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One of the best Wear OS smartwatches just got a surprise upgrade

Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 in sandstone color.
Mobvoi

Mobvoi is adding some pizzazz to an otherwise morose color profile for its flagship smartwatch. Starting today, the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 is now available in a new Sandstone finish, which looks quite premium and refreshing at the same time. The price tag stays the same at $350 in the U.S. market.

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So far, the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 has only been available in a single Obsidian black trim, which looks clean, but also happens to be an overly prevalent color. An if you’re a fan of sandstone or beige colors on your Wear OS timepiece, your only other option is the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, which is a generation older and also not particularly easy on the eyes.

Mobvoi has gone for a slightly darker earthy sandstone finish on the case and a lighter beige look on the rubber strap. The colors are not too far apart, but the difference is subtle enough to create a distinct contrast between the two parts of the smartwatch. It’s tastefully done and looks way better than the all-black version.

Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 close-up view of the dial.
Mobvoi

Looks aside, the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 is actually one of the best smartwatches out there. One of the most intriguing aspects is its dual-screen system. When you are interacting with the smartwatch, it’s the 1.43-inch OLED screen that is active, showing colors in all their saturated glory.

But when it’s sitting idle on the wrist, the monochrome screen underneath takes over, and it still shows all the crucial information you would otherwise get in a full-color always-on display format. In the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5’s case, this approach saves a lot of battery juice.

Inside the round chassis is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chip paired with 2GB RAM and 32GB of storage. This configuration is powerful enough that Wear OS feels buttery smooth on the watch. “The slick, powerful, and highly responsive TicWatch Pro 5 rivals the Apple Watch for performance, and that’s not something we say lightly,” wrote my colleague Andy Boxall in his review.

Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 retail package.
Mobvoi

On the health and fitness side of things, it has all the core biosensors you would expect and supports an impressive 100 workout modes. Plus, it offers additional wellness insights, with metrics such as VO2 Max, recovery time advice, and sleep stage logs. The 628mAh battery is fairly large for its class, and longevity is also pretty good by Wear OS standards.

Overall, the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 is one of the best smartwatches out there for its asking price, and it even beats the Google Pixel Watch in some crucial aspects. With a new Sandstone look in its arsenal, it just adds an aesthetic incentive to the mix.

Nadeem Sarwar
Nadeem is a tech and science journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started…
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