Now here’s an amazing product for us to test out! You should definitely get your hands on one of these. Especially if it’s just for “testing” purposes because, you know…it’s for science after all. A company by the name of CoAsia Microelectronics will soon be launching the world’s smallest Bluetooth-enabled breathalyzer, called WearSmith. A pocket concealable alcohol breath tester that fits perfectly in the palm of your hand. In fact, it only measures around 1.5″ x 1.5″ in size.
Currently, 9 days left in their Indiegogo campaign, they have achieved 11% of their intended goal of $35,000 and will be pushing forward no matter what since the funds will pass onto the project regardless of meeting it or not. This means they really want to see this through and if you want to get your hands on one, they are offering a pretty good price in their perk list for funders (including a secret early bird offer only for our readers using any of the links on this page).
So let’s start off with the design. They shot for a jewel-like design that allows it to blend into your environment, the clothes you wear and so forth. Enough so that you’d be open to using it as a keychain or hanging around off of a bag of sorts. It features an all plastic shell with a rubber ring around it, a hole for an included lanyard and an OLED screen on the front side (with a button just below it). Real simple. They will have four colors available, which will include blue, white, rose gold and red.
There is nothing else inside the box outside of an instruction manual, which we eventually decided to read.
To get started, you remove the rubber ring around the sides from the WearSmith and remove the back cover. There is a small piece of plastic blocking the battery from making contact until its first use. It is to be removed and then you put it all back together and press the black button just under the OLED display. It takes about 5 minutes to initially start.
At this point, you can already start using it. You simply press the black button and it will display a few icons, in which you’ll hit the button again. Then it will say wait for a quick second and show 5 arrows pointing up, which represents the direction in which air needs to move through the device. Blow into it from the bottom without blocking the release at top that the arrows are pointing towards. It will give you a ml (milliliter) readout in the results.
Now it’s time to move onto the next step. The smartphone app! This is completely optional as the device works well by itself, but this will allow you to change the measurement type to BAC% (blood alcohol level), see a record of all your uses, switch users and update the device (important).
Available for both iOS and Android devices, you would search for the “WearSmith” app in your devices app marketplace and download it. Once opened, you will hit pair and press the button on the WearSmith as if you were about to take a measurement. They will pair together and you will be ready to go.
When we did this, we made sure to immediately upgrade the firmware on the WearSmith since our initial readings were questionable. We had taken four measurements (the testee was completely sober with no drinks within 48hrs) resulting in 0.126ml, 0.123ml, 0.136ml and 0.120ml. Upon updating the firmware and switching it to BAC% mode, we took three more. The results were 0.010%, 0.000% and 0.002%. A lot more accurate–or so it appears at least.
Now comes the fun part! You can’t test it out unless you do a little recreational…I mean….scientific drinking, right? Out comes the Rum and Cokes! Thankfully, the policy for recreation around here is pretty flexible (the whole having fun at the workplace in the tech industry thing really does exist you know).
So! We each had one Rum and Coke. The rum was poured using a pour spout on the bottle and a 2.5 to 3 second count–the rest with coke. The instructions say to wait about 20 minutes after your last drink before taking a test, so we waited.
This is a great option for those who have ever questioned their ability to drive. Now obviously, this doesn’t create an excuse for anything. You should never place yourself in a situation where you’d have to ask that question. This is more for knowledge and whatever other application you can think of. However, with that disclaimer covered, you cannot hide from the fact that such a large percentage of consumers have found themselves in such a predicament. This will help give you an estimated answer, so you don’t jump in and take off, potentially hurting yourself or others. Of course, estimation is all it can give you because the tech isn’t 100% just yet, but it comes close enough to feel pretty comfortable with.
Best of all, you can determine how long it takes for you to reach any given level based on an amount or type of alcoholic beverage. For example, what does one Rum and Coke do to you when you drink it? Does it immediately throw you past the legal limit to drive, or bring you significantly close to, or not at all? I was leaning towards the first two options. So let’s find out?
