness watch. Light, small screen, plastic everywhere. Nothing fancy, but it doesn’t scream toy either. The setup with the GloryFit app took me about 10–15 minutes including firmware update, account, and notifications. Not hard, but you do feel you’re dealing with a cheap app: some menus are a bit confusing, and a couple of times it lagged when syncing data.

My idea with this test was simple: wear it 24/7 for several days, including workouts, showers, sleep, and see what breaks first: my patience or the watch. I compared it with my phone’s step counter and an older Fitbit I still have lying around. I also used it during a few short runs and some cycling, and I paid attention to the usual stuff: comfort, battery, accuracy, and if the notifications are actually useful or just annoying.

Overall, my feeling is that this watch is decent for the price, but it’s clearly not perfect. It gets a lot of things roughly right, but if you’re picky about data accuracy or super smooth apps, you’ll notice its limits pretty fast. If you just want something simple to nudge you to move more and show your heart rate now and then, it can work. If you expect the precision of a high-end Garmin or Apple Watch, you’ll be disappointed.

On the value side, it really depends what you’re comparing it to and what you expect. For the price of a basic fitness band, you’re getting a watch that tracks steps, heart rate, sleep, and workouts, shows notifications, survives sweat and rain, and lasts around 5 days on a charge. That’s not bad. For someone who just wants a simple nudge to move more and a quick glance at calls and messages without pulling out the phone, it gets the job done.

Where the value drops a bit is if you care a lot about accuracy and polish. The step counting can be fooled by arm movements, the heart rate is not super reliable during intense exercise, the app can be a bit buggy, and the screen is small and not very bright in direct sun. If those things annoy you easily, you might be better off spending a bit more on a better-known brand like Xiaomi, Huawei, or an entry-level Fitbit, which usually have smoother apps and slightly better sensors.

One good thing is the 3-year manufacturer warranty on paper, which is longer than what a lot of cheap brands offer. How easy it is to actually use that warranty, I can’t say, but at least it’s there. Also, the watch is quite versatile in terms of compatibility (Android and iOS), so you’re not locked into a specific ecosystem. That’s useful if you change phones or if you’re buying this for someone else and don’t know what phone they’ll use later.

To sum it up, I’d call the value pretty solid for casual users, especially if you catch it on discount. If you’re just starting with fitness trackers, or buying for a kid or a teen, this is enough to see if they even like wearing a tracker without spending a lot. If you already had a good tracker before and you’re picky, this will feel like a step down, and I’d say it’s not the best value for you.

Design-wise, this Cloudpoem watch is pretty straightforward. Rectangular little body, small colour screen, silicone strap, one touch area at the bottom of the screen instead of real buttons. If you’ve seen basic fitness bands from a few years ago, you’ll get the picture. It’s not ugly, it’s just very neutral and functional. Black colour only in my case, so it goes with anything, but don’t expect any style points.

The 0.96-inch screen is small, and you feel it especially if you’re used to bigger smartwatches. Notifications are readable, but you don’t see much text at once. You’re mainly getting a quick preview, not reading full messages. The brightness is okay indoors and on cloudy days, but in direct sun I had to tilt my wrist and sometimes shield it a bit to read clearly. It’s usable, but not super bright. The touch control is limited: it’s more like tapping through menus than a smooth touch interface. You cycle through icons and long-press to select, so it feels a bit old-school.

The watch body itself is very light and slim, which is nice if you have a smaller wrist or just don’t like chunky watches. On my wrist it sat low and didn’t catch on clothes or jacket sleeves much. The bezels around the screen are quite thick though, so a good part of the front is just black border, not actual display. Again, that’s typical for cheaper bands, but it does make the watch face look smaller than you’d expect from the photos.

Overall, the design is practical but basic. It’s the kind of thing you wear because you want the functions, not because you want to show it off. If you want something that looks more like a regular watch or has a bigger, more modern screen, this will feel a bit dated. If you just care that it’s light, discrete, and doesn’t get in the way, it does the job.

