Wear OS

Thanks to more RAM and newer chipsets, things are finally looking up for Wear OS in the performance department. Today, the Misfit Vapor X smartwatch has gone official with a new lightweight design, Qualcomm’s latest chipset, and probably not enough RAM.

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The biggest problem with Wear OS as a platform is hardware, and the biggest problem with most of its hardware is battery life. Last year, the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro implemented a clever solution to that problem with a dual-display. Now, the TicWatch Pro 4G is here, and while LTE might be the feature that earns the new name, it’s the improved performance that should have you interested in this watch.

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Google’s Wear OS has made great strides over the past several months, and that includes the hardware department. Recently, though, I’ve been using the TicWatch Pro 4G, and it reminds me that Wear OS isn’t ready for LTE, despite Google’s best efforts.

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Since its debut last month, the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 4G has been one of our favorite smartwatches thanks to value and its performance. Now, a key feature of the TicWatch Pro 4G is finally getting activated with Verizon LTE.

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With the debut of its latest Gen 5 Wear OS smartwatch, Fossil is also bringing something new to the table for the platform. With some smart battery saving modes, Fossil is promising “multiple” days of use out of a watch, all without killing core functionality such as your notifications.

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Fossil is the biggest name in Wear OS right now, but the specs on a lot of the company’s offerings have been a bit dissappointing. Today, Fossil is announcing its Gen 5 smartwatches with the Carlyle HR and Juliana HR, and they pack a ton of big improvements for the Wear OS hardware.

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As we’re finding new Wear OS hardware with better performance, it seems Fossil is working on an upgrade as well. This weekend, a new Fossil Wear OS watch has leaked in some hands-on images, alongside a spec list that details 1GB of RAM and a Snapdragon Wear 3100.

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Considering that Wear OS — formally Android Wear — is now five years old, the platform still hasn’t realized it’s undoubted potential. The hardware is certainly not lacking but the cohesion and overall integration are where we see the Apple Watch simply devour every Wear OS option out there.

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Recently we saw the difference in performance a bump in RAM can make on Wear OS, thanks to the TicWatch Pro 4G. Now, the Movado Connect 2.0 has surfaced at the FCC with even better specs, as well as a more compact size.

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Here’s a strange one. If you turn off auto-brightness on a Wear OS smartwatch, the overall performance of the system seems to improve, in some cases quite dramatically.

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Over the past month, the new “Google Nest” replaced Nest.com with the Google Store and gained a new Help Center. The unified brand has now killed its Wear OS and Apple Watch apps for home control right from your wrist.

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While there are plenty of valid reasons why Wear OS is not all that great, I think it’s a solid platform overall. My main problem using it is simply that it’s incredibly slow on most hardware. Lately, though, I’ve had one of the best Wear OS experiences I’ve ever had with the new TicWatch Pro 4G from Mobvoi, and I think a lot of that comes down to the fact that it has killer performance.

There are a ton of Wear OS smartwatches on the market today, and some of the best are a part of Mobvoi’s TicWatch lineup. Today, the TicWatch Pro 4G has gone official, and it delivers one of the best packages we’ve seen in a Wear OS device in quite some time for a very affordable price. Here’s what you need to know.

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Mobvoi last week teased that a new TicWatch, which previously leaked with LTE capabilities, is coming on Wednesday, July 10. Just a day before that announcement, Verizon’s Open Development Showcase site has leaked the TicWatch Pro 4G/LTE.

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One of the biggest problems that Google’s Wear OS faces is the hardware it’s running on. Essentially since its debut in 2014, almost every smartwatch has run on old hardware. Even the Snapdragon Wear 3100 released just last year reused the same core design from a 2013 chip. Now, though, Qualcomm appears to be preparing a new Snapdragon Wear chip, possibly called the “429” for future Wear OS hardware.

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Wear OS has a sore lack of watches with LTE, but it seems that could be changing very soon. A teaser page on Mobvoi’s website gives an early peek at the next TicWatch which we’re expecting to come with LTE connectivity.

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The Fossil Group is responsible for the vast number of Wear OS devices, especially those from fashion brands. Sharing the same underlying hardware across different case designs, the next generation Fossil Wear OS watches have popped up at the FCC today.

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New watches running Wear OS have been far and few between in recent months. Mobvoi, known for affordable smartwatches running the Google OS, appears to be working on a follow-up to the TicWatch Pro that notably features LTE in the U.S.

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