Evidence points to Mobvoi lying about upgrading the TicWatch E3 and TicWatch Pro 3 to the Snapdragon Wear 4100+
Since Mobvoi has started advertising the TicWatch E3 and TicWatch Pro 3 with the Snapdragon Wear 4100+, we thought we would purchase a new model to see if the company has made any changes. The Wear 4100 and Wear 4100+ share all components, but for the latter's ultra-low power co-processor (Qualcomm QCC1110).
For reference, the Wear 4100+ uses the QCC1110 to reduce power consumption when an always-on display (AoD) is active. The TicWatch Pro 3 has a dual display to achieve this, with Mobvoi disabling WearOS' AoD by default. The TicWatch E3 relies on a conventional single display, so the QCC1110 would prove useful here.
Sadly, our research has determined that Mobvoi continues to equip the TicWatch E3 with a Wear 4100. As the images below show, Mobvoi's retail box and documentation all refers to the TicWatch E3 as having the Wear 4100, not the Wear 4100+.
Our new TicWatch E3 does not report that it has a Wear 4100+, either. Frustratingly, Qualcomm does not make it easier to determine if a device has the Wear 4100 or Wear 4100+. For some reason, it refers to both as the SDA429W and SDM429W in its documentation. Hence, pulling details through ADB proved useless, as both our newly-purchased TicWatch E3 and pre-August TicWatch Pro 3 returned SDA429W and SDM429W for their SoCs. It is unclear what functional differences there are between SDA429W and SDM429W, mind you.
Thankfully, Wear OS supports AIDA64. As the screenshots below show, both TicWatch smartwatches feature identical Wear 4100 SoCs. Ultimately, this could be a mistake on AIDA64's part, however unlikely that seems. For the avoidance of any doubt, we will see what AIDA64 returns on the Fossil Gen 6, the only smartwatch that officially has the Wear 4100+. Fossil Gen 6 orders start shipping on September 27 in the UK, after which we will run AIDA64 on it.
On the face of it, it seems that Mobvoi is falsely advertising the TicWatch E3 and TicWatch Pro 3 on Amazon and its platforms. We have not found a shred of evidence that points towards our new TicWatch E3 running the Wear 4100+. Presumably, this also applies to the TicWatch Pro 3, since Mobvoi claims to be shipping both with Wear 4100+ chipsets. Mobvoi has not responded to our questions, at the time of writing.
Source(s)
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