On the battery side, the Cloudpoem watch is actually one of the better points. The brand claims up to 5 days of use, and in real life I was getting roughly that, sometimes a bit more, depending on how many notifications and sports tracking sessions I used. With 24/7 heart rate on, around 40–50 notifications per day, and a short workout tracking most days, I averaged about 4.5–5 days per charge. That’s pretty decent and means you don’t have to think about it every night.

Charging is through a little magnetic cable that snaps onto the back. It’s not the most solid magnet I’ve seen, but if you place it on a flat surface, it holds fine. A full charge from almost empty took me around 1.5 to 2 hours. There is no fancy fast charging, but honestly for a device you charge once or twice a week, that’s not a big deal. The only thing you need to be careful with is not losing the cable, because it’s proprietary, and if you misplace it, you’re stuck.

One thing I noticed: like one Amazon reviewer said, sometimes it doesn’t show 100% even when it’s been on the charger for a while. I had a couple of times where it would stop at 98–99%. In practice, that didn’t really change the battery life, but it’s a small sign that the battery percentage calibration isn’t perfect. Also, when it gets below 20%, it drains a bit faster, so you go from “fine” to “battery low” in less than a day.

Still, compared to many smartwatches that need daily charging, this is one of the reasons this kind of basic tracker makes sense. If you want something you can just wear, sleep with, and only think about charging twice a week, this part is pretty solid. It fits well with people who don’t want another gadget to babysit every day.

Comfort is probably one of the stronger points of this Cloudpoem watch. At 24 grams, it’s very light, to the point where after a few hours I basically forgot I had it on. The silicone strap is soft enough and flexible. It’s not the nicest silicone I’ve ever felt, but it doesn’t feel rough or rubbery either. I wore it day and night for several days, including during sleep, and I didn’t get any irritation or marks, as long as I didn’t over-tighten it.

For heart rate tracking, you do need to wear it a bit snug so the sensor sits well on your skin. When I tightened it one notch more for workouts, it was still comfortable. The buckle-style closure is simple and reliable; it didn’t come loose during runs or while I was cycling. No weird pin-and-hole system like some brands use, so that’s a plus. Also, the watch is pretty slim, so it doesn’t bang into things much, and it slides under sleeves easily.

At night, I was a bit worried about the screen lighting up and bothering me, but the raise-to-wake gesture is not overly sensitive, so it didn’t flash in my face every time I moved. I did feel the watch a bit when I slept on that arm, but nothing dramatic. If you usually hate sleeping with watches, this one is probably one of the easier ones to tolerate, just because of the low weight and small size.

The only minor downside: after a long sweaty workout, the inside of the strap can feel a bit sticky, like most cheap silicone bands. A quick rinse fixes it, and since it’s IP68, that’s not an issue. In short, from a comfort standpoint, it’s pretty solid for daily wear and sleep, and I had no real complaints there.

Durability-wise, you can tell this is a budget device, but it’s not falling apart either. The body is mostly plastic with some metal bits, and the strap is basic silicone. After wearing it daily, including a few accidental knocks against doors and tables, I didn’t see any cracks or major marks. The screen is not high-end glass, so it can pick up light scratches if you’re rough. After a while, you’ll probably see some micro-scratches if you look closely under light, but nothing dramatic so far.

The IP68 rating is handy. I wore it while washing my hands, in the rain, and during sweaty workouts with no problem. I also rinsed it under the tap after the gym. No water issues. The brand does say it’s not for diving, hot water, or seawater, and I’d actually follow that. I wouldn’t take this into a hot shower every day or into a pool with chlorine for long sessions. It’s fine for splashes, short rinses, and sweat, which is what most people need for a fitness band.

