T3 India

smartwatch

Review: Fossil Gen 4 Explorist HR

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SPECIFICATIONS
PRICE  Rs. 21,995 URL fossil.com/in STORAGE 4GB OS Wear OS by Google SENSORS Accelerometer, Ambient Light, Gyroscope, Heart Rate COMPATIBILITY Android OS 4.4+ (Excluding Go Edition), iOS 9.3+ CONNECTIVITY Bluetooth Smart Enabled/4.1 LE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n BATTERY LIFE Estimated all day PROCESSOR Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 CASE SIZE 45mm STRAP SIZE 22mm INTERCHANGEABLE STRAP Yes 

The thing with Google’s Wear OS-powered smartwatches is that most of the offer similar set of features. One way for them to differentiate is the design, which is what Fossil has been doing for a few years now. Generation 4 Explorist HR Smartwatch is their recent offering but is it worth the spend? Let’s find out.

The Explorist HR’s design makes it clear cut about its target market. The smartwatch is big and perfect for anyone who prefers a large dial. The 45mm dial is undoubtedly, large but the case thickness is just 13mm and shaves off some extra grams to make the smartwatch lighter. The watch we received had a rose gold finish with black leather strap and while we weren’t fond of that combination, Fossil actually sells a few other colour options with leather straps and metal links. For customers looking for a smaller watch, Fossil also sells Venture HR, which is essentially a 40mm watch. Mumbai monsoons shouldn’t be botherful because the Explorist HR has a waterproof design.

When it comes to performance, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100 powers the smartwatch. The overall performance is smooth but would have appreciated Fossil to go with the latest available chip instead of the one announced way back in 2016. There are no surprises if you’ve used a Wear OS smartwatch before.

The heart rate tracking is good, comparable to some dedicated fitness bands in the market and untethered GPS makes it possible to track runs, bike rides without the need to connect to a smartphone to record it. Not that we would want to take a good looking watch like this for a run but it’s a good feature to have.

One gripe we have is the battery life and if you use GPS, you’ll hardly get a day out of it. Use it more conservatively and you’ve got a chance to extend it to more than a day.

To wrap things up, we found the Fossil Explorist HR to be a decent smartwatch if you’re looking for something big and runs Google’s Wear OS. However, if you’re not a fan of Fossil’s design or want a different look, you can also look at some alternatives like Samsung’s Galaxy Watch or Apple’s Series 3.

RATING 3.5/5
WE’RE IMPRESSED Features
WE’D IMPROVE Battery life
THE LAST WORD A large smartwatch that boasts a decent feature set but with a mediocre battery life

 

Will the Fitbit Versa make you trade in your Apple Watch?

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The Fitbit Versa is the fitness tracking brand’s most recent attempt at a “smartwatch for all”, with a modern design and affordable price tag, as well as a few new software tricks designed to tempt users away from the Apple Watch.

The Versa is designed to be comfortable enough to wear all day and night. Fitbit promises it’s also durable and versatile, with a thin anodised aluminium case and a variety of stylish accessories.

These include Horween leather, stainless steel, woven, or ‘Classic’ straps, which can be quickly changed to match your outfit or activity. You can see most of the options in the image below.

We think it’s a big improvement over the angular Ionic smartwatch.

There’s also a host of smartwatch features onboard, such as smartphone notifications, Deezer music streaming, Fitbit Pay contactless payment, apps, and downloadable clock faces.

Fitbit will soon be introducing ‘Quick Replies’, which let you send quick pre-populated or customisable replies to text messages and instant messenger apps (Android only).

Fitbit boasts “more than 550 apps”, which doesn’t quite compete with the likes of the Apple Watch, but it does include big names, like Flipboard, Hue Lights, Strava, Weather, etc.

Of course, Fitbit hasn’t forgotten about fitness, and the Versa is the first device to launch with Fitbit OS 2.0.

