Fossil released its latest smartwatch, the Fossil Sport Smartwatch, and there have been numerous expectations regarding its features and performance. Read on to know if the smartwatch meets up with the expectations.
Fossil is a reputable name in the watchmaking business, even before it branched into the world of smartwatches and sports watches. However, since it broke into the market, Fossil has consistently delivered top-notch smart sports watches. The latest in the line is the Fossil Sport Smartwatch.
The Fossil Sport Smartwatch has many exciting and appealing features, but the most important one is its processor, Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 3100. This processor is a successor to the Snapdragon Wear 2100, which was the default processor for most smartwatches in the market. In fact, Fossil Sport Smartwatch is one of the first smartwatches to adopt this processor.
Thus it is understandable that users and tech enthusiasts are excited about this smartwatch. In this article, you will find more details about this processor and other features embodied in the Fossil Sport Smartwatch.
Our Verdict
Rating: 6 out of 10
With the new processor and its sleek design, the Fossil Sport Smartwatch is enticing and comfortable to use. Its new processor equips it with new features that make it stand out among its peers. However, it is not without its drawback. The smartwatch's battery life is nothing to write home about, which is a major drawback by itself. If Fossil can devote more time to making the battery stronger and durable, the Fossil Sport Smartwatch could be one of the best sports smartwatches on the market.
Why we like it:
- It is lightweight
- Has a comfortable feel
- Has an in-built GPS
- It is waterproof and has a legible display
Why we hate it:
- Has a poor battery life
- Doesn't track sleep or swimming activities
- Wear OS is slow
Design and Display
- Uses a classic and traditional watch design
- Has silicone straps, which makes it comfortable to use
- The display screen is impressive
Coming from a traditional watchmaker, the Fossil Sport Smartwatch features a classic design. It has a round dial and three crown-like buttons on the right side of the smartwatch. The center button has a rotating crown-like function for shuffling through options on the watch and adjusting volumes, while the other two buttons allow you to open an app.\
The Fossil Sport Smartwatch comes in two sizes, 43mm and 41mm (both cost the same). Regardless of the size, the watch has an upper aluminum part resting on a lower part made from nylon. The Fossil Sport Smartwatch then completes this setup with silicone straps. These straps measure 22m in length and are detachable, so you can change them whenever you want to. This combination makes the watch lightweight and comfortable to use.
With a 1.2inch OLED display screen, you can expect the best clarity and legibility from the Fossil Sport Smartwatch. The watch's screen is bright and easy to read even under sunlight. This is due to the impressive feature that enables the display screen to adjust according to ambient light. Another impressive feature is the touchscreen feature of the smartwatch. Thus, you need not use the buttons at all times.
Overall, Fossil Sport Smartwatch has an excellent design and display feature. It looks good and feels good on your wrist.
Performance
- The watch uses a new processor
- Has a sluggish and poor response rate, especially when launching apps
- Has manageable smartwatch features
- Works better with Android devices than iOS devices.
Before discussing the performance of this smartwatch, let's examine its technical features that determine its performance. The Fossil Sport Smartwatch runs on a Snapdragon 3100 processor from Qualcomm and a Wear OS from Google. It also uses a 4GB storage space and has numerous sensors, including a heart rate sensor, altimeter, and accelerometer.
The watch also comes with NFC GPS, Bluetooth, and WIFI connectivity. You also get a microphone for inputting voice commands, but no speaker. Thus, the results of your voice commands get displayed on the screen. The smartwatch is compatible with iOS, Android, and requires a connection with the Wear OS app to function.
Starting with the Snapdragon 3100 processor, its processor employs another co-processor's services to execute little tasks such as time-telling, power conservation, and many others. As a result, these tasks are faster, and the execution lag associated with the older processor (Snapdragon 2100 Wear OS) is reduced.
However, the expected execution speed didn't cut across all other tasks on this smartwatch. One notable example is the time taken for the Google Assistant feature on the smartwatch to launch. It takes some seconds for the feature to come on.
The issue persists when you try to open complex apps like Google Playstore, Google Maps, or Uber. Launching these apps can take minutes, which is annoying in itself. This delay in app launch is not due to internet connection nor GPS. The processor is simply slower than expected.
As a result, it is thus clear that a new processor is not the solution to Wear OS watches' slow nature. Rather, the new CPU adds some features, such as the Ambient mode, which ensures that the watch stays on with the time displayed on the screen even when not in use.
The smartwatch comes with preinstalled apps such as Fit Breath, Fit Workout, Nike Run Club, and many more. While you can get more apps from Google Playstore, there are not many options available there. Moreover, to use complex apps such as Uber on the Fossil Sport Smartwatch, you will need to authorize it through your phone.
It is easy to navigate through the smartwatch, thanks to its Wear OS. Swiping up, down, right, and left allows you to access toggle options, unread notifications, Google Assistant, and Tiles, respectively.
For a smartwatch, its performance is a bit manageable. It allows you to control music players on your phone, shows notifications easily, and alerts you about incoming calls with a mild vibration.
