Are you a fitness enthusiast looking to take your progress to a higher level? If the answer is yes, you need a Wear OS smartwatch that will transform your athletic world. Fossil sport delivers comfort and all-round quality design.
Fossil has been a significant competitor manufacturer of smartwatches for years. In 2018, they released a popular brand called Fossil Sport. The smartwatch combines the modest features that embrace great value to fitness enthusiasts.
The manufacturer is known to base its smartwatches on Google’s Wear OS platform, making it appealing to most consumers. For one reason, featuring the updated Qualcomm wear 3100 processor in a fitness smartwatch and sport-minded features make the fossil sport more intriguing than most rivals in the market.
Why we like it:
- Lightweight and fashionable
- Affordable
- Compact and comfortable
- Supports Google assistant
- Customizable buttons
- Accurate fitness tracking
- Inbuilt heart rate monitor and GPS
Why we hate it:
- Battery life is disappointing
- The software is buggy
- A new processor does not make a huge difference in performance
Looking at the specification of the fossil sport, the manufacturer wants to appeal to users. High-end performance is expected from this sports watch. In the following section, we’ll look at the features of Fossil Sport to determine if this is the smartwatch that fitness enthusiasts can go for.
Price and Availability
Fossil sport was launched in the year 2018. The initial price was $275, which consumers found to be too expensive. After a few months in the market, the price was reduced to $99. You will find fossil sport in two sizes. The 41mm model is designed in blush and black colors. On the other hand, the 43mm model comes in black, Smokey blue, and navy colors.
Performance
Fossil launched its first smartwatch that runs on a snapdragon wear 3100 processor. The processor is an improvement of the predecessor of the Snapdragon wear 2100. The improvement is expected to provide significant performance. However, architecture improvement does not deliver as excellently as expected.
Looking at the speed, launching apps on the fossil sport, and interacting with the menus may take a few seconds to wait before receiving a response. The touchscreen response is relatively good, but fossil can do better. You will not want to wait for the while that Play store takes to load, especially when you connect the smartwatch to Wi-Fi.
Fossil sport has excellent features such as Google assistant and GPS. However, the response can be disappointing sometimes. It would be best if you were prepared to wait before GPS starts. Given that the watch does not initiate automatic tracking for your workout, you can be frustrated if you forgot to launch the same. If the sports watch turns unresponsive, it will get you back to the home screen.
However, these disappointments are not a surprise. Comparing the Snapdragon Wear 3100 and the later version of snapdragon Wear 2100, there is no considerable difference in the technical details. This explains the redundancy in some operations on fossil sport.
Design and Display
Fossil sport comes with a stylish design. The manufacturer focused more on improving fashion than including a sporty mind. The previous fossil smartwatch models had inbuilt GPS and functions that offered accurate tracking on most workouts.
Things are different from fossil sport as the design elements are stylish but do not provide the best workout functionalities. The sport watch has a crystal and stainless steel finish that appear comfortable. However, the watch is more relevant for lifestyle wear rather than fitness wear.
Despite the few flaws, fossil sport is noticeably lightweight compared to some rivals and other predecessors. For instance, the 41mm model has less weight than fossil Q Venture HR. The 45 mm model appears excellent for people with larger wrist circumference.
Fossil sport is also designed with buttons that can be customized to meet personal preferences. You can set the buttons to launch a different app in the fossil sports watch. A crown button in the middle is used to adjust volume and scroll through the menus. The watch has dedicated a microphone jack between the buttons since there is no loudspeaker. The response of these buttons is quite appealing.
The heart rate monitor is located between the charging rings of the fossil sports watch. The strap around the HRM doesn’t weigh too heavy and is resistant to sweat and water.
Generally, a fossil sports watch feels comfy to wear due to its lightweight and build.
Battery Life
Fossil sport comes with a battery that can sustain for 24 hours. The battery works best with the improved new processor. The previous processor model, Snapdragon Wear 2100, could take 18 hours. The 3100 processor automatically turns off the wear OS and enables battery saver, which helps squeeze power consumption. However, the battery saver limits most functionality of fossil sport.
Most fitness enthusiasts can find battery life quite disappointing. Once the watch has switched to battery saver mode, you can only view time on the screen. Battery saver mode is turned on by default at 15 %. Workouts that take long hours can find this battery life terrible.
Fitness Features
Fitness enthusiasts might not find fossil sports fitness to be sophisticated maximally. Fossil can make better improvements when it comes to fitness tracking. The watch has a couple of built-in fitness applications. Similarly, the consumer can install third-party apps to track daily workouts and ensure fitness goals are met. Some of the preinstalled app on fossil sport include Fit, Fit Workout, Nike Run Club, and Fit Breath.
Unlike other competitors, fitness sport limits you on the third-party app to install from the play store. The watch provides relevant information regarding steps walked, heart rate, and mileage coverage. Other useful features, such as activity sharing and heart-rate zones, are available.
Google fit is an excellent app on fossil sport as it offers workouts to choose from. However, the app does not really track reps for most of the workouts available on its platform. The app performs excellently in tracking spinning and running.
Accuracy
Fossil Sport smartwatch provides accurate results during workouts. Fitness enthusiasts can monitor heart rates confidently despite the fossil sport having flaws in other performances. Similarly, the watch can be used to obtain results for runners. Tracking steps for both walking and running is made easy and accurate.
However, fitness enthusiasts cannot achieve the most significant fitness tracking on this device. Fitness enthusiasts looking to obtain detailed information from fossil sport can find other alternatives.
Specs
Fossil sport features a simple and fashionable design. The following are the key specifications you will find on this sports watch.
| Battery life | 24 hours |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 |
| Display | AMOLED touchscreen |
| Water-resistant | Up to 164 feet |
| Supports | Wi-Fi and Bluetooth |
| System | Wear OS |
| GPS | Yes |
Conclusion
Based on the performance, battery life, and fitness features in fossil sport, the smartwatch can do better in time with improvements on the Wear OS. We can give credit to the fashionable design and lightweight, making it feel comfortable on the wrist. If you are getting started with workout activities, fossil sport can be a good starting point. However, fitness enthusiasts can find advanced options.
