Gadget review: sWaP Rebel Mobile Phone Watch

How do you make a phone call on something that looks like it's straight out of Honey I Shrunk the Kids?

After popping open the back of my neon sWaP Rebel to insert my SIM card, I was ready to go. Its tiny 1.46in 176 x 132 pixel touchscreen fired into life and I was greeted by an analogue style clock – it works as a watch at least! Even if you have pixie fingers, you're going to struggle with a screen slightly larger than a postage stamp, so sWaP have usefully included a mini extendable stylus built into the watch strap. Also built-in is a USB connector, which doubles as the fastening mechanism of the watch itself. Making a call was relatively painless, although a trifle slow – prodding flea-size digits takes a bit of practice. The voice-activated dialling speeded this up.

The MP3 player and movie player modes are the most useable of the bolt-on features, and although Transformers looked more like Lemmings, it was still surprisingly watchable (just). The side-mounted digital camera and video recorder did allow some James Bond-style peep photography although don't expect megapixel quality from this minipixel snapper.

Whilst it's aimed more at teenagers trying to circumvent school phone bans than serious mobile junkies, the sWaP Rebel is a fine example of geek fashion and deserves its place on Inspector Gadget's wrist.

• This article was first published in The Scotsman on April 9, 2011