WatchySourcingHub
A place for all alternative Watchy suppliers
Install / Use
/learn @Szybet/WatchySourcingHubREADME
WatchySourcingHub
Contents
- Original Watchy v3
- Clones
- Morality of those clones
- Notes about the clones
- Things to know when coding the watchy
- Some firmwares for the watchy that I like
- Some 3D printed cases
- Contact and the community
- Community mantained wiki
- Shameless ad of something cool I made which is related to watchy so check it if you want out or be mad at me for wasting your time reading this 34 word long sentence
Original Watchy v3
<details> <summary>SQFMI released only the schematic, no kicad files for the v3. Is it really open source if you can't replicate it yourself, or even repair it by looking at the PCB layout? In my opinion the v3 doesn't make sense then, that's why the text is hidden, decide for yourself as always, I just don't find it meaningful for most people now. Not to mention that even now, 07.08.2025 the official software support still sucks</summary>TLDR and latest update here
SQFMI, the original creator of the watchy started shipping again, further more it's in stock so no more waiting. Well now, the reputation of SQFMI is not that great because of the sooo long shipping delays in the past (see the "Whyyyy" section below) and the rough release of the watchy 3.0 and it's design (Situation explained here) ~~but I still think it's better to buy from him~~ To be honest, no, he promised, he did not deliver, but here are the old reasons:
- ~~It's always better to support the original creator who open sourced his work (or will eventually) (He did not do that, lol) than a copy who "borrowed" the design and didn't contributed much back~~ This statement was written long time ago with the promises of improvements on the watchy v3, none of that happened, read the main watchy v3 doc if you want to know more
- ~~You buying from mouser / any shop that is not aliexpress really will be a better experience for you~~ - ~~warranty, faster shipping, safer shipping~~ I did never hear complains about the aliexpress guy not accepting warranty claims, also shipping from aliexpress improved a lot in the recent year, ~~better packaging~~ Well the watchy v2 one from aliexpress is already assembled, the screen is already in place and it's hard to do it by yourself, ~~better more quality components (battery, case & strap)~~ or not really, you can get a watchy v3 which gets hot and can start a fire.
- The V3 has some cool features (mainly for me bigger flash) (Which is not used by the original firmware anyway) <sub>and some flaws</sub> If you can get either one of them, then get the newer version ~~(as software support will slowly shift to the newer one)~~ But update: That's not true, watchy v2 is still the king
- ~~Communication recently improved, I hope I will not need to remove this statement from here~~ I did
Also SQFMI about the clones:
"it has become a problem for us to support and address issues. Many users have reached out to us on receiving faulty hardware, broken parts, case not fitting, or other firmware issues, and only upon further discussion did we realize they have purchased a clone"
With that in mind, here is the link: https://watchy.sqfmi.com/ as always decide for yourself
And for the people who bought a watchy from aliexpress and then went to SQFMI to complain... what the **** ** ***** **** ***. No further comment.
</details>The rest of the repo is about those alternative clones, There is also infortmation about communities, firmwares, 3D printed case and more which also concern the watchy v3
<sub>The USB-C 1.0 watchy is now depracated. To find info about it, look into watchy-usbc folder. The rest of this repo contains info about the replacement of it. the USB-C 2.0 version that is currently sold</sub>
Clones
A clone of the Watchy, sold on various platforms from probably various sellers, but the manufacturer is probably the same.
- Aliexpress sellers
- the first one that appeared, the most trusted in my opinion (The most people buught from him)
- Here is their Github repo for the "E-watch". There is nothing really there ;) - https://github.com/01Space/E-Watch
- Their aliexpress store: https://pl.aliexpress.com/store/912632218
- And the watchy on their store: https://pl.aliexpress.com/item/1005005209927318.html (It's the original manufacturer, others on Ali probably resell his watchy)
- Another seller/reseller
- AliExpress link
- Has the cheapest option for an included anodised aluminium case w/ silicone strap (as of time of writing)
- Battery is ok, but could be better
- Warning This aliexpress seller (maybe others too) ships watchies without the accelerometer chip. The watchy still works fine without it (if the firmware supports disabling it) simply it doesn't count steps
- the first one that appeared, the most trusted in my opinion (The most people buught from him)
- Banggood
- One person bought and is satisfied
- A horrible long link
- Shopee
- No one bought it
- A horrible link, I can't change the language from vietnamese
- There is at least one reseller on Shopee that provides options for a 3D-printed or CNC case
- Lazada
- For people in Southeast Asia, check your regional Lazada for resellers of Watchy 2.0 clones
- For example, Lazada Singapore shows this when searching for Watchy
Morality of those clones
A few thousand people ordered on crowdfund and now their shippind date is shifting and shifting again and again. On mouser 1.5k people are waiting. Pi hut doesn't ship anywhere really ( Like couldn't you just don't ship the battery, we could buy it locally... ). Obviously I don't blame anyone. I understand the problems with supply chains in the recent years. But the situation is and was bad, just bad.
This statement was true in october 2023 and is still true in january 2024🥴. While the Watchy v3 released, this statement is still a bit true.
I wasn't able to get a original watchy as I was hunting for it from 2021 so...
That was a light version of this whole situation. Here is a whole conversation about it.
This conversation was heated up. Later we concluded that SQFMI is not a scammer because he didn't run away with the money and after 2 years he cleared up the situation a bit, but the pain remains.
SQFMI about the whole situation:
The rest of the repo describes the aliexpress micro USB 2.0 watchy. Currently the seller sells USBC 2.0 Watchy, but I quess they are the same, as only the USB port changed
Further notes that you should know before you buy:
Some of those issues below, are related to the design of the 2.0 version of the Watchy. Don't contact the aliexpress seller for no reason, If you have any questions, ask me through contact below.
- ~~The schematic is 1:1 with the oryginal watchy (Now it's the 2.0 version). The PCB too because it is compatible with official SQFMI metal cases. That's why this repo no longer contains schematics for this version. They are the same as the SQFMI ones~~ Well now there is a USBC 2.0 version. I quess, logically it's not compabitable with SQFMI cases
- In the previous USB-C version, the components were not original. Maybe they were recycled or idk. In the current version I didn't checked, but expect the same thing
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - The screen is already glued in and has a foil that can be taken off. cool.
- As you can see in the images - It comes in a mini pcb based case that it's screwed in. Even with the screw holes, the PCB is solid. You can use that case or 3D print one like I did.
- It also comes with a very good looking 200mAh battery and a strap. cool. But the capacity of the battery may very, you might need to replace it sooner than you expect.
- The buttons from their design are very fragile, some of them are more clicky then others. They may come off after som
