IFA 2017 | Fossil launches the Q Venture and Q Explorist smartwatches

Back in late March, Fossil unveiled the Q Venture and the Q Explorist smartwatches at the Baselworld watch and jewelry trade show that takes place every year in Basel, Switzerland. Since these two wearables did not reach the market in the meantime and they became available for pre-order last month, Fossil has decided to bring them both to IFA these days for an adequate global launch.

The Fossil Q Venture and its sibling have the same hardware, but they feature different cases so the Q Explorist is slightly bigger (it has a 12.55 mm case with 44 mm diameter vs. 11.5 mm and 42 mm diameter for the Q Venture) and has three side buttons instead of one. The processor used by both smartwatches is Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 2100, both also featuring 4 GB of storage space. None of them has built-in GPS or NFC connectivity, providing Bluetooth 4.1 LE and WiFi 802.11 b/g/n instead.

These two new smartwatches provide smart notifications and activity tracking, but they do not have any advanced fitness tracking capabilities. However, they work with apps like Strava, RunKeeper, and Google Fit. The Fossil Q Venture and the Q Explorist come with interchangeable straps and work with Android 4.3 devices or later, as well as iPhone 5 smartphones with iOS 9 or later on board.

Although there is no heart rate monitoring and a connected smartphone is needed to take full advantage of these wearables, these smartwatches might prove to be quite successful. Depending on the strap/case combination chosen, the Q Venture and the Q Explorist have a price tag of US$255 or US$275. Both can be acquired from Fossil.com or via various other retailers.

As a side note, the Q Venture and Q Explorist are both 3rd generation Fossil smartwatches. Since they are now available worldwide, those hunting for deals can grab some of their second generation siblings for reduced prices. For example, the Q Marshal with brown leather strap is available on Amazon for US$193.8, which is 24 percent down from a list price of US$255. The deal also comes with free shipping.