I received the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 as part of a review program in return for an unbiased review. Mobvoi had no editorial rights to my review, and they received no preview copy of the evaluation.
The watch costs £329 at the time of this review.
Pro:
- Extremely long battery life (upward of 4 days)
- Lightweight
- Activity tracker
- A highly readable secondary display
- Goes into an essential mode to save battery if there's no activity
- Syncs Do Not Disturb (DND) with phone
Cons:
- The vibration motor is a bit weak
- Proprietary charger
- No Google Assistant
- Can go into essential mode and lose connection with the watch.
Style
The product inherits the design style of previous Mobvoi watches and subtly improves on it. For example, the two protruding crowns that graced previous Mobvoi watches are gone. Instead, the Pro 5 has one rotating crown and one recessed button. A single tap of the top button triggers the recently used app list. And double pressing that top button launches Google Wallet. The rotating crown triggers the "back" button and the button to launch the app. Double pressing the crown launches the most recently used app. However, you can't customize the action of the controls. For example, you can't change the app launched by double pressing the top button.
The crown is less pronounced than the previous generation watches, so that's a step in the right direction. In addition, the crown is now rotating and can be used to scroll through items.
The watch utilizes a low-power secondary display that is easily read under bright sunlight. The watch face of this lower power display cannot be changed, though.
The watch band of the Pro 5 is silicone, which means it does not suffer the stress creases of the Pro 3 Ultra. Thankfully, the band is longer than the Pro 3 Ultra. The band of the Pro 5 measures around 10 inches.
Technology
Activity tracking
The TicWatch Pro 5 (and just about most other smartwatches), this watch tracks heart rate, steps, activity, etc. However, it comes with a few added features. It has IHB AFiB Detection and 24-hour stress monitoring. A "one-click measurement" feature measures pulse, Oxygen, breathing, and stress all in one go. As with the Pro 3, the Pro 5 didn't sense the sport that accurately, and you had to manually select the sport. The watch can auto-detect walks, runs, and cycling, but in my experience, it only said I had walked for 1 minute, while I know I have walked for at least 10-20 min during my commute to work.
Vibration motor
The vibration motor on this watch isn't as strong as the Samsung, but it's strong enough.
Battery life
Mobvoi watches are the king of battery life, and the TicWatch Pro 5 is no slouch. The watch's battery easily lasts 2-3 days and, for me, pushes on to the 4th day. This means I do not have to worry about charging my watch daily. The watch also comes with fast charging, so it doesn't have to dwell on the charger for long. It can charge the watch from 30% to 100% in under an hour. The website says a 30-minute charge will give you 65% battery. And this technology is not reliant on the charger since the Pro 3 Ultra charger also gives you a fast charge on the Pro 5.
Mobvoi says it would last 80 hours in normal "smart" mode. One new feature Mobvoi introduces with the Pro 5 is the "smart essential mode." The watch will switch to essential mode automatically. Under Smart Essential Mode, during the scheduled time slot, your TicWatch will only switch to Essential Mode if you wear it to sleep or leave it off your wrist for more than 30 minutes.
The essential mode only uses the secondary display and allows you to see your steps and battery life along with the time and date.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 classic lasts about a day of heavy use and will often have 40% battery life at the end of the day unless I top it up during the day.
One drawback of the watch is that the TicWatch Pro 5 uses a proprietary charger. However, this problem is not unique to the TicWatch Pro 5. Even Samsung's wireless charger is proprietary and won't charge with ordinary Qi chargers. However, Samsung sells a charger device that charges 2 devices plus a watch simultaneously. And the watch can reverse charge from a Galaxy phone.
Wear OS version
The watch comes with Wear OS 3, upgradable to Wear OS 3.5. With this change, you pair the watch with the Mobvoi Health app rather than a separate Wear OS app. Unlike the Samsung Wear app, you can't fully customize the watch's settings through the phone. However, like the Samsung device, TicWatch Pro 5's "do not disturb" setting syncs with the phone, which is a significant improvement over the previous watches.
Although the watch has the same apps as Google's and Samsung's Wear OS 3.5 watches, the TicWatch Pro 5 doesn't come with Google Assistant. However, during my 2 weeks of use, I rarely used the assistant on my watch. Although it supports control of my smart home devices, it does not support routines. When I'm at home, I tend to use my Google Home devices anyway, and if I'm on the way, I will use my headphones to trigger the Google Assistant from my phone.
