How to Set Up Your COLMI Smartwatch for the First Time: A Complete Beg

You've just unboxed your new COLMI smartwatch. The watch itself is beautiful — display bright, case gleaming, strap comfortable on the wrist. But now comes the bit that trips up more people than you'd expect: actually getting it set up, connected, and configured correctly so you're getting everything it can offer from day one.

This guide walks you through every step of the setup process, from downloading the right app to configuring your health monitoring preferences, notification settings, watch face, and sports modes. Whether you're tech-savvy or setting up a wearable for the first time, this complete guide will have your COLMI watch fully operational within 20 minutes.

Step 1: Charge Before You Do Anything Else

Before you start the pairing process, give your COLMI watch a full charge. Most COLMI watches ship with a partial charge — enough to turn on and display the setup screen, but potentially not enough to complete the full pairing process and initial sync without the battery dying partway through. Nothing is more frustrating than a watch that powers off mid-setup.

The magnetic charging cable that comes in the box attaches to the back of the watch. The magnets align the cable to the charging contacts automatically — just bring the cable near the back of the watch and it will snap into position. Most COLMI watches charge from flat in approximately 1.5 to 2 hours. A brief charge to 50% before starting setup is sufficient if you're impatient, but a full charge before first use is the right practice for long-term battery health.

While the watch charges, proceed with downloading the app on your phone in the next step.

Step 2: Download the Da Fit App

All COLMI smartwatches and smart rings use the Da Fit companion app. It's available free on both iOS and Android:

iPhone: Search "Da Fit" in the App Store and download the app from the developer "Shenzhen Youyou Technology"
Android: Search "Da Fit" in the Google Play Store and download the same app

Make sure you're downloading Da Fit specifically — not "Da Fit Pro" or other similar-named apps. The correct app icon shows a white heart rate waveform on a blue background.

Once downloaded, open the app and create an account. You'll need an email address and a password. The account allows your health data to be synced and stored in the cloud, enabling access from multiple devices and data recovery if you change phones.

Step 3: Enter Your Personal Data

After creating your account, the app will ask you to complete your personal profile. This information is critical for accurate health calculations:

Date of birth: Used for heart rate zone calculations (maximum HR is estimated as 220 minus age)
Sex (male/female): Used for metabolic rate calculations and calorie estimation
Height: Used for stride length estimation in step-to-distance calculations
Weight: Used for calorie burn estimation
Unit preferences: Metric (km, kg) or imperial (miles, lbs) — choose what you're comfortable reading

Take a moment to enter these accurately. Inaccurate personal data leads to inaccurate calorie estimates and step-to-distance calculations. Height and weight affect calorie burn estimates by up to 15%, which matters if you're using the data for fitness or weight management purposes.

Step 4: Enable Bluetooth on Your Phone

COLMI watches connect to your phone via Bluetooth. Before pairing, ensure:

Bluetooth is enabled on your phone (Settings → Bluetooth → On)
You are within approximately 1 metre of the watch during the initial pairing process
No other Bluetooth devices are actively trying to pair simultaneously (this can interfere)

For iPhone users: you'll also need to grant Da Fit permission to use Bluetooth when prompted. This permission request appears on first launch — tap "Allow" when it appears. Without Bluetooth permission, the app cannot discover or connect to your watch.

For Android users: depending on your Android version, you may also need to grant location permission to Da Fit. This is a platform requirement for Bluetooth device scanning in Android — the app uses location permission to discover nearby Bluetooth devices, not to track your GPS location. Granting this permission is necessary for the watch to pair correctly.

Step 5: Pair Your COLMI Watch to the Da Fit App

Now for the actual pairing process:

Open the Da Fit app on your phone
Tap the person icon (profile/me tab) at the bottom right of the screen
Tap "My Device" or "Add Device" (the exact label varies slightly by app version)
Tap the "+" button to add a new device
Select your device type — "Smart Watch" or "Smart Ring" depending on what you're pairing
The app will begin scanning for nearby devices. Ensure your watch display is on (press the side button to wake it if needed)
Your watch model should appear in the scan results. Tap on it to initiate pairing
A pairing confirmation code will appear on both the watch display and the app. Confirm they match and tap "Pair" or "Confirm" in the app
The watch will vibrate and display a confirmation message when pairing is successful

If your watch doesn't appear during scanning, try the following: ensure the watch is on and the display is active; restart Bluetooth on your phone by toggling it off and on; close and reopen the Da Fit app; or restart both the watch and your phone and try again from step 1 of the pairing process.

Step 6: Grant All Necessary App Permissions

After pairing, the Da Fit app will request several permissions that are necessary for full functionality:

Notification access: Required to mirror your phone's notifications to the watch. On Android, this usually requires going to Settings → Notifications → Notification Access and enabling Da Fit. On iPhone, grant notification permission when prompted in the app.
Health data access: On iPhone, grant access to Apple Health if you want health data synced between Da Fit and Health. On Android, grant permission to Google Fit or Health Connect as relevant.
Location permission: Required for phone GPS to work with the watch's connected GPS feature. Without this, outdoor workout route tracking via phone GPS won't function.
Background app refresh: On iPhone, enable Background App Refresh for Da Fit (Settings → General → Background App Refresh → Da Fit: On). Without this, notifications may not reliably reach the watch when Da Fit is not the active foreground app.

Taking a few minutes to grant all permissions correctly at this stage prevents the frustrating experience of setting up the watch and then finding notifications aren't appearing or workout GPS isn't working.

Step 7: Configure Notification Preferences

One of the most valuable everyday features of your COLMI watch is notification mirroring — seeing calls, messages, and app alerts on your wrist without reaching for your phone. But not all notifications are equally worth seeing on your wrist. Setting these up intelligently from the start improves the experience significantly.

