Wear OS

A big refresh of Wear OS is expected this fall with new chipsets from Qualcomm confirmed, while Google-made Pixel smartwatches have been rumored. Until then, fashion brand Emporio Armani has announced its latest Wear OS smartwatch that notably features NFC, but uses an older chipset when it ships in September.

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Samsung has been making some really good wearables for the past couple of years, so needless to say we’re excited to see what the company reveals next. Gear S4, Galaxy Watch, whatever Samsung has in store, it’s apparently coming at IFA 2018.

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When you look at the smartwatch market you really only need to look at the Apple Watch and Samsung’s Gear lineup to know what’s good. There are hybrid watches, some great third-party options from companies like Fitbit, and a handful of decent Wear OS options. However, for years now Google’s wearable platform has just been… boring.

Really, that comes down to a few things that I’ll get to in a bit, but I think a company has finally discovered how to stand out, and it’s Mobvoi with the Ticwatch Pro.

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With new hardware and software options that continue to get better and better, there’s no time like now to buy a smartwatch. While iOS users are pretty limited in what they could buy, Android users have too many choices to count. Not sure where to start looking? Let’s go over some of the best options…

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Rumors are swirling about a new Samsung smartwatch, and perhaps the most interesting aspect of these rumors is that Samsung might be considering adopting Google’s Wear OS for the device. In the time since the first rumors surfaced, there’s been a lot of back and forth with what Samsung has planned. Let’s try to make some sense of it all…

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After launching its Ticwatch S and Ticwatch E last year, Mobvoi is today officially launching the Ticwatch Pro. The dual-display smartwatch was first shown off earlier this year, and now it’s available to buy.

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A couple of months ago rumors started hitting the web that Samsung was going to adopt Google’s Wear OS on an upcoming smartwatch. Since then, we’ve heard mixed reports, but today a well-known leaker is giving us a handful of new details.

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When I think of Wear OS watches, most devices that come to mind are standard-looking timepieces from companies like Kate Spade, LG, Huawei, and others. While these all work with fitness apps like the one from Google, none of them are really sporty and made for exercising. So if you’re looking for a fitness-focused wearable, the Mobvoi Ticwatch S might be the perfect watch for you.

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Wear OS has already seen a number of changes this year from a rebrand to the Android P Developer Preview. Google’s wearable platform is still set for more upgrades with new Qualcomm chipsets coming this fall and the rumor of Made by Google watches. Till then, the FCC today revealed that Fossil’s next generation wearables include NFC.

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After the Android Wear rebrand to Wear OS, Google in March announced a developer preview based on Android P for its wearable platform. The big focus was on conserving battery life, but the company faced some pushback over constraints and as a result refined them with Developer Preview 2 at I/O 2018. Today, the company is again toning down those changes.

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If you had to pick one thing as the weakest point of Wear OS, it’s definitely the battery life. Most Wear OS devices barely last a day, and there’s not much OEMs can do to fix that. Mobvoi, however, seems to have found a unique solution with its upcoming TicWatch Pro.

Earlier this week some rumors hit the web surrounding Samsung’s future for wearables. Specifically, that Samsung was switching to Wear OS for the Gear S4. While it’s easy to disregard those, a tweet from Evan Blass suggests that they might hold a bit of weight.

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If you’ve been following the news today, you might have heard something about Samsung building a new smartwatch that runs Google’s Wear OS instead of Samsung’s own Tizen. For now, those rumors are pretty sketchy, so I wouldn’t take anything too seriously. That said, though, let’s take a look at what good, and what bad, might come of that sort of change…

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Coming out of I/O 2018 with a number of updates and more on the way this year, Google Assistant this evening picks up a new “Your Actions” section. Meanwhile, another recent addition for Wear OS finally adds sports scores.

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Android P is the next major upgrade coming to Wear OS, but until then the wearable platform will continue receiving small incremental releases over time. One of those updates today is a new “Wear OS Phone” app that’s just been uploaded to the Play Store.

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Ahead of I/O 2018, a rumored LG Wear OS device with a hybrid form factor passed through the FCC. The only news from the conference ended up being an updated Android P Developer Preview. However, a flurry of reports in the past days confirm a “lead smartwatch,” while new rumors today suggest Google-made smartwatches later this fall.

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