While the smartwatch is compatible with Android and iOS, you will enjoy using the Fossil Sport Smartwatch with Android devices better than with iOS devices. As an example, you can reply to chat notifications through this smartwatch if connected to an Android device, a feat that is impossible with an iOS device. The Fossil Sport Smartwatch can only reply to the chat notifications for apps with the watch version when connected with an iPhone.
Lastly, Fossil Sport Smartwatch allows you to download music from Google Playstore Music. You can also use the Spotify Watch App; however, you can only use it to control that on your phone and not play music directly on the watch.
Fitness Features
- Comes with preinstalled fitness apps
- Provides basic heart rate and step tracking metrics
- Allows installation of third-party fitness apps.
- Doesn't allow for swimming tracking without a third-party app
One of the headlining features of the Fossil Sport Smartwatch, when it came out, was its fitness features. However, as you would find out from this review, there are not many exciting features about the smartwatch's fitness features.
You get the official Google fitness app, Google Fit, preinstalled on the smartwatch. You also get the chance to get other fitness applications, although those are limited to Google Playstore and must be compatible with the Wear OS. Examples of these applications include Strava and Runtastic.
With the Wear Os, you get some fitness features, which include Heart Points and Move Minutes. These features give metrics such as mileage covered, the number of steps walked, heart resting rate, and heart peak rate.
With the preinstalled Google Fit app, you also get some workout options to choose from. These options include badminton, CrossFit, and Fornite Dancing (Flossing). These are helpful and beneficial workout routines.
However, the Google Fit app doesn't count reps for any of these workouts, except flossing. The only metrics you get from the Google Fit app is the number of calories burned, and it uses the heart rate to compute the metric. You are more likely to get better metrics from the app if you use it for tracking your running or spinning routines.
You may want to download Strava if you are big on cycling and running. The app will give you more metrics on these activities than Google Fit would. Thus, you will get details of your split pace per run with Strava and save workout routines faster, feats that are impossible with Google Fit.
On the upside, the heart rate measurement by the Fossil Sport Smartwatch is accurate. This fact is regardless of whether you use the smartwatch alone or connect it to a chest strap. The same thing can be said for its GPS features too.
You can also track your swimming activities with this smartwatch, although that requires a third-party app, as neither Google Fit nor the Fossil Sport Smartwatch itself tracks swimming. The waterproof feature of the smartwatch accounts for its ability to track swimming. However, you should be careful with the waterproof feature. There is no information on the official IP rating; thus, it is difficult to determine the water depth to which the waterproof feature lasts.
Battery Life
Thanks to the Snapdragon 3100 processor, the battery of the Fossil Sport Smartwatch has improved greatly. The battery can now go 24 hours on a full recharge against the 18 hours allowed by its predecessor. This 24- hour duration includes workout periods and the likes.
Also, there is a Battery Saver mode, enabled by the processor. With this mode, you can get a whole week of use from a full recharge, but this means you will have to turn off most of the smartwatch's features.
The watch also has a magnetic charging port that allows you to charge within an hour. And since there is no sleep tracking feature, you can easily charge the smartwatch during the night.
However, despite all of these improvements made by the Snapdragon 3100 processor, the battery of the Fossil Sport Smartwatch is poor by industry standards. Other brands and models of smartwatches last 2 to 3 days, even with better smartwatches and fitness features.
Who's this for?
The Fossil Sport Smartwatch is suitable for general use. You can connect your smartphone to the smartwatch and carry out certain tasks and activities from the smartwatch. However, the fitness features make the Fossil Sport Smartwatch better suited for sportspeople or people who work out a lot. The smartwatch has features that help them keep tabs on their workout routines and the likes.
Competition
As with many digital products, other smartwatches have similar features and can serve as an alternative to the Fossil Sports Smartwatch. In this section, we will review some of the alternatives to Fossil Sports Smartwatch.
Recently, Samsung churned out two smartwatches, Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 1 and Active 2. While the two smartwatches are quality timepieces, the second one, Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2, is the obvious superior and the worthy alternative to the Fossil Sports Smartwatch.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 runs on Samsung's in-house software, Tizen. However, that doesn't mean that it is not compatible with Android devices. The only hitch in its compatibility is the delay that occurs when connecting the smartwatch to a non-Samsung phone.
Apart from this glitch, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 works wonderfully well. It has an exciting design, operates fast enough, and has some useful fitness apps and features. The battery of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 is also manageable as it lasts for over 24 hours.
However, it has certain downsides too. Its ecosystem is poor and doesn't allow you to use any map app. Also, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 is not compatible with iOS devices.
This is another worthy competitor and alternative to the Fossil Sports Smartwatch. The Versa 2 is a fitness tracker designed and manufactured by Fitbit, a powerhouse in the smartwatch industry.
While this smartwatch doesn't have many smartwatch features, it makes do as an excellent fitness tracker. It has numerous fitness features, and what's more, its battery lasts a whopping five days.
These smartwatches are the possible alternatives and competitors for the Fossil Sports Smartwatch.
Conclusion
On average, Fossil Sports Smartwatch is a good smartwatch. However, expectations were quashed, as many people expected more from the smartwatch due to its improved processor. However, the disappointment should take focus away from the applaudable features of the smartwatch.
