boAt Wave Call 3 Review: A Big Screen and Bluetooth Calling on a Budget
The Wave Call 3 is aimed squarely at the largest slice of the Indian smartwatch market: a big screen, calling from the wrist, and a long feature list at an accessible price. Most of that list is real. Two items need context.
What it is
| Display | 1.83" HD, animated watch faces |
|---|---|
| Calling | Bluetooth calling, built-in speaker and mic |
| Controls | Functional crown |
| Sensors | Heart rate, SpO2 |
| Protection | IP68 |
| Sports modes | Multiple |
Bluetooth calling: what it is and is not
The watch pairs to your phone and routes calls through its own speaker and microphone. It works well for a short call when your hands are busy or the phone is across the room.
What it is not is independence. The watch has no SIM and no cellular radio, so it must be in Bluetooth range of the phone. Leave the phone at home and the calling function goes with it. That distinction matters most for runners — see smartwatch or fitness band, where leaving the phone behind is the decisive question.
IP68 does not mean swimming
This is the specification most often misread on wearables. IP68 is tested with still water at a fixed depth for a fixed time. Swimming involves moving your arm through water, which raises momentary pressure far above that.
For swimming you want 5ATM. IP68 covers rain, sweat and handwashing well. Full detail is in our guide to water resistance ratings, including why no rating covers hot showers.
The screen is the right thing to spend on
A 1.83-inch panel is large for this class, and screen size and brightness affect daily satisfaction more than any sensor does. Check the listing for a brightness figure in nits — anything under roughly 400 struggles in Indian daylight, and a watch you cannot read outdoors is a watch you stop wearing.
The functional crown is worth noting too. Scrolling a list by turning something is meaningfully better than swiping a small screen with a fingertip, especially with wet or dry-skinned hands.
The health readings
Heart rate and SpO2 here are optical wrist measurements, with the strengths and limits that implies: reliable at rest, less so during interval training or anything involving grip. SpO2 needs stillness and a snug strap to mean anything.
These are wellness features, not medical ones. Our guides on wrist heart-rate accuracy and what SpO2 and ECG claims mean set out what to trust.
Buy this if
- You want a large, readable screen and calling from the wrist
- Your budget is the constraint and you want the most usable screen for it
- You track steps, sleep and general activity rather than training seriously
Skip it if
- You want to swim with it — look for 5ATM instead
- You want to run without carrying your phone; you need built-in GPS
- You need training-grade heart rate; a chest strap is the answer at any price