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Fossil’s first Wear OS 3 smartwatch looks like a better (and cheaper) Pixel Watch

By Michael Allison October 13, 2022

Fossil today launched the Fossil Gen 6 Wellness Edition, its first Wear OS 3 watch. It’s a minor update on something we’ve already seen before, with the major non-aesthetic updates here being driven by the Fossil Wellness app.

The Fossil Gen 6 is reasonably powerful. It’s got a Snapdragon 4100+, 1 GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, and a 1,3-inch AMOLED display — all wrapped in a 44mm chassis. The connectivity specs are here, with Bluetooth 5.0 and all the usual suspects. There’s 3ATM water resistance and sensors for your heart rate and blood oxygen saturation. These all play with the Wellness App and allow you to keep track of your vitals while exercising, sleeping, and passively. Fast charging is also included here, and it’ll take your battery to 80% capacity in 30 minutes as with other Fossil watches.

Fossil's Gen 6 Wellness Edition Smartwatch — Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s powered by Wear OS 3, though Android Central reports it won’t come with Google Assistant support. Rather, users will have to make do with Alexa on their wrists.

The Fossil Gen 6 Wellness Edition is a sleek-looking watch that looks very much like a watch. The crowns on the side help drive that point in, as well as its watch faces. It’s no Pixel Watch with its predominantly digital interface, but it’s not aiming to be. Fossil has carved out a brand identity all its own, it doesn’t need to be something different.

If you’re thinking the Fossil Gen 6 may sound familiar, that’s because it should. The company launched a Gen 6 smartwatch last year with an older version of Wear OS (and another variant this year). A lot of what is here returns, so you’re really only buying this for an updated design and better fitness tracking. If you want to save money and go for older, that smartwatch and other Fossil watches will see updates to Wear OS 3 later this month. For those interested in the new and novel, Fossil’s Gen 6 Wellness Edition will go on sale October 17 for $300 direct from Fossil.

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Michael Allison

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