Things have been rather quiet on Google’s Wear OS front. Not long ago, Google announced that it was acquiring Fitbit; almost ever since we haven’t seen too many wearables powered by Google’s Wear OS. But there’s been a flurry of activity on the wearables scene and it’s not just Bluetooth earbuds that have almost become a must have in the WFH era with back to back Zoom meetings. We’ve seen wearable brands like Amazfit and also brands like Huawei and OPPO jump into the action as they mount a challenge to established players like Apple, Samsung and Fitbit.
The TicWatch Pro from wearables company Mobvoi is the first major Google Wear OS propelled smartwatch to launch in India in a while. But the bigger story is the display. Mobvoi has kitted this wearable 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. You can choose between a bright display or battery life depending on your usage pattern.
Design is another strong suit of this watch. The TicWatch Pro is finished with a polyamide and glass fibre case with a stainless steel bezel. The other cool touch is a hybrid strap – leather on the outside and silicone on the inside. It might be handy at a time when you can head to a meeting without a mask after a gym workout. You can swap straps without a fuss, although I doubt you’d find a hybrid strap like the one fitted with the watch. The watch looks every inch premium and the 1.39-inch circular AMOLED display (400 x 400 pixels) offers excellent visibility even under direct sunlight. We checked out the Shadow Black colour option; there’s also a Liquid Metal silver colour option.
Google’s Wear OS certainly offers more functionality than the custom Operating systems that power some of the other wearables. You can download apps directly from the watch (via the smartphone data connection); the watch pairs seamlessly with Android and iOS devices. There’s a nice bunch of watch faces that complement the elegant form factor of the smartwatch and handy apps like Google Translate and Assistant. You get a bunch of fitness features, sleep tracking and notifications. And yet, Wear OS certainly doesn’t offer the same number of Apps and functionality of Apple’s Watch OS. If you’re an iPhone user, you might still be able to score an Apple Watch series 3 at a similar price.
Mobvoi has opted for the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor to power the TicWatch Pro. It’s a puzzling decision given that the next gen Qualcomm 3100 processor has already made its way under the hood of newer smartwatches. But it doesn’t impact performance, the device is responsive – there’s 1GB of RAM and 4GB of Internal memory.
The TicWatch Pro 2020 is a well-built device with a hardware spec sheet to keep the device chugging along. The dual display is a great innovation and allows you to manage battery life effectively. The device lands between pricier watches from brands like Samsung and Apple and aggressively priced wearables like Amazfit’s T-REX or the Huawei Watch GT-2. The form factor and the Google Wear OS advantage might justify the premium for some users.
The TicWatch Pro 2020 is priced at Rs 23,999
