It’s not an easy time to shop for a wearable. You’re bound to be overwhelmed with the multitude of options across price points. Mobvoi is among a long list of wearable companies that have begun to expand their India portfolio. A couple of months ago, we checked out the TicWatch Pro 2020. It’s still one of the best Google Wear OS smartwatches you can buy in India.
Aside from the premium build (a polyamide and glass fibre case with a stainless steel bezel), the TicWatch Pro 2020 also impressed us with an innovative layered display. This clever solution layers an LCD screen on top of a vibrant AMOLED display allowing you to push the battery life from 2 days to 30 days with a simple display switch. While this is a premium, Rs 20,000 plus smartwatch, Mobvoi has added the more affordable TicWatch GTX to its India line-up.
The build looks refined for a budget smartwatch. The brushed metal case is well built, while the TPU (Thermoplastic polyurethane) strap is comfortable to wear for long durations. I even wore it overnight – to check the watch’s sleep tracking feature, a handy add-on at this price point. The GTX is kitted with a 1.28-inch (240 x 240 pixel) display that’s encased within a 48mm chassis. You can’t use the circular bezel for navigation. There are two buttons on the right spine plus touchscreen navigation. It’s comforting to note that the watch is IPS68 certified; yes, you can plunge into the pool and track your swim.
Swimming is among the 14 workouts you can track on this watch. This long list also includes sports like Soccer and Basketball. I paired the watch with the Mobvoi companion App on a Google Pixel 4a; this App is also available on iOS. The App offers basic fitness insights like step and calorie counts. You can also customise the alerts – that include call and text alerts on your wrist. There’s also a choice of cool watch faces including the option of customising your watch face; pretty handy. Unlike the TicWatch Pro 2020, this one runs on Mobvoi’s Realtime OS that is certainly not as refined as Wear OS.
In terms of hardware, there’s no GPS or Wi-Fi connectivity. You’re tied to Bluetooth to hook up with your smartphone. There are a couple of other additional menus like Weather and Music control. The most impressive aspect of the hardware is the battery that can stretch up to 10 days. Based on my usage and battery levels over about four days, this seems to be an accurate claim.
The TicWatch GTX delivers decent value at its price tag. It looks sharp and offers quite a few fitness features, water and dust protection as well as a 10-day battery life with a crisp display. If you’re in the market for an entry level smartwatch with basic fitness features and alerts on your wrist, the TicWatch GTX deserves to be in your consideration set.
The TicWatch GTX is priced at Rs 5,999/-
