Skip to main content

Fossil could be the only company that really gets wearables right in 2017

Fossil is ruling the world of hybrid smartwatches, and it’s doing so because it’s treating wearable tech like a fashion range, with subtle design-based updates that fit with current trends. This is a completely different approach to technology than we’re used to. Fossil isn’t going crazy with new features on a single new model released each year, it’s changing the colors and design on multiple editions to match the season, and what’s hot right now.

In 2017, Fossil will expand its already extensive collection of wearable tech products to more than 300. That’s not 300 completely different models, but 300 variations on core devices, just like a company would do with a piece of clothing. It’s also bucking industry trends by pushing more hybrid smartwatches made for women.

Recommended Videos

At CES 2017, Fossil showed us a selection of its new Q Accomplice watches, models launched under the Skagen brand name, and various new designs centered around the Q Modern Pursuit and Q Grant hybrids. It also launched the first Armani Exchange branded hybrid watches. Proving it’s still working hard in the world of smartwatches, Misfit — which is owned by Fossil — gave us an early look at the Vapor; a classy fitness orientated watch with a gorgeous AMOLED screen.

All the new models have almost identical functionality to the current Fossil watches — such as the Q Crewmaster we reviewed recently — aside from a single new feature, where two smartphone actions can be applied to the side buttons on the watch itself, instead of one. The changes are visual. The Accomplice has a very thin body, making it considerably less bulky than older hybrids, and much more attractive.

Options for all

The massive choice of options means you’re much more likely to find a hybrid smartwatch that matches your personal style. You get to decide between different colors, minimalist faces, metal straps, silicone straps, sub-eyes on the display, and plenty more. Alternatively, opt for the classy minimalism of the new Skagen models. One size doesn’t fit all in fashion, Fossil knows it, and it’s working out well now that it’s applying that logic to wearable tech.

Moving on to the Vapor, we’ve seen an early pre-production version where the software wasn’t final. It won’t run Android Wear and isn’t going to have an app store, but the user interface we played with worked well and was very intuitive. The AMOLED screen is stunning, and we’re looking forward to using it more when it’s closer to the release later this year.

All the new hybrid smartwatches will be released in the spring, an appropriate time to launch a new style collection, and prices will vary from $175 to $215, depending on the style and brand name you buy. We’ll be taking a closer look at some of the new models over the coming months, so look out for complete reviews then.

Andy Boxall
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Digital Trends’ Top Tech of CES 2023 Awards
Best of CES 2023 Awards Our Top Tech from the Show Feature

Let there be no doubt: CES isn’t just alive in 2023; it’s thriving. Take one glance at the taxi gridlock outside the Las Vegas Convention Center and it’s evident that two quiet COVID years didn’t kill the world’s desire for an overcrowded in-person tech extravaganza -- they just built up a ravenous demand.

From VR to AI, eVTOLs and QD-OLED, the acronyms were flying and fresh technologies populated every corner of the show floor, and even the parking lot. So naturally, we poked, prodded, and tried on everything we could. They weren’t all revolutionary. But they didn’t have to be. We’ve watched enough waves of “game-changing” technologies that never quite arrive to know that sometimes it’s the little tweaks that really count.

Read more
Digital Trends’ Tech For Change CES 2023 Awards
Digital Trends CES 2023 Tech For Change Award Winners Feature

CES is more than just a neon-drenched show-and-tell session for the world’s biggest tech manufacturers. More and more, it’s also a place where companies showcase innovations that could truly make the world a better place — and at CES 2023, this type of tech was on full display. We saw everything from accessibility-minded PS5 controllers to pedal-powered smart desks. But of all the amazing innovations on display this year, these three impressed us the most:

Samsung's Relumino Mode
Across the globe, roughly 300 million people suffer from moderate to severe vision loss, and generally speaking, most TVs don’t take that into account. So in an effort to make television more accessible and enjoyable for those millions of people suffering from impaired vision, Samsung is adding a new picture mode to many of its new TVs.
[CES 2023] Relumino Mode: Innovation for every need | Samsung
Relumino Mode, as it’s called, works by adding a bunch of different visual filters to the picture simultaneously. Outlines of people and objects on screen are highlighted, the contrast and brightness of the overall picture are cranked up, and extra sharpness is applied to everything. The resulting video would likely look strange to people with normal vision, but for folks with low vision, it should look clearer and closer to "normal" than it otherwise would.
Excitingly, since Relumino Mode is ultimately just a clever software trick, this technology could theoretically be pushed out via a software update and installed on millions of existing Samsung TVs -- not just new and recently purchased ones.

Read more
How does Garmin measure stress, and is it really accurate?
Garmin Vivomove Sport dial close up. Credits: Garmin official.

Garmin watches are known for their robust activity tracking, but that's not all these fitness watches can do. Over the years, the company has been adding wellness features to its lineup of watches. These new health-focused metrics allow people to analyze their fitness and identify outside factors affecting their performance. One such factor is stress, which is something Garmin watches actively measures.
But you may be wondering—exactly how does Garmin measure stress? In this article, we break down how Garmin measures stress and delve into the accuracy of this metric. Should you trust your stress score? Read on to find out.

Is Garmin's stress score accurate?

Read more