The Fossil Gen 6 smartwatches debut with the Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus SoC and blood-oxygen tracking

Fossil has made the successors to the Gen 5 smartwatches official today (August 30, 2021). This announcement also confirms that they are the first to launch Qualcomm's (technically) latest Snapdragon Wear 4100+, and that they will indeed not see an update to Wear OS 3 until 2022.

Nevertheless, the Gen 6 watches might offer some valuable upgrades for fans of the series. They are the first of their line to come with SpO2 sensing, as well as 24/7 heart-rate monitoring. Fossil also asserts that their sleep-tracking abilities are sensitive enough to track and analyse naps as well as full diurnal cycles for the user.

The Fossil Gen 6 wearables come in 42 or 44mm case variants, although either has the same 1.28-inch AMOLED displays with an always-on mode, as well as 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. Both variants are equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 for pairing and NFC for Google Pay. The OEM has also included a speaker and mic for the option of hands-free voice-calls.

Fossil has developed a stainless-steel form-factor for the new Gen 6 watches, all of which have 3 buttons. However, there are different color and band combinations available, such as a Green Camo Grosgrain strap with a black body. The OEM has priced them at US$299, with the exception of those SKUs that come with stainless-steel straps as well: they are $319.

Fossil has already released some of these new Gen 6 combos for sale on its US website, and has yet to outline international availability for the new high-end wearables.

Buy a Fossil Gen 5 Carlyle HR on Amazon