Wyze Watch 44: Affordable Apple Watch smartwatch clone looking likely

Wyze Labs – makers of incredibly cheap and incredibly popular smart home tech – are after your wrist space. An FCC listing has been uncovered for the Wyze Watch 44.

Photos attached to the listing confirm it’s an Apple Watch-esque smartwatch, with a heart rate monitor on the back.

There’s not much technical info to go on, apart from that moniker, confirmation that Bluetooth is part of the deal, and these industrial looking images; but we’d fathom a guess the 44 refers to the watch featuring a 44mm case.

Founded by a group of ex-Amazon employees, Wyze Labs has been making a name for itself as an inexpensive alternative for smart cameras, bulbs, plugs and more. Wyze’s products do lack some of the bells and whistles of rivals, but they’re cheap. Really cheap.

The Kirkland, WA, based startup has seen huge success with its smart home tech – most notably the $20 Wyze Cam, which sold over a million units in its first year.

You’re probably wondering how they make stuff that’s so cheap?

We spoke to Wyze co-founder David Crosby last year and he told us that the company is entirely profitable, but he also stated they hardly spent on marketing or endorsements, instead relying on word of mouth, high volume and wafer-thin margins.

And it’s not making a buck off your data either. Wyze says it doesn’t sell data to anyone, although you will have to sign up to an app to use its products.

The Wyze Watch 44 wouldn’t be its first foray into the wearable world. Earlier this year the $25 Wyze Band went live; a fitness tracker that – like the Amazfit Band 5 – has Alexa on board. It’d be nice if Amazon’s digital assistant makes an appearance on the smartwatch too.

Knocking off – sorry – borrowing design aesthetics from the Apple Watch isn’t such a bad idea you know.

The Cupertino company knows a thing or two about selling smartwatches and we’ve seen the likes of the Oppo Watch (main image, above) and the Amazfit GTS 2 – both similarly designed smartwatches – be well received in the past few months.

We’ll keep you posted on any more official details on the Wyze Watch 44, including the all important price and launch date.