Now let's segue to software updates. When it comes to smart devices, OS updates are just as important as hardware features. Mobvoi doesn't have the best track record for updating their watches. The Pro 3 and Pro 3 Ultra's promised OS 3 update was severely delayed. And according to XDA developer, Mobvoi told a customer that the update would come in Q3 of 2023. This spans a 3-month period from July to September.
Mobvoi released a statement on Twitter, which says the reason for the delay is due to the dual system architecture used by the E3, Pro 3, and Pro 3 Ultra:
We sincerely acknowledge your concerns and understand that you may be disappointed by the fact that our TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, TicWatch Pro 3, and TicWatch E3 have not yet been upgraded to Wear OS 3. We apologize for any inconvenience and frustration this may have caused. Our commitment to delivering the upgrade remains unwavering. We share the same enthusiasm and eagerness as you do about this upgrade.Please allow us to clarify the reasons behind this. Our TicWatch utilizes the SDW4100 chipset and a Mobvoi proprietary dual system architecture. This necessitates further architecture upgrades and performance debugging when updating to Wear OS 3 to guarantee the highest level of software quality and user experience. Rest assured, we are actively working on this matter.We will soon be conducting an extensive closed beta testing phase. Please stay tuned for our official announcements if you are interested in participating.
According to this post on Reddit, Mobvoi has once again slipped their Q3 deadline.
I emailed the Mobvoi rep for their plan to update the Pro 5 to WearOS 4, and they replied to me with the following statement:
Hi,
Sorry I missed your email. For the W4 update, currently we have not received such information. We will announce it as soon as it is confirmed
Sleep sensing
The watch comes with sleep sensing, which tracks the quality of sleep. Compared to previous watches, the watch now comes with real-time SPO2 sensing. Also, the watch is more comfortable to wear during sleep.
TicWatch Pro 5 Watch specs (from TicWatch website)
Physical specs
Dimensions (mm): 50.1(H) x 48.0(L) x 12.2(D)
Weight: 44.3g
Color: Obsidian (Black)
Watch Case: Metal, 7000seriese aluminum and high-strength nylon with fiberglass
Watch Strap: Solid silicone (interchangeable), 24mm.
Durability: 5ATM, Open Water Swim/MIL-STD-810H
Technical specs
Operating System: Wear OS 3.5
Chipset Platform: Snapdragon® W5+ Gen 1 Wearable Platform
Memory: RAM: 2GB / ROM: 32GB
Display:
- 1.43 "466*466 326ppi
- Full Color Always On Display AMOLED + Ultra-low-power Display
- Corning Gorilla Anti-fingerprint Cover Glass
Connectivity:
- Bluetooth 5.2
- Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz
- GNSS: GPS+Beidou+Glonass+Galileo+QZSS
NFC Payments: Google Pay, 13.56MHz
Battery Capacity: 628mAh (typical)
Compatibility: Android 8.0 or newer
Application: Mobvoi Health
Additional features:
- Speaker
- Mic
- Vibrator
- PPG
- Barometer
- Compass
Sensors:
- Accelerometer
- Gyro Sensor
- HD PPG Heart Rate Sensor
- SpO2 Sensor
- Skin Temperature Sensor
- Low Latency Off-Body Sensor
- Barometer
- Compass
Conclusion
Mobvoi is a champion with battery life, and their dual-display technology is extremely legible even in bright sunlight. TicWatch Pro 5 continues this trend of excellence in the TicWatch Pro 3 and Pro 3 Ultra.
The watch has a couple of minor negatives. But the biggest is Mobvoi's track record regarding software upgrades. Their TicWatch E3, Pro 3, and Pro 3 Ultra have not received the promised Wear OS 3.0 update. Even then, Wear OS 3 is 3 generations behind Wear OS 3.5. Plus, there is Wear OS 4 on the horizon, making Wear OS 3.0 4 generations behind.
Although I can recommend the watch based on hardware features alone, Mobvoi's updated track record is not the greatest. And the reply from the Mobvoi rep isn't reassuring. Therefore, I can only recommend with the caveat that the watch will be delayed in being updated to Wear OS 4 or not updated at all. If the software is important to you, I would give this a miss.
