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- cross-posted to:
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Fossil is quitting smartwatches::Fossil is going to stop making smartwatches. It was one of the most prolific companies creating Wear OS watches.
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Damn. Big fan of their hybrid smart watches (e-ink screen, ~10 day battery and looked like a watch).
Anyone know of any good similar products?
Withings. Small oled display, looks like an analog watch until you use it. Ton of sensors to monitor your health, or none if you don’t want that. And a huge battery. Like huge enough to lose the charger between charges 😆
I’ll second this, stupid good battery life but a fairly simple watch. Doesn’t do apps but it does health tracking and notifications and it’s pretty good at looking like a watch instead of a toy.
Easily the best actual watch with sensors option. Love mine, and being waterproof too is fantastic.
Don’t they demand a subscription for any useful data like Ouraring does?
The subscription is totally optional. I never bought it, and I get everything I need on the app.
I don’t know of any e-ink displays outside of Fossil but give Garmin a try. I use the Vivoactive 4 and get a week+ of battery.
I went from Pebble > Fossil > Garmin.
Watchy which is open source and comes in a build it yourself kit has an e-ink display.
I came across the project before but they don’t have biometric stats that I was looking for.
Yikes, it’s also square… I still can’t believe Apple fans haven’t realized how shitty those look.
Yep - Garmin Venu 3 here. I just charged and it’s telling me 15 days of battery, but with my use I’ll probably charge it in 12-13 days.
Garmin are atrocious compared to hybrid watches or the legendary pebble. Had one for like a week before I sent it back, there was so much wrong with it.
Care to elaborate?
My Hybrid’s screen died under 9 months of use. The e-ink screen started to fade. Not sure if it was from sun light or maybe knocked around.
I haven’t had the Garmin for as long yet but it’s nice enough to use outdoors.
Even more, I get pretty consistently 3 weeks per charge with my fossil hybrid
Garmin is know for excellent battery life. I don’t think they use e-ink though.
A much bigger drawback (to me at least) they lack Google Pay support and keep pushing Garmin Pay which is not widely supported.
?
Is there really any functional difference which backend is providing that virtual card number? I have never seen a terminal anywhere that A) supported contactless in the first place, but B) did not work with the Garmin Pay feature of my Fenix 6. Even out in the sticks. Not-a-one.
The difference is in the bank support. All contactless terminals support all NFC payment providers. But banks don’t. Each bank chooses with which services to integrate, and this part is not standardized so it requires some investment on the bank side.
Another vote for Garmin instinct (2 solar in my case). Not E-ink but oldschool style black/white LCD. Full charge with nightly pulsox is just above 2 weeks, would be 3 if i turned off nightly pulsox. With solar, if you are active outside and have a sunny climate, you probably do not need to charge basically at all.
There is also the instinct crossover for the hybrid look. But first series instincts are supposedly hit or miss on the software. And trust me, the whole analogue watch thing is nice for looks, but really you will not look at it if you have a digital clock on the watch face.
I use the tic pro 5.
Its 3-5 days a but I have everything on and work out every day.
Garmin Instinct has a 30d battery. I’ve used one for just over a year and it’s all I need from a connected watch.
My Coros Pace 2 will go 2+ weeks without a charge if I don’t use it much. Don’t think it’s e-ink and I wouldn’t really call it a smart watch. You can get texts and weather but when it syncs with the phone. It’s more of a fitness watch.
I’d love a smartwatch that, along with telling time, is just a screen that shows me my notifications and a button to pause my music.
Garmin hybrid watch might be something you’d like.
There are dozens like those…
Such as? Not doubting, I just want to know
PineTime
Another shout out for the PineTime here, which is open source.
Is it running a little Linux on there? How easy is it to program for? I want something that taps me every 15 minutes and asks if I’m doing something I want or doomscrolling.
I bought the “closed” version, since I’m not a programmer myself and rely on community efforts. So unfortunately I can’t provide you with an answer!
Edit: I don’t think Infinitime is Linux based, but it is open source: https://infinitime.io/
Withings
Withings, Garmin and Casio have them in very different styles, plus a lot of Chinese ones which names I don’t remember.
