Fossil bills its next smartwatch as the 'best possible' for the Wear OS ecosystem
It was more or less clear that Fossil would launch new smartwatches this year, having already confirmed as much to CNET. Now, Fossil has explicitly stated that it will release a new smartwatch in 2021 with Google's new Wear OS 3.0 operating system. Fossil has not revealed the model name of its upcoming smartwatch, although we imagine that it will be the Gen 6, following on from last year's Gen 5E.
According to Chris Hartley, Director of Category Strategy – Wearables, Fossil has big plans for its new generation of smartwatches, which traditionally have relied on Google's smartwatch platforms. In a Qualcomm press note, Hartley is quoted as having said the following:
At Fossil Group, we are always striving for new innovation and increased performance in our products. Thanks to our continued partnership with Qualcomm and the launch of our upcoming smartwatches later this year, Fossil believes it's bringing the best possible Wear OS smartwatch to the market this year.
Clearly, Fossil has partnered with Qualcomm to deliver the SoC for its next smartwatch. If that were not the case, then we doubt Qualcomm would have highlighted Fossil's plans. What Hartley means by 'best possible' is open for interpretation, though. Best possible does not necessarily mean the best smartwatch on the market, by any stretch.
Perhaps, the Gen 6 will be the best possible smartwatch that Fossil could have created in light of what was available to it. In terms of Qualcomm, that could mean the Snapdragon Wear 4100, Wear 4100+ or a newer generation SoC that the chipmaker announced this week. Many unknowns about Wear OS 3.0 remain too, even if Google has started rolling out some elements to existing Wear OS 2.xx smartwatches. Ultimately, whatever Fossil releases will face competition from the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, two smartwatches that will run One UI Watch, a fork of Wear OS 3.0.
Source(s)
Qualcomm via 9to5Google
