Does Qualcomm seriously expect every new owner to manually cut the watch strap in order to make it fit? If the user dosn’t cut it at the correct length, it can’t be undone. To make matters worse, the band itself contains electronics, so you won’t be able to just go and purchase a random watch strap on the market. The designers behind this design probably weren’t thinking too much about the user experience when they came up with this.
Hands-on with the Qualcomm Toq smartwatch
Those spring-bars were the first sign of trouble: rather than using a normal adjustable watch strap, the Toq’s strap must be cut to size. The procedure for this is explained in one of the included pamphlets—you wrap the thing around your wrist, figure out where you want the strap to be, then get some scissors and cut it. Then you slide one of the spring-bars through the nearest hole in the side of the strap and attach it to the metal wrist bracket, closing the loop. After this, the watch can be worn normally.
I was a little taken aback by this design decision. I usually try not to irreversibly damage review hardware, but I didn’t really have a choice here—there’s no way to fasten the watch around your wrist without cutting the band to size. Plus, the band contains electronics—the home screen and front light are controlled by tapping the band, and replacing it with an off-the-shelf band is impossible. So… snip snip.
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