Literally months of battery time, up to unlimited for the solar ones.
As someone with a Garmin Instinct Solar, the unlimited battery is really dependent on your habits. You really need to be exposed to the sun for long periods on a daily basis for it to noticeably charge via solar. Still though the idea of a watch that you never need to charge is really neat.
I’m sure it’ll charge from the dim light of my screens just fine /s
Important thing with those is… avoid Garmin at all costs. They are nasty company who will drop support for your device 6 months after purchase forcing you to buy a new device and similar nasty moves.
what? my fenix 5x is going strong years later despite being a couple gens behind
Hardware is generally great. Software is the sucky part. And I didn’t say device stops working, but Garmin stops providing support for it, as in no software updates or bug fixes. What you buy is what you get. Perhaps first half a year you might get a fix or two if there are serious enough issues. But that’s about it. It might be different since Fenix is their premium line, but with my Forerunner it was as I describe.
Can you provide some examples…? I still have an original Vivomove that still functions fine? Not sure what you mean by “dropping” them- you’re implying they stop working when they don’t
It’s not that device stops working, but they refuse to provide updates. I have Forerunner 220, which was released at about time when Android watches were starting to be a thing. Unfortunately for me, I ran into many issues with the device, where device would freeze mid run and similar issues. I even had watch create corrupted activity file which would cause whole software to crash and restart if you tried to go into activity listing on it. I contacted Garmin, even documented all the issues, provided file system dump, etc. Garmin ignored the bug report and told me to do factory reset. Basically universal solution to them.
Then when Android started pushing features like bluetooth control from watches, Garmin dropped support for 220, and released 235, which was same hardware and slightly updated software. Forerunner 220 never got a software update again after that.
I even went so far to create my own open source tool for synchronization and activity tracking. Garmin wanted 5000$ single time payment for API access, which I was not going to give them. They are ass-backwards company when it comes to software and it shows. Even got some of their developers contact me privately to help but under a promise I won’t reveal who they are in fear of retaliation. So no thanks, Garmin never again.
Literally this. Maybe let me see a preview of notifications, but that’s not a make-or-break issue for me.
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That’s a shame. I really liked my Fossil before I switched to the Apple Watch. It did a fantastic job of looking like a normal watch while still being a decent smartwatch.
The square face of the Apple Watch really irks me.
The Apple part of the Apple Watch really irks me.
I know I’m in the minority, but I switched from a square Android watch (LG G Watch from the neolithic era) to a round watch, and I miss the square. A round screen is awkward for anything but a simple watch face, IMO. I use my new watch much less than my old watch, partly because of this, and I don’t think I’ll ever buy another one.
Visually as a watch design I agree with you. Having used quite a few round face smart watches before getting an Apple Watch I can absolutely see why Apple went with a square face. It just makes way more sense for displaying data. A square space displays more information in a an easier to read format.
I agree. I’ve gotten used to it, and I can understand its usefulness for ease of app development and density of data. But I miss having a circular watchface.
That’s precisely why they designed it this way.
That’s precisely why they designed it this way.
What? Can you explain what you mean here or is this just Apple hate?
I find it hard to believe that any company, much less one with such a high reputation for aesthetic, would design something specifically to irk people.
I think it was designed rectangular because it’s easier for smartphone app developers to make watch versions of their apps, easier to display data, and generally fits with the look of the rest of their rounded rectangular products.
As a watch it isn’t as visually appealing, but as a device it’s (arguably) more useful.
Seems like my message sounded more negative than in my head.
When you look at the design, it feels just out of place compared to traditional watch design: round, subtly ornamental, tastefully designed. Experts love to look at the finer details up close. And experts will want to buy something like Michael Kors 6th Gen or Fossil’s Gen 6 hybrid for it’s traditional look.
In contrast, Apple watch looks quite odd with its flat screen, square shape, color contrast black glass screen with matte aluminum casing. At first glance, it’s almost irritating.
But this is precisely what makes it stand out. Can one tell the difference between Seiko and Tissot? Omega vs. Rolex? An expert, maybe, but for most people, it’s just a traditional steel watch that gives you time. On the other hand, Apple watches will be instantly recognizable even at a certain distance, and irking some people is a small price to pay for this.
