Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch review: better luck next time – The Verge

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The kindest thing I can say about the new $299 Gen 6 iteration of Fossil’s long-running smartwatch series is this: it’s not entirely Fossil’s fault that it’s bad.

The company reportedly learned that Google and Samsung had teamed up to finally revitalize the Wear OS software Fossil’s been using at the same time we did: this past May at Google IO. And so Fossil’s 2021 smartwatch lineup is running software that hasn’t been meaningfully improved since at least 2019 and it won’t receive the latest software until late 2022. Samsung has smartwatches that run on Wear OS 3 and do so competently, Fossil is stuck on Wear OS 2.

Running old software is not inherently a bad thing — old software is often battle tested, reliable, and fast. Sadly, none of those adjectives apply here and Fossil compounded Wear OS 2’s issues by cramming in features it’s unable to support.

It’s an ugly situation for a handsome watch.

Good Stuff

  • Looks nice
  • Always-on screen
  • Customizable watchfaces

Bad Stuff

  • Poor battery life
  • Slow software
  • Health features are incomplete

Fossil’s Gen 6 smartwatches come in a few different styles that are all built around a single design. It has a 44mm round casing with a 1.28-inch round OLED screen. There are two buttons flanking the main center crown, which also can be rotated to scroll around on the watch.

I like the look of the Gen 6 watch, but I also have always had a soft spot for larger watches — even though my wrists are on the smaller side. Fossil may not be taking any risks with the design, but it has just enough character to look nice.

Battery life has been a bit of a disappointment. It can get through a day and to the next morning if I don’t push the watch with exercise tracking, but it doesn’t take too much use to send me looking for a charger well before bed. There are a few different power modes — and if you really want you can dig in further and turn off specific features to eke out more battery life. If there’s a bright spot, it’s charging. Since Fossil is using direct-contact pogo pins that connect more securely than older models, it’s able to juice up fast.

Fossil had filled out the sensor array to match what you can get from other popular smartwatches, including a blood oxygen monitor — though it doesn’t have an EKG monitor like competing watches.

A smartwatch out of time

The Fossil Gen 6 is a large watch, but it looks good on my wrist.

Unfortunately, having the sensors isn’t the same thing as offering the health tracking. Google Fit is woefully behind Apple Health in its features and Fossil itself is not set up to offer its own health apps. The result is that while you can take individual readings wherever, putting them together into a holistic picture is a hassle at best.

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Source: https://www.theverge.com/22764448/fossil-gen-6-smartwatch-review

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