The Samsung Watch8 Classic is a great smartwatch with long battery life. The design can be a bit unusual, though, featuring a unique combination of a circular screen and a square frame. While I don't mind the shape, I feel this design choice makes it a bit chunkier.
In addition, the band of the watch doesn't have a lot of holes, and for a big guy like me, I had to put the band in the last hole. One drawback is that this watch won't fit bands made for previous watches. It uses a proprietary attachment mechanism that clicks into place. The mechanism is easier to install compared to previous watches, but the button can be a bit hard to press with your bare hands. I had to use a pen to press down on the button to remove the strap.
Although the watch can be worn at night to track your sleep, I find the watch a bit uncomfortable for to wear all night. It affected my sleep quality, causing me to wake up several times.
As with the other classic lines, the watch has a dial to help navigate the menu without touching the screen.
It also comes with 3 action buttons. However, the buttons are not as customizable as I would like.
Only the top button is customizable to launch any app. The middle button is relegated to a few Samsung apps:
Samsung Health
Stopwatch
Flashlight
Water lock
Camera Controller
Voice Recorder
It can also be turned off if you don't use it.
The bottom button is relegated to recent apps or going to the previous screen.
Performance and Software
The watch comes with Wear OS 6. This comes with a slight change in interface. The notifications are grouped vertically. In addition, you can combine some tiles into a daily recap screen. For me, this feature allows me to see all the important daily stats, such as weather, upcoming events, battery life, and physical attributes, all on the same page rather than having to scroll through one tile at a time.
Otherwise, the interface is similar to previous Samsung watches, which I can't complain about since the UI is refined enough to make navigation through the different options seamless. The watch is snappy and responds well to user input.
However, what I find frustrating is that some of the old watch faces that I used on my previous watches do not work and require me to edit them to get them working.
The watch routines sync with the phone, and almost all the watch functions can be adjusted using the connected phone. That means you don't have to fumble around the screen to adjust the options you want.
Health features
The watch comes with a wide array of health features, along with the usual heartbeat, blood oxygen monitor, and activity tracker.
It can also measure blood pressure, but it needs regular calibration with a physical blood pressure machine.
A new sensor on this watch is the antioxidant measurement, which supposedly can measure the amount of antioxidants in your blood. However, I have no way to test whether it's accurate or not.
The watch can detect signs of sleep apnea, which can be handy.
Battery life
I was able to squeeze 4 days of use from this watch, but I don't wear the watch overnight.
Summary
In summary, this watch's main benefit is its long battery life. However, the watch is a bit chunky, and I don't find the default watch band too comfortable. The chunkiness means that the watch may not be too comfortable to wear to bed. Nevertheless, it is a good and stylish smart watch to wear to events or during the day.
Faux leather/silicon wrist strap (if that's your style)
Activity tracker
An extremely readable secondary display
Cons:
Short wrist strap
The vibration motor is meh
Protruding side buttons
Leather wrist strap
Proprietary charger
LTE version locked to Vodafone
TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra... that's quite a mouthful. It seems the company is just tacking on words to the name. It reminds me of this video by Mrwhosetheboss.
But I digress. If you have the TicWatch Pro 3, the Ultra version is more or less the same as the TicWatch Pro 3. Unlike the Pro 3, the Ultra has an internal compass. They both have great battery life. In fact, no watch to date beat Mobvoi's Pro 3 and Pro 3 Ultra in terms of battery longevity.
Style
The TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra LTE has a dual-screen display. The second low battery secondary display reminds me of the Casio non-smartwatches.
Unlike the non-Ultra version ie TicWatch Pro 3, the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra's Secondary display can change colors. However, that setting isn't in the main watch settings and is controlled by the Essential mode app.
To change the color:
Open the Essential Mode app (using its launcher icon)
Swipe left for settings
Scroll down until you get the option for backlight color
If you want to boost the brightness of the screen, you can double-click the top page button.
The LTE version is made of faux leather/silicon hybrid. Although it looks more stylish than the non-Ultra or non-LTE version, the leather band has a few caveats.
After about two weeks of wearing, it suffered some stress on the bands, causing marks around the holes.