Apple loves to do this: after the apple watch, we got airpods, airpods max, the cheese grater Mac pro. Before, it was the magic mouse. They were not all successful, but they did stand out design-wise. And they sold well because apple doesn’t target headphone enthusiasts or watch enthusiasts; they target apple enthusiasts.
Ah! That makes sense, thank you
Will there ever be a day where I can just buy a smart watch strap to attach to my mechanic watch to get biometrics and what not?
Soon. Oura rings exist so they could be an alternative.
Invis make straps without sensors but with NFC payments.
There’s clearly a market for rings as fitness trackers so people can avoid a watch altogether
Wanting a watch strap is a bit more niche but it’ll come around as a product I’m sure.
A smart strap honestly sounds like a gap in the market. Seen quite a few people wearing a normal watch and trackers.
Don’t you need a paid subscription just to get full access to your biometric data from the Oura ring?
Yes you do.
Lol the rings that have a lifespan of 3 years or so, almost as much as a midrange smartphone and ALSO have a subscription fee that almost doubles the cost of the ring over its lifespan?
I never said they were good. Just that products are filling that gap in the market.
They have to get usable at some point, but I got tired of the (shitty off-brand) smart watch I had after a couple minutes. I replaced it with a fully analog Seiko watch and a fitness tracker ring.
Way easier to manage and still meets the needs addressed by the smart watch.
I really enjoyed my Samsung watch. I was able to give it a face that looked like a nice watch. It was round. I could get notifications without taking my phone out of my suit jacket. I still have it and it works with my work iPhone and personal android. I hardly have any use for it now that I work from home though.
Seiko are great watches. I have a couple of G-Shock watches and a Garmin heart rate monitor watch. The Garmin is kinda like a smart watch but more practical. It’s got all the sports stuff you’d ever need but GPS too. It makes for an excellent daily-driver watch.
I find HRM watches to be very handy. I can tell from checking my heart rate whether I need to slow down my running speed. I can tell if I start running for something how long I’ll last by checking my heart rate. If it’s in the “anabolic zone” I’ll crap out in a few minutes. If it’s in the “aerobic zone” I’ll crap out when my body gives up.
It’s also been handy for monitoring my general fitness. Resting heart rate, steps, floors travelled, etc. I recommend the Garmin Fenix if you ever wanna try out a ‘Smart watch’ again: https://www.garmin.com/en-GB/p/641479
I think “full blown” smart watches like the Apple Watch and Samsung Gear are largely a waste of money. I always considered getting one, but always read the largely “meh” or negative reviews from them. When I got my Galaxy S23 Ultra Verizon said I could get the Gear 5 for “free” I just had to pay $5/month for LTE service. The thing lasts about 15 hours on a single charge, it’s damn near impossible to type anything on, I’ve never used it to make or receive a phone call, the fitness tracking is nice, but unless you’re a hardcore athlete/gym rat you don’t really need it, and the sleep tracking is nice, but once again not really that useful. After about a year of using it, I’m largely over it.
I really rely on my watch for notifications in particular since it’s MUCH less intrusive to check my wrist than pull my phone out. The other big benefit for me is maps. I get a tap on the wrist when my turn is coming up, which works particularly well when walking like I’m doing a lot of in NYC this week.
That said, my watch is something like 5 years old now and I see zero reason to upgrade. I’ll wear it till it dies and then buy whatever the cheap version is.
The notifications are nice, but half the time I have my phone out anyway. I lived in NYC for 5 years (and only got the watch about 4 months before I moved away) and the directions were useful like you said, but using my phone was just as good.
Garmin vivomove.
Analog face, and a wee display that tells you whether you want to look at your phone when it buzzes. Counts steps and stuff if you’re into that. Week of battery (still 5-7 days after like 5-6 years of owning mine). Perfect daily wear.
+1 for Garmin!! I’ve got 2 Fenix watches and they’re so important to me I’d be lost without them.
The vivomove is my daily, but for many outdoor activities I’d be literally lost without the GPS forerunner!