The strap holes and buckle still look fine after regular tightening and loosening, and I didn’t notice any tearing or stretching. It’s not a premium strap, but it holds up. The only thing that slightly worries me long term is the charging pins on the back. They’re exposed, and if you get a lot of sweat and dust there and don’t clean it, you might eventually have charging connection issues. So it’s worth wiping it down once in a while.

Overall, I’d say durability is acceptable for the price. It doesn’t feel like a tank, but it also doesn’t feel like it will die in a month if you’re a bit careful. If you’re rough on your gear or plan to use it in more extreme sports, I’d look at something tougher. For normal daily use, casual workouts, and walking, it should hold up reasonably well.

This is where things get more mixed. In terms of features, it does a lot: steps, heart rate, sleep, sports modes, notifications. But when you start comparing the numbers with other devices, you notice the limits. For steps, on a normal walking day, it was usually in the same ballpark as my phone and my old Fitbit, maybe off by 5–10%. That’s acceptable for casual use. The problem shows up when your arms move but your feet don’t. Like one Amazon review mentioned, during driving or just waving your arms around, it can add steps that clearly aren’t real. I also saw it add a few hundred steps while typing at my desk, which is obviously not ideal.

Heart rate is okay at rest, like sitting on the couch or walking slowly. It usually matched a finger pulse oximeter within 5 bpm. But during workouts, especially intervals or cycling, it lagged and sometimes gave weird spikes or drops that didn’t match how I felt. Nothing shocking for a cheap optical sensor on the wrist, but if you expect proper training data, this won’t cut it. For casual “is my heart rate high or low right now?” checks, it’s fine, but not more than that.

Sleep tracking is basically a rough estimate. It did catch my general sleep and wake times reasonably well, but the breakdown between light and deep sleep felt a bit random. Some nights where I slept badly, it still said I had long deep sleep. I wouldn’t use it as a serious health tool, more as a general idea of “I slept around 6 hours vs 8 hours”. The GloryFit app gives you graphs and a score, which looks nice, but I’d take the details with a big grain of salt.

Notifications work decently. You get a vibration for calls and messages, and you can see who’s calling or the first lines of a message. You can’t reply from the watch, it’s just for checking quickly. The vibration is noticeable but not too strong. I did have one or two times where the app disconnected in the background and I stopped getting alerts until I reopened it, which is a bit annoying. So overall, performance is acceptable for casual tracking, but if accuracy and reliability are your top priorities, you’ll probably be a bit annoyed by its quirks.

On paper, this Cloudpoem fitness tracker tries to tick all the usual boxes: heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, step counter, calorie estimate, multiple sports modes, notifications, and IP68 waterproofing. The screen is 0.96 inches, so it’s on the small side compared to full-blown smartwatches, but that’s pretty standard for basic fitness bands. It connects through the GloryFit app, which is available for Android 6.0+ and iOS 9.0+, so basically any modern phone will work.

The watch also claims around 5 days of battery life, depending on how many notifications and tracking features you use. It charges with a small magnetic cable that snaps on the back of the watch. In the box you get the watch, the magnetic charger, and a basic user manual. Nothing else, no spare band, no fancy packaging. The materials are a mix of plastic, silicone, and a bit of metal, which matches the low weight: around 24 grams. It’s very light, which is nice for sleep tracking and all-day wear.

The feature list sounds pretty full: 24/7 heart rate, sleep analysis with light/deep/awake breakdown, different sports modes (running, walking, cycling, skipping rope, etc.), call and message notifications from apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, plus some extras like weather, sedentary reminder, alarm, stopwatch, wrist-raise to wake the screen, and a remote camera shutter. So on the spec sheet, it tries to compete with more known brands, just at a lower price.

In practice though, not all features are equal. Some parts are fine and usable (like basic step counting and notifications), others are clearly more rough (like data accuracy and the occasional app crash, which lines up with some Amazon reviews). So if you’re reading the product page and thinking “wow, same as a big brand but cheaper”, keep in mind that the experience and polish are not at the same level, even if the bullet points look similar.