The Fossil Gen 6 is the first smartwatch with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 4100+. Its co-processor improves energy efficiency and the display in standby. It also has a SpO2 measurement ahead of the Gen 5 and is one of the first and initially few wearables on which you can install YouTube Music and operate it offline.
Furthermore, the Fossil Gen 6 is the long-awaited upgrade to the fifth generation of the smartwatch series from the US manufacturer. We have taken a close look at the watch and tell you whether the purchase is worth it at all.
In this article
Technical details
| Screen size | 1,28 inches |
| Wrist material | Silicon / Rubber, Metal, Stainless steel |
| Size watch case | 42 / 44 mm |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.0, WLAN, NFC |
| GPS | Yes |
| Battery life | up to 24 hours |
| Supported systems | Android, iOS |
| Water resistance | 3 ATM (up to 30 meters) |
| Display | OLED |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, GPS, Pulse monitor, Pulse monitor without chest strap, Sleep monitoring, Ambient light sensor |
| Microphone included | Yes |
| Speaker included | Yes |
Chic design and solid workmanship
Design is an important point with the Fossil smartwatches. The Gen 6 measures 51 x 48 x 12.4mm and weighs 55.4g. The metal case together with the brown leather strap then already brings 83.8g on the scale. The bracelet covers a wrist circumference of 174 to 228mm and is held together by a classic buckle in this version.
Design-wise, a few elements have been added to the Fossil Gen 6. The rotating home button now sits in a bezel, but it was rarely used on me, as it scrolls nicely smoothly with the touchscreen. A kind of bezel is also indicated, but it does not stand out as much as the pictures suggest. Also fancy is the free accommodation for the wristbands. The case is made of plastic on the bottom and really solid-looking black metal on top. The Fossil Watch Gen 6 is waterproof up to 3ATM.
Of course, you can change the bracelet at will for other models with a width of 22mm. We opted for the combination of black metal with brown leather strap and for the variant there is first a big praise! Here you combine silicone on the bottom with brown leather on top.
This not only looks great, it is also a practical combination. Silicone lies well against the skin and is insensitive (for sports) and the brown leather looks stylish. While pure silicone should be as tight as possible on the wrist, the leather provides enough stiffness so that the Fossil Gen 6 won’t slip without being completely cinched down.
Fossil Gen 6: Great Display and more
Fossil continues to install a 3.3cm, or 1.28-inch, round AMOLED panel in both sizes of the Fossil Gen 6. This resolves with 416 x 416 pixels and thus achieves a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch. The brightness can either be set manually in five steps or let the Fossil Watch decide independently with the help of the light sensor with a choice of three steps.
The AMOLED is bright enough for use in the sun. It is also possible to set an always-on display to always show the time and important information. Alternatively, you activate two other functions to activate the display: Tapping the touchscreen or lifting the arm.
Activating the display via one of the three buttons saves the most battery. The Fossil Gen 6 is best operated via the touchscreen, which implements inputs quickly and specifically. Sure, it is not optimal, but typing on the tiny QWERTY keyboard also works surprisingly well.
The rotating home button can also be used for scrolling. The other two buttons can be freely assigned with functions or apps. I used sports tracking to quickly select from favorite workouts and media playback to quickly call up Spotify.
Hardware and software – modern as usual
Wear OS version 2.3.2 is still used on the Fossil Gen 6. Wear OS 3 will unfortunately not follow until mid-2022, but is supposed to be a significant leap in quality. The Wear OS app (in the Google Play Store) is needed to connect the device to the smartphone, but the setup is mostly self-contained after pairing. On the smartphone, you can make basic settings, manage which notifications end up on the smartwatch, define and arrange the widgets/homescreens, and set watch faces.
Wear OS runs as usual on the Fossil Gen 6. The Snapdragon Wear 4100+ is not faster compared to the regular Wear 4100, but the low-energy co-processor has made it more efficient. In fact, the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra is a good 20% stronger in benchmarks. In terms of memory, the Fossil Gen 6 offers 1GB of working memory as well as 8GB of storage.
However, it still does not run completely flawlessly and especially when the smartwatch is challenged with tasks, lags / thinking seconds are still present. The co-processor is the QCC1110. In practice, dr is supposed to take over processes in standby and drive the always-on display. This can now display up to 64,000 colors.
Siri, Alexa and Co always with you
Via the built-in microphone and speaker, you can perform some smartphone tasks directly via Google Assistant. Also, Amazon Alexa should soon still be able to be controlled directly via the Fossil Gen 6. So far, you only get the text “Soon available” when you start the app or add the homescreen widget.
What is possible on the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra also works on the Fossil Gen 6. If the media playback runs via the smartphone, you can quickly control it on the smartwatch. The Fossil Gen 6 also understands “Spotify Offline”: Simply download songs to the Wear OS Watch, pair headphones via Bluetooth and you can listen to music (and track sports) while jogging without having the phone with you. Likewise, the Fossil Gen 6 gets along with YouTube Music autonomously (i.e. offline).
Practical companion for fitness fans
For recording health data and sports tacking, the Fossil Gen 6 has an optical pulse sensor with integrated SpO2 sensor available on the hardware side. In combination with the acceleration sensor and gyroscope, numerous sports data can then also be recorded, which can be of great value for people that are looking to get a fitness smartwatch.
You can choose between Google Fit and the Nike Run Club app for the software, but of course you can also freely use it from the Google Play Store. Any movement in the fresh air can also be recorded with the track data. The Fossil Gen 6 GPS and a barometer for altitude meters are available for this.
If you also wear the smartwatch at night, you can record your sleep with the Fossil Gen 6. The Google Fit app presents the wake-up and wake-up times as well as the heart rate. In addition, sleep is divided into waking phases and light as well as restful sleep.
Battery life unfortunately weak
Is the new Snapdragon Wear 4100+ enough to give the Fossil Gen 6 a passable battery life, or do we still have to wait for the WearOS version 3 update next year? Ultimately, the battery life depends heavily on the user profile, but you should definitely get through the day. Of course, you can also choose between different “smart” profiles and even an ultra-low-power mode on the Fossil Gen 6, but then the smartwatch’s functionality is clearly limited.
The included USB-A cable holds magnetically to the Fossil Gen 6 and thanks to the two circular contacts, the placement does not matter. A complete charge takes 60 minutes. Fossil’s flagship is the 0 to 80% time, which actually works out to 30 minutes. Hook it up to the power in the morning, for example, and it goes from 40 to 100% in 35 minutes. These are good and practical values.
Conclusion
The Fossil Gen 6, with its Snapdragon Wear 4100+, is arguably the manufacturer’s best Android Watch to date. However, it is clearly not the best smartwatch on the market. But you need an iPhone for the Apple Watch, the Galaxy Watch 4 only unfolds its potential with Samsung smartphones, and other manufacturers also have their little flaws.
The Fossil Gen 6 has become really stylish, covers all the functions of a smartwatch with Wear OS and is also suitable for recording health data and sports tracking. The battery life of the Fossil Gen 6 is exactly sufficient for my taste, but not more. I would not pay 300€, but you can quietly strike in the offer if you are looking for a “real” smartwatch.
