(upbeat music)
- [Michael] Somewhere between a traditional timepiece
and a smart watch lies a peculiar product
called a hybrid watch.
And it's a category that frankly, I've usually ignored.
But in my new neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn
where a flashy $400 Apple watch still seems
a little to Williamsburg-y,
hybrids strike a better balance for some.
And the new Fossil Hybrid HR is the smartest one
I've seen yet.
My problem with hybrids up til now has been that in order
to be both attractive and long-lasting,
they've sacrificed the features
that make them even marginally smart.
Watches from brands like Withings and Kronaby are beautiful
but they either make you memorize nebulous hand movements
or they compress notifications onto tiny displays.
I've always found it a very compromised experience.
With the Hybrid HR, Fossil does things differently.
While the watch does use a proper analog watch face
with physical hour and minute hands they float atop
and always on display that covers 27
of the watch casings 42 millimeters.
We've seen this approach before.
Most notably on the disappointing LG Watch W7.
The difference here is that rather than an LCD or OLED
this panel is ePaper.
Similar display technology to the
one used by Amazon's Kindle.
That has a lot of benefits and a few drawbacks.
For the benefits, this type of screen only
uses power when it's changing state.
So most of the time like when it's just sitting there
showing you the date and the weather
it's consuming almost no energy.
That lets Fossil promise two weeks
of battery life between charges.
In my usage I've found the drain rate a little higher
than that.
About 10% per day.
But in a world of Apple and Wear OS watches
that need to be charged every other night it's wonderful.
There's also rapid charging.
So a full charge only takes an hour.
Another benefit to this display..
It's visible under almost every lighting condition.
When it's dim or dark like in our new studio space
that's still awaiting a proper lighting grid.
You can double tap the watch and four sidelights
will fire up to illuminate the display.
The drawbacks, that tap doesn't always register
on the first try and those LEDs don't light
the watch face uniformly, which makes it look
more like a Timex from the early 90s
before they figured out Indiglo.
Also this display is monochrome not color
and it refreshes more slowly than an LCD or OLED
making scrolling through messages or menus
a little janky by comparison.
But look if you want smooth scrolling
and all the features you buy a proper smartwatch.
The whole point of a hybrid is to give you
some of those features in a more spartan package.
And this one over delivers.
When your wrist buzzes you can't miss that strong vibration
and you can read entire text messages or chunks
of an email without taking out your phone.
The heart rate sensor in conjunction with the accelerometer
means you can track both exercise and sleep.
And while the watch doesn't have the GPS
found on more serious fitness trackers
it can connect with both Under Armor and Google Fit.
And what I really appreciate are the little things
that make it a better watch.
You can use the app which is nice and clean
to build your own watch faces
for different scenarios like working out or traveling.
There's no touchscreen to complicate things.
You just use the three pushers for everything.
And you can program them to your own shortcuts.
Call me boring but I still find I get the most use
out of the old timer and stopwatch presets.
And if the hands ever get in the way while you're trying
to read something you just flick your wrist
and they'll do a little dance
to let you see what's underneath.
The Fossil Hybrid HR is available today for $195.
Now initially, I thought that excessive given the complaints
I have about the shoddy side lighting
and the battery not quite trending
toward the full two weeks.
But then I took a look at the competition.
You need to spend 100 bucks more
to get Fossil's fully fledged Gen 5 SmartWatch.
Kronaby charges way more for more attractive hybrids
with far fewer capabilities
while Withings actually undercuts Fossil
by about 20 bucks but also delivers fewer features.
I think Fossil has really hit the sweet spot here by
giving us a hybrid that promises only what it can deliver.
And deliver well.
Toss in the company's reputation
for excellent customer service and I'm sold.
For me I'm more of a full smartwatch kind of guy
so I'd probably go for one of the other Fossil Gen 5
offerings that I'm about to cover
in a video coming very soon, stay tuned for that.
But if you're in the market for something
between a timepiece and a smartwatch, the Fossil Hybrid HR
should be near the top of your list.
Disclosure, this review made possible by a Fossil Hybrid HR
review sample provided by Fossil.
MrMobile does not produce paid reviews however
and Fossil did not receive a copy of this review in advance.
They're seeing it at the same time you are.
Shout out to David Imel of Android Authority
and David Cogen of the Unlocker
for their help composing this video.
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Until next time thanks for watching
and stay mobile my friends.