For the first time, I saw Fossil’s hybrid analog watch with my own eyes at IFA 2019 – after a whole scattering of smartwatches, which, in fact, were different versions of the same device, the Fossil Hybrid HR looked extremely unusual. A hybrid classic watch with smart features and an E Ink display? After the demise of Pebble, this was a rare occurrence, and now, three years later, I got to review the Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid, a $ 250 gadget that retains the same characteristic features as the original. But I don’t feel like Fossil has taken a significant step forward.
Case design
It is worth noting right away that the Gen 6 Hybrid watch retains the proprietary E Ink screen, customizable watch faces and basic human activity tracking functions. And the analog arrows of the device still deftly go to the side when the user reads notifications or scrolls through the menu. The gadget also added the ability to measure blood oxygen saturation, a new heart rate sensor, Amazon Alexa voice assistant integration and even a new toolbar, while the Fossil companion app has been noticeably updated, plus the watch comes in a new case design that looks very attractive and expensive.
Admittedly, style can hurt this hybrid analog smartwatch a bit, especially if you start comparing it to other wearables. For example, the Gen 6 Hybrid with a regular silicone strap costs the same as the Fitbit Versa 3, but it doesn’t have a touch screen or impressive feature set. This means that the user, in the case of Fossil gadgets, pays extra for style – and it should look appropriate. And before the developers of the company managed to make strong arguments in favor of the fact that it is worth paying more for their new products, but this time it did not work out very well.
This watch is presented in two versions – Machine (45 mm) and Stella (41 mm). And as soon as I unpacked the box with the Stella version, I realized that this watch was not for me. It’s the kind of smartwatch you imagine on Kim Kardashian’s wrist in a luxury perfume ad, with a bezel of 150 hand-crafted Czech crystals and a link bracelet that literally exudes ostentatious brilliance. However, I don’t like the fact that the display in this case seems smaller than in the HR version, although it is exactly the same size as in its predecessor.
What bothers me about the Stella design is that it actually limits a person’s style a lot – watches in this case are for glamorous women, and this is not good if you want a more versatile design for everyday wear. It’s a little disappointing, because the original Fossil Hybrid HR and Skagen Jorn had a much more flexible look for different use cases. And the most interesting thing is that the Gen 6 Hybrid is noticeably heavier than its competitors, which is also important for active use.
Functions and features
If you look at the device as a standard smartwatch, then the Gen 6 Hybrid gives you all the necessary functions and some chips that the user probably did not even know about. For example, you can set a timer or stopwatches, check the weather on the screen, get notifications for incoming calls or messages from apps, and control your music, but don’t expect to be able to answer incoming calls or send text messages. And this, in fact, is all that the user needs from a hybrid analogue of a smartwatch, but the developers from Fossil have also added support for the Alexa voice assistant and an SpO2 sensor to make the gadget seem more advanced. It looks really cool on paper, but these features don’t really change anything.
For example, monitoring blood oxygen saturation—whether measured passively during sleep or on demand—is becoming literally the gold standard of the industry as countless gadgets come onto the market with support for this feature, improving sleep quality and human recovery. The process of reading indicators is extremely simple – you put your hand on the surface, after which you sit still and wait, but, unfortunately, the process was interrupted several times by a notification that everything needs to be started from the very beginning.
And although in the end my results were about the level of a pulse oximeter, this is not at all a reason to actively use this feature. The fact is that, for medical reasons, a person should not use a smart watch instead of a pulse oximeter – a smart gadget is not intended for this, it is not a medical diagnostic tool. Passive monitoring of oxygen in the blood during sleep will allow, for example, to control your breathing if there are any problems with this. But you need to do this constantly and methodically – spot checks will not work.
The implementation of Alexa support is more of a nice bonus than a really useful tool. The fact is that the voice assistant responds to queries much worse than Google Assistant or Siri, plus the Gen 6 Hybrid has a compact 0.94-inch display with a resolution of 245 ppi – no matter what answers the user receives, they barely fit on this screen and written in the thinnest and smallest type in the world. But sometimes you may not get the answer you want – many times when I tried to use the voice assistant, I got the answer that the watch could not connect to the device and I needed to move closer to the smartphone. This goes against the whole point of using a voice assistant on your wrist.