Also they seem to be one of the lesser evils for those who care about personal data collection and brokerage.
I got the Lily, seems like one of the cheaper ones but ditto to pretty much everything you said here!
Smart watches looks interesting to me at first, but knowing how it only lasts 3-5 years and additionally companies loves to purposely make stuff obselete quickly, I’d rather just buy normal watch… Or just look at my phone’s clock.
Agreed, they’re largely A gimmick. For like the first time in 10-15 years I got a nice looking analogue watch.
yeah I got a watch 4 for free with my s22 ultra, I gave it a good shot and used it for a few months but went back to my garmin. I simply don’t need a lot of the “smart” features aside from notifications and fitness tracking, which garmin does better, and then there’s the battery… different worlds there
Yeah, I had a few FitBits before this and they were great, the battery lasted like 4-5 days. The software on this has gotten better, I think it may last a full day now, but still, that’s pretty bad. Also, I get tons of spam texts on my watch which is just flat out annoying.
Agreed, I regret buying my Galaxy Watch 4. The sleep and exercise tracking is nice to have but otherwise it is just an inconvenient watch because you have to remember to charge it daily.
Do you normally sleep while wearing your traditional style watch? Never got the “you have to charge it” argument because I took off my mechanical watch before bed and also take off my smart watch, which gets set on the dock. No extra effort.
I do wear my normal watch when I sleep, same as I want to do with my smart watch to track sleep. The normal watch comes off for showering on the morning and put back on right after while the smart watch takes longer to charge than that so I have to remember to go back and put the watch on once it finishes charging (if it has charged fully by the time I have to leave the house).
Charging it at night nullifies the sleep tracking, one of the two useful features lol
I figured mine was a safe choice/minimal loss since $5/month isn’t that much lol
I agree, I have a watch 6 classic, the battery life is absolutely shit. It’s less then 6 months old, I went to bed with it on power save and swim mode to prevent overnight activation via the screen at 80% charge, woke up today at 1pm, it was at 50%,it is now 6Pm and it is at 20%. I will never buy a Samsung watch again lol, they look real fancy but, this is rediculous. you should get more than 24h on a watch.
My old gear sport and my previous watch 3 didn’t have this issue until at least the e year mark.
Agree 100%.
I have a fitbit I think its called, charge it once a week, doesn’t have the call, mesaaging or other functions, but I just want a watch that gives me the time and doesn’t requiere to charge daily.
I love my pre-smart era Fossil watch. I hope they go back to making classy digital watches again, I would buy another.
Same. Mine is a regular watch with hour and minute hands and a digital read-out in the background that I can turn on and off. It’s nothing fancy, but I wear it with a fat black leather wrist-band which is pleasing to my easily-entertained soul.
I am a simple man in many ways.
Sucks but they couldnot keep up. I’m rocking a Garmin and am very happy with it
Ditto! Team Lily watch here. Round face, not a smart phone display, and battery lasts. I’ve had it for two years and it’s tracked me through big life ups and downs which are super interesting to look at now.
That’s sad but at the same time, their QC wasn’t that great, I had a ring fall off of one and the entire back fall off the other.
I like the style. I might just skip smart watches just because of this.
I just want Pebble back 😭😭😭
Same here!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The company announced this afternoon that it would leave the smartwatch business and redirect resources to its less-smart goods instead.
The company has been one of the most prolific makers of Wear OS smartwatches over the years, and its absence will leave a large gap in the market.
“Fossil Group is redirecting resources to support our core strength and the core segments of our business that continue to provide strong growth opportunities for us: designing and distributing exciting traditional watches, jewelry, and leather goods under our own as well as licensed brand names.”
This shouldn’t come as a huge shock if you’ve been paying attention to Fossil the past few months.
The company regularly put out smartwatches through Wear OS’s toughest years and was often a permanent fixture at CES.
What’s more, Fossil was expected to announce news of a new Gen 7 featuring the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Plus platform in 2023 — however, it was nothing but crickets the entire year.
The original article contains 287 words, the summary contains 160 words. Saved 44%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Quitting, you barely started.
