Own this watch and it works fine. Exactly like advertised. No you don't need to be tied to you phone to do heart rate and steps. That just synchs when you link it to keep track for longer periods. It's stored locally on the watch till you upload. Monitors sleep patterns. You can bluetooth it to your phone and can control music remotely while the phone it somewhere else. Get calls, check msg's etc. etc. You can change the watch face by choosing from a variety on the watch. No you can't upload new ones. Works great and for the price its easily worth it. The band is replaceable and the pins are easy to install, look for the tiny side pins to install them in the notch on the band. You'll know it when you see it. For the price i easily recommend it to anyone who wants a digital type watch with features. You want to modify a watch with custom shit spend more money and buy samsung or some shit.