Fossil is exiting the smartwatch business

27 January 2024
Fossil has promised to keep its Wear OS-powered smartwatches updated “for the next few years.”

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  • L
  • Lucky
  • 7wC
  • 06 Feb 2024

To be honest, it's the best decision. Also there are multiple smart watches but then too Fossil have their own set of standards set in analog category which suits them better.

    • N
    • Nano
    • CbI
    • 02 Feb 2024

    That is the best thing fossil is doing without launching another slow and lame watch . Even though there watches are expensive they are not upto mark slow performance , not good battery back up

      Skagen's wear OS watches looked pretty, but that's about where the positives end. They were expensive with poor battery, subpar tracking, and very slow updates. I remember my Skagen falster gen 6 (a rebranded fossil watch) took about 5 months to get WearOS 3.0. After updating, my battery lasted maybe 18 hours, and I lost the Google Assistant. shortly after, one of the pegs broke off while i was changing the band, making the watch useless. Fossil did not honor my warrantee and tried to make me pay to repair it.

        Anonymous, 28 Jan 2024The problem is third-party app support. If you develop your... moreI agree IF (and only if) we assume that apps on a smart watch is needed...

        For obvious reasons a small device will have a small battery, so it really needs to be simple!

        Would be much better to have it like (apart from the sensors) being a dumb terminal, using the power of a phone. Think similar to Chrome OS (or ancient terminals), relying on a central unit to do the work.

        Almost all smartwatch users got a much much more powerful smartphone in their pocket anyway.... Yes yes I know there are rare special cases like swimming or elite runners that would avoid carrying a phone, (so special devices for those), but for the 99.99% rest, let the phone do any hard stuff, and get decent watch stamina.

        Many dumb smartwatches can monitor HR/Steps/Sleep/SpO2/BP 24/7, and still have way over a month of stamina, on say a tiny 0.7Wh battery. So would be much better to have a dumb OS that were able to request a smartphone to do any fancy feature, just using the smartwatch as a (touch-)display, and nothing more.

        Optimally a device that could do the fancy stuff in the rare cases it were needed (like swimming), but all the rest of the time were in a dumb-mode, relying on the phone.

          Anonymous, 28 Jan 2024I used tons of smartwatches. The only ones that I found to ... more"looks expensive"
          What an important feature.... *LOL*
          Personally I would prefer a watch to be functional and look discrete...

          But apart from that I generally agree with you.

          The ones trying to be tiny smartphones with a ridiculous low stamina of a day or two are extremely impractical IMHO.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • mT2
            • 29 Jan 2024

            Anonymous, 28 Jan 2024I used tons of smartwatches. The only ones that I found to ... more" looks expensive and powerful " - now that`s mental selfcare person needs to justify buying an expensive garmin without using it for what it is.

              • J
              • Jdoog
              • B{p
              • 29 Jan 2024

              No it can't. The pixel 2 can't last nearly 2 days. Not unless you turn Bluetooth off and heart rate function. And if you do, it's not really a smart watch. You get 24 hours max with no GPS or exercises. I love my pixel watch, but your statement is just not accurate.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • mtj
                • 28 Jan 2024

                I used tons of smartwatches. The only ones that I found to be truly useful are Garmin smartwatches. Mine lasts 19 days on a charge, looks expensive and powerful on my wrist, and the user interface is so customer-oriented that there is almost nothing that you wish it could do and it does not do it. You just have to realize that having a mini-smartphone wasting resources on your wrist continuously is a non-starter for a smartwatch. This is where all WearOS/iWatch problems come from. A smartwatch needs to be extremely efficient first and foremost.

                  Who?

                    Their watches were pretty rubbish. Looked nice but battery life rubbish. I've just moved from a Gen 6 which struggled to last a day if you actually ever used it and had stuttery performance to a pixel 2 which I can almost wring 2 days battery life out of and has smooth performance.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • 6jX
                      • 28 Jan 2024

                      Andra, 28 Jan 2024Good decision. Waiting for Apple to exit. Smart watches ar... moreTry CMF watches and you will change your mind, they are VERY well within your income

                        • A
                        • Andra
                        • GRN
                        • 28 Jan 2024

                        Good decision. Waiting for Apple to exit.
                        Smart watches are useless.

                          Anonymous, 28 Jan 2024Great work, Google, destroying the business of OEMs by prio... moreGoogle doesn't destroy anything! The same company killed their product with ridiculous prices and little support.

                            SShock, 28 Jan 2024I'd wear my Galaxy Watch 4 more if Samsung's infi... moreThat's why they want you to buy another new watch*

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • 05e
                              • 28 Jan 2024

                              Great work, Google, destroying the business of OEMs by prioritising Pixel software over partners'.

                              I sense incoming corporate lawsuits about this from brands trying to make a living on selling Google developed Android devices. Maybe even criminal cases of the kind that comes with real consequences for Goodie people?

                                ikek, 27 Jan 2024This is me. I stopped wearing my Galaxy Watch 3 daily. I... moreI'd wear my Galaxy Watch 4 more if Samsung's infinite wisdom didn't screw up caller ID on it with last WearOS 4 update. Now when anyone, even people that I do have in my contacts list call me, all I see is a god damn phone number without a name. I found on Reddit there is bunch of people having exact same problem and no one even knows or can contact Samsung about it. It has been this way for several months now. They somehow managed to break the most important and only "smart" function about the smartwatch.

                                  • y
                                  • yalim
                                  • 0Iu
                                  • 28 Jan 2024

                                  I liked their latest hybrid models.they had fashion with high tech.i wonder if they would partner with pixel to extend footrprint and have the tech ready

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • 0cB
                                    • 28 Jan 2024

                                    Not a big deal. We have Samsung and Pixel.

                                      • t
                                      • tomo100brt
                                      • 3qI
                                      • 28 Jan 2024

                                      Their smartwatches looked very good but other than that they were shit. Bad battery life. Very bad battery life.

                                        DarlingYext, 27 Jan 2024That is sad to see, they were one of the better ones..Nah, they're just overpriced.

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