Also, I find the buttons a bit protruding and uncomfortable under certain conditions. The bezels on the watch are also large, making the watch a bit bulky. However, unlike the Samsung Watch 4, the bezels are useless; it does not have a rotating crown. Although the crown on the Samsung may be a bit of a gimmick for some, I use it fairly often, especially when it's raining since the touches may misregister if the screen is wet.
For me, the strap was a bit small.
In fact, out of the three watches I own, the Pro 3 Ultra is one of the smallest circumference bands. However, you can probably get bigger bands aftermarket.
Technology
Activity tracking
As with the TicWatch Pro 3 (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 hours stress monitoring.
The step counter was fairly accurate and was about 50 steps off from the Galaxy Watch 4. This is a small margin of error and can be attributed to perhaps me being more dominant on the arm that I wore the Galaxy Watch 4. One good thing about the Mobvoi watch is that it syncs with Google Fit, unlike the Samsung watch. Samsung Watch only syncs with Samsung Health and you need a third-party app like Health Sync. In my experience, it didn't sense the sport that accurately and you have to manually select the sport.
Vibration motor
The vibration motor on this watch isn't that strong compared to the Samsung but it's strong enough.
Synergy with phone
One feature on the Samsung that I miss is the synergy with the phone. The Samsung Watch syncs the do not disturb mode with the Samsung Note 20 Ultra. In addition, with the Samsung, any alarms ringing on the phone also ring on the watch, which is nice. The TicWatch Pro 3 and Pro 3 Ultra, however, lacks this feature.
Google Assistant
Unlike the Samsung watch, the Pro 3 Ultra comes with Google Assistant. However, during my 2 weeks of use, I rarely use 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 Hub Max anyway and if I'm on the way, I will use my headphones to trigger the Google assistant from my phone.
4G/LTE
Although my version provided by Mobvoi is the LTE version, it is tied to the Vodafone network. However, there is an unofficial workaround on Reddit. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is slightly more open but I found out only certain networks and certain plans support the esim on the watch. Your watch and your phone must be with the same provider.
In other words, if you want to use the watch to make independent calls, you need to be with a certain network (on your phone) and you have to pay more to support the watch. Last I checked, none of the supported providers support the watch on their PAYG plan. You need to be in with a contract with the network. There isn't a PAYG plan just for the watch.
I miss my Huawei Watch 2 when you can simply pop a sim into the smart watch and use it as a phone.
Battery life
The TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra has no contender in the battery life category. It has extremely long battery life. With its 577 mAh battery and secondary FSTN display, the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra is the king of battery life. Mobvoi says it would last 72 hours in normal "smart" mode and 45 days in the essential mode. The essential mode only uses the secondary display and allows you to see your steps and battery life along with the time and date.
Wear OS version
The watch comes with Wear OS 2.33. However, no other smartwatch apart from the Samsung Watch 4 comes with Wear OS 3.0, so I'm not going to count this as a con, unlike other review sites. The TicWatch Pro 3 and Pro 3 Ultra are slated to be upgraded to Wear OS 3 later this year.
Chipset: Qualcomm® Snapdragon Wear™ 4100 Platform and Mobvoi dual processor system
Memory:
RAM: 1GB
Onboard storage: 8GB
Display: 1.4“ 454x454 326ppi Full Color Always On Display AMOLED + FSTN
Connectivity:
Bluetooth 5.0
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (Wifi 4)
GNSS: GPS+Beidou+Glonass+Galileo+QZSS
NFC Payments: Google Pay
Additional features:
Speaker
Mic
Vibrator
Barometer
Sensors:
Accelerometer
Gyro Sensor
HD PPG Heart Rate Sensor
SpO2 Sensor
Low Latency Off-Body Sensor
Barometer
Battery capacity: 577mAh
Durability: IP68, Pool Swim/MIL-STD-810G
Conclusion
Mobvoi is a champion with battery life and their dual-display technology is extremely legible even in bright sunlight. TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra continues this trend of excellence in the TicWatch Pro 3. It has a couple of negatives though. The watch is slightly bulky and the wristband is smaller than other watches, including the TicWatch Pro 3. Also, unless you're with Vodafone or plan to switch to Vodafone, don't get the LTE version. The Bluetooth version will suffice and you will save a couple of bucks as well. For a more in-depth review, please see Brian Burriston's excellent review on Notebookcheck.net: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobvoi-TicWatch-Pro-3-Ultra-GPS-in-review-Small-update-of-a-good-smartwatch.574006.0.html.