This includes a new personalised dashboard that provides a more simplified, intuitive and holistic view of your health and fitness data.

You’ll be able to see your daily and weekly health and fitness stats, historical activity, heart rate, and exercise summaries, action-oriented motivational messages, tips and tricks, and daily guidance.

You’ll also receive more personalised fitness guidance, with 24/7 heart rate tracking, on-screen workouts, and more exercise modes. This is designed to become more personalised over time, sending reminders and providing insights based on your previous data (coming later in 2018).

Sleep tracking is, of course, also back.

The biggest addition to Fitbit’s software is the introduction is “female health tracking”, allowing you to track your menstrual cycle, and see how it connects to your overall health.

It’ll let you log your menstrual cycle data, recording symptoms like headaches and cramp. Once it has enough data, it’ll also make cycle predictions.

Fitbit claims this will give users a holistic view of data all in one place “to reveal connections between your cycle and other stats in the Fitbit app, such as activity, sleep and weight trends to better manage your activity and sleep needs during certain times of the month.”

These software updates will debut on the new Versa, but will also be available for Ionic users via a software update.

The Versa has a 4+ days battery life, but doesn’t include GPS, like the more fitness-focused Ionic.

Fitbit Versa will be available in Q2 in black with a black aluminum case, gray with a silver aluminum case, or peach with a rose gold aluminum case for Rs. 19,999. Fitbit Versa Special Edition will also retail for Rs. 21,999 and accessories range from Rs. 2,499 to Rs. 8,999.

Polar M600 smartwatch can now be preordered

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Fitness wearable maker Polar has announced the M600 smartwatch which is supposed to track all your activities 24/7. It is equipped with an integrated GPS and optical heart rate technology. It is available in a choice of black or white colour.

The Polar M600 is powered by a dual-core MediaTek MT2601 SoC clocked at 1.2GHz paired with 512GB RAM and 4GB internal storage. It features a 1.3″ display with 240x240p resolution protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It is equipped with Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Gyroscope, Microphone sensor and Vibration Motor. The smartwatch is powered by a 500mAh battery and weighs 63 grams.

The M600 has been priced at 349 euros and is available for preorder directly from the Polar homepage although India has yet to be added to the list of countries where it can be shipped directly.

Moto 360 Sport comes to town for fitness enthusiasts

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Motorola has made its Moto 360 Sport smartwatch official for India. The latest wearable is now available on Flipkart for Rs 19,999. As the name implies, the watch is inclined towards consumers who have an active lifestyle and comes with strong silicone construction that keeps the watch and the band safe from sweat, fading or staining.

The variant now comes with a built-in GPS that allows the user to track the runs and cycle rides without having to take the phone to track the movements. It also has a heart-rate sensor that monitors the heart rate during an exercise.

Like the previous Moto 360, the sport version also runs Android Wear and comes with a 1.37-inch AnyLight Display that adjusts to natural light, Snapdragon 400 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 4GB internal memory with 512MB RAM, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi and 300mAh battery.

The smartwatch is also IP67 certified that makes it resistant from dust and water.

Product Page

Garmin launches Fenix 3 Sapphire watch

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Garmin India announced the launch of the Fenix 3 Sapphire multisport GPS watch in India that has been available outside the country since last year.

Physically, the rose gold-tone watch features a brown leather band, scratch-resistant sapphire lens, stainless steel bezel and a sunlight-readable high-resolution color display.

The watch supports a full range of multisport activities like advanced fitness training, snowboarding, hiking, climbing, trail running, cross-country and alpine skiing. The new omni-directional steel EXO antenna, paired with GLONASS and EPO provides an accurate position much faster than GPS.

The Fenix 3 Rose Gold can withstand swimming and other water activities upto 100 meters. It provides an estimated 20 hours of battery life in GPS mode, 50 hours in UtraTac mode and 6 weeks in watch mode.

The Fenix 3 is priced at Rs. 84,999 and is available in select stores.