In the Da Fit app:

Tap the watch icon (Device tab) at the bottom of the screen
Tap "Notification Reminder" or "Message Notifications"
Enable notifications for the specific apps you want mirrored to your wrist

We recommend starting with these as a baseline:

Phone calls: Always useful — seeing who's calling without reaching for your phone is one of the watch's most immediate benefits
SMS: Short text messages are ideal for wrist notifications
WhatsApp: If you use WhatsApp frequently, wrist message previews are genuinely useful

Start conservatively. Enabling every single app's notifications creates a buzzing, distracting experience. Add more notification sources over the first week as you discover which ones you actually benefit from seeing on your wrist, and which simply create noise.

Step 8: Set Up Your Health Monitoring Preferences

Your COLMI watch monitors several health metrics continuously throughout the day. Configuring these settings correctly from the start ensures you're collecting the data you want without unnecessarily draining the battery.

Heart Rate Monitoring

In Da Fit → Device Settings → Heart Rate Monitor:

Set monitoring frequency to every 5 minutes for a good balance of data granularity and battery efficiency
Enable high heart rate alert at an appropriate threshold (most users set 150–160 bpm as a resting alert; your GP may advise a specific threshold if you have cardiovascular concerns)
Enable low heart rate alert at 40–45 bpm for most users

Sleep Tracking

Sleep tracking is enabled by default on most COLMI watches. Ensure you wear the watch to bed from night one to start building your sleep baseline. The watch automatically detects sleep onset and wake time — you don't need to activate any sleep mode manually.

Sedentary Reminders

In Da Fit → Device Settings → Sedentary Reminder:

Enable reminders to activate during your typical working hours
Set the reminder interval to 60 minutes — this prompts movement once per hour if you haven't moved significantly
Set the active time window to match your working hours (e.g., 9am to 6pm) to avoid reminders during sleep or leisure

Daily Step Goal

In Da Fit → Profile → Daily Goal:

Set a realistic daily step goal based on your current activity level. If you're currently averaging around 4,000 steps per day, setting a 10,000-step goal immediately creates daily failure experiences that are demotivating. Start with a goal 1,000 to 2,000 steps above your current average and increase gradually as you build the habit.

Step 9: Choose Your Watch Face

The default watch face your COLMI ships with is functional but may not be your favourite. The Da Fit app has a library of downloadable watch faces across different styles:

In Da Fit, go to Device → Watch Face
Browse the library of available faces — categories include digital, analogue, fitness-focused, minimalist, and more
Tap a face to preview it on a simulated watch display
Tap "Set as watch face" to push it to your watch via Bluetooth

For AMOLED display models (V72, V73, P82, i28 Ultra, M42, P86, and others): dark-background watch faces are both visually stunning and battery-efficient on AMOLED screens, where black pixels consume zero power. A dark watch face can meaningfully extend your battery life compared to a bright or white-background face. Start with a dark digital face for the best combination of AMOLED aesthetics and battery efficiency.

Step 10: Configure Sports Modes for Your Activities

If your COLMI watch supports 100+ sports modes (most P-series, V-series, and GPS models do), you'll want to set up your favourite activities for quick access. In Da Fit → Device → Sports Modes, you can rearrange the order of sports modes to put your most-used activities at the top of the list on the watch. If you primarily run and cycle, move those two modes to positions 1 and 2 so you don't scroll through 100 modes every time you start a workout.

Step 11: Set Up GPS (GPS Models Only)

If your watch has built-in GPS (COLMI P82, V75, V76), there's a brief initial GPS setup to optimise acquisition speed:

Open Da Fit and ensure the watch is connected
Go outdoors with your phone and watch
Start a GPS outdoor workout (running or cycling mode) and allow the GPS to acquire satellite lock — this typically takes 20 to 45 seconds on first use
The initial GPS fix downloads ephemeris data that speeds up future GPS acquisitions significantly

For phone-connected GPS (all other COLMI watches): ensure location permission is granted to Da Fit and that location services are enabled on your phone. During an outdoor workout with the Da Fit app open in the background, the watch will use your phone's GPS for route tracking automatically.

Step 12: Set Your Alarm

One of the most appreciated features of smartwatches for new users is the vibration alarm — a gentle wrist buzz that wakes only you without disturbing a partner. To set it up:

In Da Fit → Device → Alarm
Tap the "+" button to add a new alarm
Set your wake time and repeat days (weekdays, daily, etc.)
Enable vibration (usually on by default)
Save the alarm — it syncs to the watch immediately

The vibration alarm works even when your phone is on silent and Bluetooth is connected. It also works independently of your phone after syncing, so if your phone runs out of battery overnight, the watch alarm still fires.

Your First Week: What to Focus On

With setup complete, here's what to pay attention to in your first week of wearing:

Day 1–2: Simply wear the watch consistently and let it collect baseline data. Don't change your behaviour yet.
Day 3–5: Review your first sleep scores and step counts in Da Fit. Notice which days have better or worse sleep scores.
Day 5–7: Track your resting heart rate trend establishing in the app's heart rate history. Note your baseline.
End of Week 1: Try your first sports mode workout — select the relevant mode from the watch, start it before beginning your activity, and stop it when you're done. Review the session data in Da Fit afterwards.

After two weeks of consistent wearing, your Da Fit data will have established meaningful personal baselines for resting heart rate, sleep quality, and daily activity — the foundation for using your COLMI watch as a genuine health monitoring tool rather than just a notification display. Welcome to wearable health tracking.

How to Set Up Your COLMI Smartwatch for the First Time: A Complete Beginner's Guide