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Today I'm reviewing the Fossil FTW 6078, which currently sells for £255.82 (as of November 22, 2020).
Pros:
Stylish
Fast
Cons:
Battery drain (doesn't last 2 days)
Slips off-hand if moving
Battery
Right off the bat, I would like to say, the battery of the Fossil sucks. If you turn on background HR, you won't last 2 days. At most the battery would last 1.5 days. By the end of Day 1 after charging, the battery remaining was 25%.
My suspicion is confirmed with Fossil replying to my comment asking how big are their batteries. It is only 300 mAH, which lasts up to 24 hours with normal usage
Hi. 300 mAh, 3.88V; up to 24 hours with normal usage.
When the watch reaches low power, the watch suggests switching to watch-only mode, which basically turns the smartwatch into a dumb watch that only shows the time.
The display turns off when not in use.
On the plus size, owing to the small battery size, the watch charges relatively quick. In my experience, it charges to 100% in just like 30 minutes.
Style
There's no denying that the Fossil is stylish, and I think it would be good for formal events as a dress watch. The watch is a bit bulky though but that's expected from smartwatches nowadays.
The turning dial is a nice touch, but I don't find it as useful. Throughout my two-week trial, I barely used the rotating side dial. However, I like the fact that the Fossil has two assignable buttons.
In addition, during my outdoor trials, I find the watch sliding around when I'm in motion.
Connectivity
The watch has the following sensors: " Accelerometer, Altimeter, Ambient Light, Compass, Gyroscope, Off-body IR, PPG Heart Rate, SPO2." That seems to be the standard on most modern smartwatches. The watch uses the "Wellness" app to gather data in addition to Google Fit. The Wellness app, however, doesn't reliably update heart rate to the Google Fit servers. Also, it does not update the SPO2 data to the Google Fit servers. To make matters worse, the Fossil Watch does not have a companion fitness app like Samsung Health, Huawei Health, or Mobvoi Health. With my TicWatch Pro 3, although SPO2 data doesn't upload to Google Fit, I can view it on the Mobvoi Health app, which is a good workaround.
Lifestyle:Always on Display now brighter with more colours. Thousands of watch faces to personalise your look and always see the time. Hundreds of apps from assistant to fitness, payments, music, social, news, games, stop watches, and more. With a 3 ATM design and charging in about half an hour, it’s perfect for all your activities.
Health:Automatically tracks activity goals, steps, sleep, heart rate, cardio level, SPO2 (blood oxygen), and more. Activity modes with GPS keep you on track with your distance and path. Advanced sensors provide the data to power all your health and fitness apps.
Preloaded Apps:Agenda, Alarm, Battery-Optimised Activity Mode, Calendar, Cardio Level Tracking, Cardiogram, Contacts, Enhanced Phone Dialer App, Facer, Google Assistant, Google Fit (Workout, Heart Rate, Goals, Breathe), Google Maps, Google Pay™, Google Play Store, Nike Run Club, Noonlight, Smart Battery Modes, Spotify, Stopwatch, Timer, Translate, Wellness App with Sleep Tracking
Tech Specs
Operating System:Powered with Wear OS by Google
Compatibility:Wear OS by Google works with phones running the latest version of Android™ (excluding Go edition and phones without Google Play Store) or iOS. Supported features may vary between platforms and countries with compatibility subject to change.
Processor:Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ Wear 4100+
Memory:1 GB RAM, 8GB Storage
Display:1.28" Color AMOLED / 416 x 416 / 326ppi
Input:2 Additional Push Buttons (configurable), Rotating Home Button, Touchscreen, Voice
Battery:24 Hr + multi day Extended Mode **Varies based on usage and after updates install**. USB data cable with magnetic dock snaps to split rings on watch caseback and spins 360 degrees for ease of use. Approximately half an hour to reach 80%.
Water Resistance:3 ATM
Watch gallery
Concluding remarks
Personally, I think the watch is more style over function. While stylish, the watch's short battery life is a major handicap.
