- The TicWatch Pro Three looks an awful lot
like the last TicWatch Pro.
And the one before that, which is to say fairly forgettable.
I mean, it's thinner, but it's still big and clunky
and in a clumsy way,
without the kind of intentional ostentation
that some oversized watch has benefit from.
It still lacks a rotating crown
which I've long said is a necessity
for a Google's Wearable Software.
And speaking of,
when's the last time you saw Wear OS watch review
that didn't have a big nasty asterisk
in the software section with some variation of
that's a great watch, but you have to put up with Wear OS.
Well, that all changes today.
(upbeat music)
It's not that Wear OS is badly designed.
In fact, ever since Google refined
the interface a couple of years ago, it's been intuitive.
And in my opinion, more attractive than Apple
and Samsung software efforts.
The trouble has always been in the execution,
Wear OS has historically been heavy,
heavy on bugs and heavy in the sense
that it takes a solid spec sheet to run well.
Well, that's where the TicWatch Pro Three starts delivering.
This is the first smartwatch
to run Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Wear 4,100 chips set.
And one of the few watches to pack the full gigabyte of RAM
that Wear OS really seems to need.
Over my two weeks of testing that combination
has been nothing short of transformative.
Scrolling, tapping, flipping the wrist.
Finally, Wear OS is as responsive as
I've always wanted it to be.
And nowhere is this more evident
than in the Google assistant,
which has always been so laggy on other smartwatches
that I've stopped using it.
Here it finally works as intended.
What's the Snapdragon 4,100
- According to Qualcomm,
the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4,100 plus platform,
comprised of a powerful applications process.
- Yeah, yeah ,yeah.
Okay, okay, okay.
Mobvoi brought over that speaker and microphone
from previous models.
But they stand alongside the one thing,
no other smart watch family offers right now
this dual layer display.
For your standard watch face
you've got a bright, nicely saturated high density OLED.
And when you're not actively using the watch,
this segmented LCD takes over.
It burns much less power than a typical always on display.
And it's much more visible in bright sunlight.
Improvements with this year's LCD include,
a sharper look, new battery meter
and seconds counter and finally a backlight.
I know it adds cost
but I really wish more smartwatches would adopt this design
because it just makes so much sense.
Unfortunately,
the only other company to do so
was the legendary Casio on its Pro Track F-Series.
I loved so much
But that line has sadly been discontinued as of this year.
That means for dual layer display delights
the TicWatch is now the only game in town.
Now the combination of that energy efficient display
with a large battery brings another win.
This is a true three-day smartwatch,
even with heavy use.
Three days is kind of a magical number
because it means if you go on a weekend trip
and forget the tiny magnetic charger, it's no big deal.
And when I say heavy use,
I mean the constant barrage of messages, mobile payments
and exercise tracking that come
with my two connected always Mobvoi city life
with lighter use during my vacation
I stretched it to five days on one occasion.
That's unheard of for Wear OS Watch.
And it's especially significant now
that Samsung has apparently decided endurance
is no longer an emphasis on it's Galaxy Watch Three
That leaves custom software as the last point to cover.
Mobvoi has bundled more apps out of the box
than any other watchmaker
with the possible exception of OPPO.
Most of them focused on fitness, that makes sense.
Since health tracking is something of a weak spot
on the Google Fit Suite.
And there are other useful apps too
like a voice memo tool that syncs with your phone.
The thing is though, the watch is so aggressive
about getting you to sign up
for a Mobvoi account to use any of it.
Now get it Mobvoi really wants to be seen
as an AI company or whatever.
But I feel like we're all already dealing
with account overload.
And I just don't see that Mobvoi is bringing
that much more value with this stuff
to justify trusting yet another company
with all my personal data.
If you exercise a lot more than I do,
you'll probably want to use this stuff.
If you feel the same as me though,
you can disable these apps
just as easily as you can Mobvoi Custom Launcher.
I wear smartwatches every day, and over the past few years
I've used some that have made me willing to endure Wear OS,
the New Moto 360, the Montblanc Summit Two,
the Diesel on Fadelite, (mumbles).
But the TicWatch Pro Three is the
first Wear OS Watch ever to pack enough speed
and consistency that I actually want to use it.
And that dual screen display
and solid battery life they're just icing on the cake.
It won't be staying on my wrist following this review
because it's just too dull looking.
I really wish Mobvoi would collaborate
with a traditional watchmaker
to inject any kind of personality into this design.
But, if aggressively minimal matte black
is your kind of thing, I can't believe I'm saying it
but I am two 99 is a fair price
for this Wear OS Smartwatch.
Mobvoi deserves a lot of credit for this
and I can't wait to see what Fossil
and other competitors create
with the same Snapdragon 4,100 Core in the coming year.
Quick note folks,
on one pre production sample I used during
this review period the TicWatch Pro Three died immediately,
upon immersion and seawater.
I'm no stranger to saltwater's harmful effects
on electronics but a watch with an IP six eight rating
should not die right away after being submerged.
Fortunately, the replacement device did better.
You're welcome for risking my health to put my arm
in the East river.
So I'm chucking this one up
to the pre production sample being defective
but I want her to report it anyway
As always, Mobvoi did not provide compensation
for this review or receive an early preview of same,
and the company was also not granted copy approval.
If you'd like to read more of my thoughts on smartwatches,
including lots of my complaints about Wear OS
that this watch fixes.
I did a recent interview with Mashable,
which I'll link below.
And finally,
for more on the TicWatch Pro Three specifically,
check out Chris Waddell's Excellent Review
for Android Central.
Until next time.
Thanks for watching.
And if you can't stay home
then stay safe and wear a mask
while you stay Mobile my friends.