Review & Reviews on the Wear OS dual-screen smart health connected watch

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Mobvoi, a young Chinese start-up, is very prolific on the market of smart health connected objects. His smartwatches are a great success. This time, the brand is off the beaten path and innovates to really stand out with its dual-screen TicWatch Pro.

Prices and technical specifications

Where the previous TicWatch were aimed at a relatively low price, the new model named TicWatch Pro aims at the top of the basket with a price of 249 €. Contrary to his habits, Mobvoi did not make the choice of crowdfunding to launch his smart health connected device. The TicWatch Pro has been marketed rather discreetly and is already available on Amazon. The manufacturer seems to be testing new ways to penetrate this very competitive market.

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For the price displayed, the smartwatch displays beautiful specifications:

• 1.4 "400 x 400 px AMOLED display + low consumption FSTN LCD display

• SoC Snapdragon Wear 2100

• 512 MB of RAM

• 4 GB of internal storage

• WiFi 802.11 b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, GPS, heart rate sensor

• IP68 certification

• Microphone + speaker

• Dimensions: 12 x 14 x 8 cm for 59 grams

• 415 mAh battery

• Wear OS

The TicWatch Pro is therefore equipped with the best material at the moment, even if it starts to be old. All for a price equivalent to other smart health connected watches less well endowed. The Chinese smartwatch is even compatible with Google Pay. If the service is not yet deployed in France, it should soon be, which will ultimately enable contactless transactions. But it is especially with its two superimposed screens that the TicWatch Pro stands out.

Getting started video

(Embed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PGYiEylMFQ (/ embed)

Design

The new watch from Mobvoi is really a very nice piece, especially compared to the TicWatch E which was very – too – banal. Here, we end up with a smartwatch with a very nice look. If the case itself is plastic, the crown and the back of the smart health connected watch are made of stainless steel. On the model of silver color, the effect is frankly nice. The watch is really upscale and breathes solidity.

Mobvoi also had the good idea to integrate two physical buttons – also stainless steel – on the right side. In general, the cutters in Wear OS only have one. Here, the second one can serve as a shortcut for your favorite application, but it's mostly there to activate the Essential mode. I will come back in more detail during the rest of the Review.

The TicWatch Pro, however, has a small drawback: it is rather massive. With its 59 grams, it feels good on the wrist. It also has a hybrid bracelet not necessarily very comfortable. The back is silicone, the front is leather. We find this concept of duality strongly impregnated in the watch. For my part, I would have preferred a full leather strap, more comfortable and not impossible to provide on a device at this price.

Despite these small details, the TicWatch Pro is one of the most beautiful watches Wear OS that I had the opportunity to Review in recent years. The design is really neat, the watch goes everywhere with its upscale urban look. It far surpasses the more expensive Huawei Watch 2. In short, it starts well!

Display (s)

It's also a first in the world of smartwatches: the TicWatch Pro uses two screens! They are superimposed, the AMOLED slab being placed under a transparent LCD FSTN slab low consumption. If I feared a lack of brightness or colors, the grip reassured me. The AMOLED screen retains beautiful colors and enjoys a very good definition. It just lacks punch in daylight, despite an automatically adaptable brightness.

It is in this situation that the LCD panel FSTN takes all its interest. Just like the E-Ink screens – integrated on the Withings Go for example – this slab is perfectly legible in full sun. The essential information is displayed there: time, date, number of steps. And if you start a sports activity, other information will be displayed such as your speed, calories burned, distance traveled and heart rate in real time. All consuming less power than a conventional AMOLED display. Not bad !

Essential and Smart modes

The main interest of both screens is the conservation of energy. To get more than one day, Mobvoi has two modes of operation for its TicWatch Pro. In fact, I would say there are three. The first has no name, so I will call it "classic". It involves using the watch without ever using the FSTN screen. Autonomy is then all that is more classic, about a day with the screen always on.

In Smart modewe mix the best of both worlds. The AMOLED display is used for Wear OS, but the screen saver is replaced by the FSTN panel. The usage time is doubled in this way, rising to about two days. And when the battery goes to less than 20% (or other adjustable levels in the settings), the watch will invite you to switch to Essential mode.

This last mode is the least energy consuming. For good reason: it disables all the smart health connected part. More from Wear OS, WiFi, Bluetooth and company. Only the FSTN LCD screen remains. The latter displays the basic information of any activity tracker. To get the heart rate, press the bottom button. If we lose the benefits of Wear OS, we win on the other hand a monstrous autonomy of up to 30 days in full charge!