Interface and notifications
On the other hand, a rather noticeable and significant change is the updated toolbar – now it is a round menu, which is very similar to what is implemented in the Samsung Galaxy Watch. This makes it much easier to find the function that the user wants to use. In addition, I liked that Fossil made it clearer which button to use to return to the previous menu, start, stop or pause a workout, or return to the main screen. Sure, navigating through the Gen 6 Hybrid’s menus can feel horribly awkward compared to the Apple Watch, but it’s a marked improvement over previous versions of the device.
But the E Ink display has not changed much – which means that it still has the same problems as its predecessors. The refresh rate of this screen is similar to Kindle readers, which is very slow for smartwatches. This makes reading notifications quite annoying, as you have to scroll down to the bottom of the message and then wait for the screen to refresh, then repeat the procedure two seconds later. And the small font size does not allow reading important parameters during the exercise. So I appreciate of course that E Ink doesn’t cause such eye strain, but I would like the notifications to be just readable.
Sport and autonomy
Also, the Gen 6 Hybrid unfortunately suffers from the same tracking issues during fitness sessions as the company’s previous models. Although the heart rate tracking was within the acceptable range of five beats per minute from my Apple Watch Series 7, it’s still not the best tool for monitoring heart rate during a workout. Moreover, the screen refresh rate of this watch is not suitable for real-time tracking of human activity. Similarly, the distance tracking was not very reliable – while walking a distance of about 3 kilometers (recorded by my Apple Watch), the Fossil hybrid watch recorded about 2 kilometers. To be honest, I was expecting even less accuracy as this watch relies on your smartphone’s GPS for distance tracking, which is something the Gen 6 Hybrid doesn’t have built-in GPS. On the other hand, sleep tracking was accurate, although I did not get the necessary context beyond the stages of sleep and its duration.
And usually I would say that such results are very disappointing, but in this case the situation is different. Nobody who expects detailed health or fitness data should buy this watch. I would never run or train with this watch in my life if it wasn’t for this review. Not only is it very difficult and unpleasant to clean the layers of sweat and other debris from stainless steel links, but they are also too heavy to run. It’s a much better device for general health monitoring, but the Gen 6 Hybrid is a watch that can track your exercise, but it’s not designed for it.
Even more disappointing is the noticeable reduction in battery life of the Gen 6 Hybrid. Roughly, you get about a week without recharging, while competitors in the face of the Hybrid HR and Skagen Jorn give almost two weeks. I do not quite understand why this happened, but the problem is probably related to new features and sensors. And, of course, battery life depends on usage scenarios.
Review
Ultimately, Fossil created an interesting solution, but made several important mistakes in trying to fix something that was already working properly. On the one hand, for example, the round dashboard has markedly improved the user experience and eliminated one of the most annoying things in the manufacturer’s previous models. On the other hand, no one needs a blood oxygen saturation sensor and a voice assistant, especially due to cutting battery life by a whole week. Yes, the implementation of a better heart rate sensor is a nice bonus, but all of its benefits in sports are killed by inaccurate GPS tracking.
What really keeps the device from shining one hundred percent is the price. If the Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid were more affordable, some minor flaws could be forgotten, but the watch I tested costs $ 250 – you can get a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 for the same money. Or add a little and get an Apple Watch SE for 280 dollars. Both competitors will provide the user with a much larger set of features and capabilities for the same money. Speaking of hybrid competitors, the $280 Withings ScanWatch has a better ECG module and sleep monitoring system, while the $180 Garmin Vivomove Sport does a much better job of tracking physical activity. So if you don’t like the design of the Gen 6 Hybrid, there are plenty of options.
And while the Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid isn’t a terrible watch, because it does what its target audience expects, this approach may have worked in 2019, but it won’t be easy to sell this gadget in 2022.
✅ Benefits
- More intuitive control panel.
- Modern heart rate sensor.
- Customizable watch faces.
❌ Disadvantages
- The text may be difficult to read.
- Heavier than previous versions.
- Less battery life.
- The new SpO2 and Alexa features do nothing.
- The design could be more versatile.
This is a translation of The Verge review.
Source: Trash Box
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
