Fossil Gen 6 smartwatches edge closer: here’s what we’d like to see
- A Fossil smartwatch with Wear OS has passed the FCC.
- It could be an indication that Gen 6 is coming soon.
- However, will it use the faster Snapdragon Wear 4100?
When Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon Wear 4100, an obvious question arose for smartwatch enthusiasts: how soon would Fossil deploy it in Gen 6 or a similar successor to Gen 5? It couldn’t be long.
Droid life discovered an FCC filing for a group of four Fossil smartwatches that appear to be the upcoming Generation 6. Screenshots in the submission clearly show that it is a Wear OS device, and the DW11 lineup indicates a sequel to Gen 5 (DW10). . There appear to be two models from the Fossil brand along with Michael Kors equivalents.
Unsurprisingly, the listings are unsurprisingly low in hardware functionality, despite confirming the presence of Bluetooth, NFC, and Wi-Fi. So you can use Google Pay, but you shouldn’t expect Fossil Gen 6 to add cellular data.
Continue reading: The best Fossil smartwatches
Assuming this is a direct sequel, there is hope that Fossil will quickly address some of the outstanding Gen 5 issues. The battery life was a particularly painful point. The existing model lasts longer than many Wear OS watches, but you’ll struggle to have more than a full day – we hope Fossil has fixed that, be it through software or more efficient chips.
There are other problems to be solved. The Gen 5’s Snapdragon Wear 3100 was up to the job, but it was still a humble update of an old chip. When Fossil uses the Snapdragon Wear 4100 in Gen 6, it can greatly improve performance and extend battery life.
We want Fossil to match its competitors in terms of features, rather than just fixing last year’s bugs.
Some software challenges can be more difficult. While Fossil has gone all out to improve functionality with Gen 5, Wear OS lags behind other smartwatch platforms in some areas. The latest update from Google focuses on basic performance rather than features. Fossil may not need to reinvent Wear OS with Gen 6, but we wouldn’t mind if it added more software features.
It’s also about keeping up with the competition. Heart rate tracking is useful, but newer smartwatches like the Apple Watch Series 6 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 offer additional monitoring of blood oxygen. We want Fossil to match its competitors in terms of features, rather than just fixing last year’s bugs.