Switching between the various modes is childish. Various shortcuts are available. The quickest is to use a long press on the bottom button. The only drawback in my opinion is the transition between Essential and Smart. Wear OS must launch again, which takes a lot of time and consumes a lot of battery … At the same time, the use will probably switch from Smart to Essential and not the other way around.

Wear OS

Compatibility: Android 5.0+, iOS 9.3+

Review device: Xiaomi Mi6 Android 8.0 Oreo / MIUI10

The application was not found in the shop. ?

Mobvoi now has some experience with Google systems. Wear OS was already used for TicWatch S & E. The enclosure TicHome mini is endowed with Google Assistant. So it's no surprise that the Chinese brand has opted for Wear OS on its new watch. Note that I do not have an iPhone, but it seems that some functions such as voice commands are not present for people with this type of device.

Since my Huawei Watch 2 Review, a lot of water has flowed under the bridges. Wear OS has improved. Google Assistant is now well integrated, it is activated thanks to the top button on a long press. The system is rather reactive on the TicWatch Pro, despite some sporadic slowdowns. It must be said that the Snapdragon Wear 2100 is no longer very young …

Nevertheless, I enjoyed playing with the watch. You can use the voice to respond to SMS, notifications are clearly displayed, there are thousands of dials available and hundreds of applications on the Play Store. Some minor flaws still remain: Google Assistant does not use the speaker while it was on the TicWatch E. I also had a nice crash (only once) with Watchmaker dials. Nothing really bad, but it will be necessary to wait for some updates to take advantage of the full potential of the smart health connected watch.

Mobvoi application

To accompany its smart health connected objects, the young Chinese has developed an Android application compatible with its smart health connected watches. It is geared towards sport, noting the steps recorded by the watch and the heart rate at regular intervals. The watch itself is endowed with various fitness and health applications.

By default, a quick press on the bottom button starts activity tracking: walk, run, bike or freestyle. Depending on the situation, the GPS will activate to follow your route. The basic information is present directly on the screen and reported on the mobile application after exercise. Everything works fine but does not reach the same level as the Fitbit or Garmin trackers. Of course, the watch must be in Smart mode to transfer your data or even save it locally. Essential Mode does not record anything and does not use GPS at all.

Autonomy

As we saw above, the TicWatch Pro is equipped with several screens management modes, which in theory gives it a better autonomy than its more conventional counterparts. But in reality, is the promise kept? According to my tests, yes, widely! By using Smart mode, mixing AMOLED screen and FSTN LCD screen, I manage to hold two days without much problem with Wear OS. For this, I use dials with black backgrounds, I avoid activating the GPS … In short, I remain fairly light on my uses, the watch is mainly used to manage my emails and calls or to wake up in the morning.

Once the battery is less than 15%, I switch the smartwatch mode Essential. From then on, I benefit from more than 3 days of reprieve before the battery returns the weapons. This mode of operation saved my life on a trip of several days away from the charger!

Everything is improved with a rather fast charge taking just an hour. An excellent time considering the life of a single charge. However, if you are addicted to Wear OS and can not do without it, the autonomy will not be that exceptional. For me, the bet is still successful for Mobvoi, it's nice not to have to recharge my watch smart health connected every night.

Conclusion

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9.5 Total Score

Would I recommend the TicWatch Pro? Yes, without hesitation! This smart health connected watch brilliantly solves the main problem of this type of smart health smart health connected object by attempting a crazy bet: superimpose two screens and mix various energy management mode thanks to them. Autonomy is clearly gaining in quality. Add to that a superb design, efficient and simple proprietary applications, (future) contactless payments … The defects appear then more than minor. High congestion can be a brake, just like some bugs in the software. But apart from that, you can darken with your eyes closed, the game is clearly worth the candle!

PROS

• Design at the top

• Well-designed dual screen system

• Excellent autonomy

• Mobvoi applications of good quality

• Full equipment: GPS, WiFi, NFC

• Wear OS improves with time

CONS

• Rather heavy watch

• Hybrid bracelet not fantastic (but in the spirit of duality of the smartwatch)

• AMOLED screen can not be read in direct sunlight (choose the LCD FSTN)

• Some very rare bugs

• Switching from Essential mode to Smart mode rather long

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