After announcing the Gen 5 in 2019, Fossil has announced its successor today which is dubbed the Gen 6. The new smartwatch brings key upgrades including a more powerful processor but doesn’t ship with the latest version of Wear OS.
The Fossil Gen 6’s main upgrade is the new Snapdragon Wear 4100+, one of two chipsets Qualcomm announced last year for smartwatches. The smartwatch is the first to feature this new chip. Fossil says that the new processor brings a performance improvement of up to 30% when compared to the Gen 5. Users should see faster app load times and reduced power consumption.
Another new feature is the addition of a blood oxygen level monitor (SpO2 sensor). The watch also has a 24-hour heart rate that provides continuous heart rate monitoring. Fossil claims the sensor has been improved and it works better in more situations.
The Fossil Gen 6 has Google Assistant built-in, so with the “Ok Google” wake word, you can ask questions, control smart home devices, and set reminders. There is also support for Google Pay, music playback control, and the ability to make and receive calls when connected to a smartphone. Unfortunately, the smartwatch runs the older Wear OS 2 out of the box. If you don’t mind waiting until next year, you will get the Wear OS 3 update.
Fossil Gen 6 Specs
- 1.28-inch AMOLED screen with a 416 x 416 resolution
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB storage
- Snapdragon Wear 4100+
- Bluetooth 5.0
- NFC SE
- Wi-Fi
- Off-body IR, Gyroscope
- PPG heart rate sensor
- Accelerometer, altimeter, ambient light sensor, compass, gyroscope
- 3 ATM water resistance
The Fossil Gen 6 has a round dial and comes in a variety of designs. Buyers will be able to choose from 10 different configurations which start at $299 and go up to $319. Fossil also has straps in different colors and designs for the different configurations available. Fossil is already taking pre-orders and it says shipping will happen close to September 27.
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