After 20 or more minutes had passed, we gave the WearSmith another try. The instructions say you should rinse with water before using. This is probably because spraying alcohol that may still be lingering in your mouth, into the device, could add a little extra wear to things.
The results ranged from 0.003-0.009% in the readings. This is 20-30 minutes after our first drink. Personally, I expected to see a higher number given we are using hard alcohol vs beer. Sadly, we don’t have anything to cross test it with, so we reached out for an online calculator instead for answers. The expectation for one drink averaged around 0.005%. Not bad at all, as we can only presume that the WearSmith is working, despite the calculator also being an estimate. The calculator also says two drinks would result on an average of 0.026%. Great! This means we should have another drink; and that you can jump behind the wheel with only one or two drinks in y…ok, I take that last part back (bad joke, bad joke). So let’s see what we find out!
Now, the legal BAC% level here in Nevada is less than 0.08 BAC%, which means it doesn’t take much to get into a lot of trouble here (which is a good thing). It also means that the WearSmith is starting to open my eyes on how flexible this limit still is. I always assumed that it took one or two drinks and you are sitting it out until you sober up before driving. Not that it’s bad to think this way, because it’s always better to be extra hard on yourself. No reason to challenge the system, or more importantly, cause any harm.
After another 20 minutes from the second drink, we passed it around taking measurements again. The measurement was about the same (slightly higher), so we waited a little longer. About 10-15 minutes further and then took measurements again. This time we got an average between 0.018% and 0.029%. Once again, this does pretty good to stay near the estimate given by the calculator and you also have to factor in age, weight and so forth in the person.
This is pretty neat! Before, the only way to know what your BAC% is, is to put yourself in a really bad situation that results in an officer of the law helping you find the answer. Hopefully, like myself, no one has ever experienced this because they have made all the right choices. Now, you can figure it out within seconds on your own, for some, helping them make those right choices.
So there you have it. It seems to work quite well so far. It still has some tweaking as they move forward with things and continue to update the firmware to focus on accuracy. For now, it’s enough to get excited over. A little pricey at the launch price of $120, but you can get a pretty good discount by visiting their Indiegogo page. Also, as time flies by and it’s been in the market for awhile, I’m sure the price will come down some, allowing for a more reasonable purchase for most.
The battery inside is a CR2032 cell battery, which can be found pretty cheap in stores or online at places like Amazon.com. It will supposedly last for around 3 months in idle and/or up to 1,000 tests. We did notice after our testing, some moisture build-up on the battery (as seen in the above image). So there is the concern of durability in that nature, but so far we haven’t seen any issues.
There is a cartridge inside that pops out using your fingernail or a small flat tool (making sure to apply care to the process). This can be rinsed per instructions to help keep it clean. Only the cartridge should ever come into contact with water as the main body is not water resistant.
Bonus
In case you haven’t clicked yet, if you use any of the links in this story to visit WearSmith on Indiegogo, you will find a bonus option to fund into that not only allows you to reserve a WearSmith for yourself at a few dollars less than their normal early bird offer, but you will be among one of the very first shipments sent out when it launches. This brings the price down to $65, which is nearly half of the MSRP launch price. A link available exclusively right here, at Poc Network // Tech.
Our Conclusion
Well that was fun! Nothing makes a better conclusion than a successful product. We can’t wait to see where they go with WearSmith as they push forward with improvements. USer friendliness is right where it needs to be and updating it is easy as well. The fact that it functions right out of the box is great, although most people will probably find themselves adding a smartphone into the mix so they can switch it to BAC% and see what else they can accomplish. Keeping the firmware updated is a must, especially with something still in its development process. We were happy with it and found it to be an exciting process testing it out. We will stay on top of it to see what firmware updates in the future bring and will make sure to include anything exciting. The MSRP price ($120) is a little steep for what it feels like. We find this to be something we point out every time something neat comes out because usually the price is pretty high when such a product initially enters the scene. Beyond that, we think any social drinker (or those more involved) should have one of these readily accessible. It’s useful and mind opening.
 | Our Rating | Average Price* $120 |
*Average price is based on the time this article was published
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJudwiQ6BJI
Additional Images:
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