SPECIFICATIONS
PRICE Rs. 21,995 URL fossil.com/in STORAGE 4GB OS Wear OS by Google SENSORS Accelerometer, Ambient Light, Gyroscope, Heart Rate COMPATIBILITY Android OS 4.4+ (Excluding Go Edition), iOS 9.3+ CONNECTIVITY Bluetooth Smart Enabled/4.1 LE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n BATTERY LIFE Estimated all day PROCESSOR Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 CASE SIZE 45mm STRAP SIZE 22mm INTERCHANGEABLE STRAP Yes
The thing with Google’s Wear OS-powered smartwatches is that most of the offer similar set of features. One way for them to differentiate is the design, which is what Fossil has been doing for a few years now. Generation 4 Explorist HR Smartwatch is their recent offering but is it worth the spend? Let’s find out.
The Explorist HR’s design makes it clear cut about its target market. The smartwatch is big and perfect for anyone who prefers a large dial. The 45mm dial is undoubtedly, large but the case thickness is just 13mm and shaves off some extra grams to make the smartwatch lighter. The watch we received had a rose gold finish with black leather strap and while we weren’t fond of that combination, Fossil actually sells a few other colour options with leather straps and metal links. For customers looking for a smaller watch, Fossil also sells Venture HR, which is essentially a 40mm watch. Mumbai monsoons shouldn’t be botherful because the Explorist HR has a waterproof design.
When it comes to performance, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100 powers the smartwatch. The overall performance is smooth but would have appreciated Fossil to go with the latest available chip instead of the one announced way back in 2016. There are no surprises if you’ve used a Wear OS smartwatch before.
The heart rate tracking is good, comparable to some dedicated fitness bands in the market and untethered GPS makes it possible to track runs, bike rides without the need to connect to a smartphone to record it. Not that we would want to take a good looking watch like this for a run but it’s a good feature to have.
One gripe we have is the battery life and if you use GPS, you’ll hardly get a day out of it. Use it more conservatively and you’ve got a chance to extend it to more than a day.
To wrap things up, we found the Fossil Explorist HR to be a decent smartwatch if you’re looking for something big and runs Google’s Wear OS. However, if you’re not a fan of Fossil’s design or want a different look, you can also look at some alternatives like Samsung’s Galaxy Watch or Apple’s Series 3.
RATING 3.5/5
WE’RE IMPRESSED Features
WE’D IMPROVE Battery life
THE LAST WORD A large smartwatch that boasts a decent feature set but with a mediocre battery life
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