Fossil Q Gen 2 Smartwatch
PRODUCT DETAILS
- Activity Tracking: Built In Fitness Tracker
- Notifications: Social Media / Text / Email / App Alerts / Multiple Time Zones / Alarm Clock / Calendar Alerts
- Functions: Personalize Your Dial / Control Your Music / Voice Activated Google / LED Flashlight / Google Maps Enabled / Interchangeable Watch Band
- Connectivity: Bluetooth® Smart Enabled / 4.1 Low Energy, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n – Powered by Android Wear™
- Compatibility: Android™ OS 4.3+ or iPhone 5/iOS 8.2+
TECH DETAILS
- Storage: 4GB Flash
- Memory: RAM is 512 MB
- Operating System: Android Wear™
- Sensors: G-Sensor, Gyroscope
- Compatibility: Android™ OS 4.3+ or iPhone 5/iOS 8.2+
- Connectivity: Bluetooth® Smart Enabled / 4.1 Low Energy, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n – Powered by Android Wear™
- Battery Life: 400mAh — Estimated all day
- What’s In the Box: Wireless Charger (USB Type), Quick Start Guide
- Processor: Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ Wear 2100
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9BGTgibaIM
Unboxing of Fossil Q Gen 2 Smartwatch
Closer Look of Fossil Q Gen 2 Smartwatch
Smartwatch is probably the ultimate gadget accessory to pair with your smartphone. It’s a gadget that encompasses the level of human technology on a human wrist, as it can tell the time, date, number of steps that you made, the battery percentage of your smartphone, and it can also inform you of important notifications straight to your wrist. What is more impressive is that many of today’s best models can perform tricks that are very convenient, such as allowing you to search the internet with your voice, send messages or call someone with your voice, tracking your exercise over GPS, and many more.
For this review, we have Fossil’s second generation smartwatch known as the Fossil Q Gen 2 Smartwatch. The model we have here is called Fossil Gen 2 Smartwatch – Q Founder Two-Tone Stainless Steel.
The design is simple and I think this kind of design is pretty common for analog watches but it looks cool for me. The straps of the watch are made from stainless steel with aluminum plating. The outer sides of the straps are coated with black colored aluminum that gives the watch its two-tone design.
The straps of the watch are also adjustable. I had to remove about two plates just to make this watch fit on my wrist.
The diameter of Fossil Q Gen 2 Smartwatch’s display is about 3.6 cm when measured manually. Looking closely, this smartwatch seems to be using a TN type of display. The color isn’t rich either and the brightness and contrast change when viewed at an angle. One important thing to note is that the screen is not a complete circle. At the bottom of the 360 x 326 pixel resolution display sits a black bar that houses a sensor. Probably a touchscreen sensor or light sensor.
The Fossil Q Gen 2 Smartwatch is not for everyone. It’s big and heavy, but I like big watches. Fits on me well and looks good on me too but that’s on my personal perspective. Other people may think otherwise.
Features
Feature wise, it has built-in apps that you can use and some conventional features that you can expect from having a smartwatch.
- TOUCHSCREEN FUNCTIONALITY – Emails, calls, and message.
- ACTIVITY TRACKING – Track your everyday accomplishments: steps, distance (select styles only) and calories burned.
- CUSTOMIZABLE WATCH STRAPS – Match your Fossil Q to your look in seconds with interchangeable straps.
- LED FLASHLIGHT – Illuminate the interior of a carryall or small area with the LED flashlight.
- SMARTPHONE NOTIFICATIONS – Be notified of important texts, calls and app updates—all from your wrist.
- MICROPHONE + SPEAKER – Use the built-in microphone and speaker to do a variety of tasks on your smartwatch using just your voice.
- ALARM CLOCK – Whether it’s a vibration or audible alert, set an alarm for wake-ups and workouts (and every reminder in between).
- WIRELESS CHARGING – Effortlessly charge your Fossil Q by placing it on the inductive charging magnet. No plugging or unplugging of cables required.
- CUSTOMIZABLE WATCH FACES – Customize the face of your Fossil Q Touchscreen Smartwatch anytime you want. Simply choose a Fossil or Android Wear™ design, adjust the colors, then add the complications to your watch face.
- CONTROL YOUR MUSIC – Control your music with your phone’s selected music player whether it’s Spotify, Pandora, Soundcloud, Google Play, iTunes or Apple Music.
- AUTO-UPDATE TIME/DATE – When traveling to another time zone, your Fossil Q automatically updates to the correct local date and time.
- WIRELESS SYNCING – Automatically syncs to your phone so you can keep tabs on your activity and notifications without ever pushing a button.
The Fossil Q Gen 2 smartwatch is powered by Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ Wear 2100. It supports the most important features that the next generation of wearable devices will need—including always-on connectivity, with low power usage for long battery life. The Snapdragon 2100 processor is claimed to be 30 percent smaller than the previous-generation wearable processors and the processor uses 25 percent less power, extending this smartwatch battery life.
The Fossil Q Gen 2 Smartwatch also features a built-in speaker and mic. The 5 holes that are shown on the image is the speaker and the mic is located on the other side of the watch. Next to the pressable button of the watch as shown on the image below.
With 6 holes present on the watch, it makes me wonder how this smartwatch boast an IP67 certification. Having an IP67 rating means that this watch is fully protected from dust and can also withstand being submerged in 1m (about 3.3 feet) of static water. We haven’t tested submerging it under water as we are not sure if its IP67 rating is as intended or just a waterproof protection from casual rains or taking a shower while wearing the watch.
The Fossil Q Gen 2 Smartwatch features a single pressable button. Pressing it turns the display off and pressing it again turns the display on. When inside an app, pressing it brings you back to the main screen.
Final Thoughts…
Cheers to Fossil for venturing into the smartwatch industry but it seems that they need to do more research and further improve their offerings. I’m not someone who’s into smartwatches but for this Fossil Q Gen 2 Smartwatch, it’s a hands down for me. I like the design overall despite being plain and simple. I also like the premium feeling of it.
What I didn’t like though is the black bar on the display, it’s ugly and disturbing. The use of TN panel display is also a downer for me. Fossil should have opted with IPS display than TN. With a selling price ranging from US$250 to US$400 (depending on design), Fossil Q smartwatches should have an IPS display. Example of that is the cheaper LG G Watch that boast an IPS display.
Lastly, is it worth it? Well on my personal point of view, if you want that classic premium feeling of wearing a luxurious analog watch but want the latest technology integrated into it, then the Fossil Q Gen 2 Smartwatch is worth buying. Otherwise, there are other better alternatives out there. Fossil still needs to learn and make more effort for their smartwatch series but having the latest hardware inside their smartwatch is a big plus.
How to configure Fossil Q Gen 2 Smartwatch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqEqCJZQvYg
Configuring this smartwatch and pairing it with your smartphone is easy. All you have to do is install the Android Wear app for android users and for iOS, simply pair both devices via bluetooth.