The Fossil-size hole in Wear OS

When Fossil announced it was leaving nan Android smartwatch space, I wasn’t surprised. The signs had been location for a while. What I didn’t expect was really sad it made maine feel. Fossil’s smartwatches had ne'er been nan best. Their artillery life was meh, wellness search could beryllium iffy, and earlier Wear OS 3, nan institution was often fto down by Google’s neglect. But now that Fossil has called it quits, it’s near a monolithic vacuum successful nan Wear OS ecosystem. Who, if anyone, tin capable that void? Is location moreover a constituent erstwhile Google and Samsung predominate that space?

It’s been a fewer months, and I’m still not judge there’s a existent answer.

Throughout Wear OS’s acheronian days — backmost erstwhile it was Android Wear, moreover — Fossil soldiered on. It continued to make platform-agnostic flagship smartwatches pinch an accent connected style. That progressively became a rarity. Before 2021, it wasn’t that overseas for smartwatches different than nan Apple Watch to activity connected some Android and iOS. Wear OS 2 watches, of which Fossil made many, only necessitated downloading nan Wear OS app connected iOS aliases Android.

But successful 2021, Google and Samsung teamed up to create Wear OS 3. After that, Samsung gave up connected luring complete iPhone users. Google’s Pixel Watch was besides Android only. That near Fossil arsenic nan main Wear OS watch that worked crossed both, but nan Wear OS app was deprecated, which meant that Fossil had to create its ain companion app. (There was besides nan Montblanc Summit 3, but astatine $1,290, it’s not what I’d telephone accessible.)

It didn’t thief that location was evident favoritism from Google and Samsung toward their ain products. Google Assistant would get connected Google’s and Samsung’s watches but stay missing connected galore third-party Wear OS 3 devices. Fossil yet sewage it connected its watches, but it took truthful long, it turned to a business pinch Amazon Alexa to capable nan spread successful nan meantime. Delays were par for nan course, truthful it’s nary astonishment Fossil decided nan juice wasn’t worthy nan squeeze.

I thought a batch astir Fossil while reviewing nan OnePlus Watch 2 — chiefly because it was nan first clip successful 4 months erstwhile I thought to myself, “Could OnePlus beryllium nan caller Fossil?” On nan surface, it feels for illustration it could be. It’s a nice-lookin’ watch, peculiarly if you’re a instrumentality of much classical timepieces. The artillery life is superb, acold outlasting Samsung’s Galaxy Watch bid and nan Pixel Watch lineup. There’s decent fittingness tracking, too, on pinch dual-frequency GPS — things neither Samsung nor Google has implemented connected its watches. At $300, it’s besides competitively priced. Like Fossil, it’s missing LTE connectivity, EKGs, and information features, but I’ve heard from plentifulness of folks who aren’t rather arsenic willing successful overmuch beyond nan basics.

It ticks astir of nan boxes Fossil did isolated from 2 awesome ones: assortment of style and level interoperability. The latter, I understand. Wearables are progressively nan instrumentality companies usage to support group happily wrong an ecosystem. For Android watchmakers, going aft iPhone users doesn’t make sense, unless, for illustration Montblanc, that’s what nan mostly of your existing clientele use. OnePlus, for illustration Samsung, makes Android phones.

Meanwhile, Fossil had a veritable horde of smartwatches from various designer brands nether its umbrella. Off nan apical of my head, location was Diesel, Armani, Michael Kors, Kate Spade, and Skagen. There were ladies watches pinch truthful overmuch pavé, my eyes were blinded by bling. Skagen had that Scandinavian minimalist elegance. It experimented pinch E Ink hybrid watches.

OnePlus has precisely 1 style of watch successful 1 size. (There are, however, 2 colors.)

The only different superior Wear OS contender present is Mobvoi — and that’s different concerning story. Mobvoi has had loyal fans for its TicWatch smartwatches for a agelong while now, but a batch of that goodwill eroded complete nan past 2 years. Its Snapdragon Wear 4100 watches were announced arsenic eligible for Wear OS 3 successful July 2021 but didn’t get nan existent upgrade until December 2023. Making nan move meant losing Google Assistant. Meanwhile, its first Wear OS 3 watch, nan TicWatch Pro 5, was heavy delayed and ended up launching 2 weeks aft Wear OS 4 was announced. That watch besides didn’t person Google Assistant (and still doesn’t). About a twelvemonth later, Mobvoi has yet announced the Wear OS 4 beta program is unfastened for applications.

All of this sounds awfully acquainted to what Fossil slogged through. And for illustration OnePlus, Mobvoi besides doesn’t connection nan aforesaid scope of styles aliases level interoperability Fossil did.

The mobility I’m near asking is whether it pays to effort to beryllium an replacement to nan tech juggernauts. Fossil surely didn’t deliberation so. Mobvoi hasn’t fixed up, and OnePlus has entered its chapeau into nan ringing — but I don’t deliberation it’s a coincidence that some person akin limitations and constraints. It’s moreover little surprising, then, that genuinely platform-agnostic fittingness trackers are now multisport watches for illustration Garmins aliases overmuch much pared-down devices for illustration hybrid analogs from Withings — and that smart rings are starting to look for illustration appealing alternatives to smartwatches wholly while fund trackers are starting to autumn by nan wayside.

I dream that OnePlus and Mobvoi instrumentality it out. It’d beryllium good for Wear OS if they did. But going forward, I don’t deliberation we’ll spot a wearable institution for illustration Fossil anytime soon. It takes a batch of patience to run retired of personification else’s sandbox — and that really is simply a shame.