The Fossil-size hole in Wear OS

For Fossil, the foodstuff wasn’t worthy the squeeze. | Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

When Fossil announced it was leaving the Android smartwatch space, I wasn’t surprised. The signs had been determination for a while. What I didn’t expect was however bittersweet it made maine feel. Fossil’s smartwatches had ne'er been the best. Their artillery beingness was meh, wellness tracking could beryllium iffy, and earlier Wear OS 3, the institution was often fto down by Google’s neglect. But present that Fossil has called it quits, it’s near a monolithic vacuum successful the Wear OS ecosystem. Who, if anyone, tin capable that void? Is determination adjacent a constituent erstwhile Google and Samsung predominate that space?

It’s been a fewer months, and I’m inactive not definite there’s a existent answer.

Throughout Wear OS’s acheronian days — backmost erstwhile it was Android Wear, adjacent — Fossil soldiered on. It continued to marque platform-agnostic flagship smartwatches with an accent connected style. That progressively became a rarity. Before 2021, it wasn’t that unusual for smartwatches different than the Apple Watch to enactment connected some Android and iOS. Wear OS 2 watches, of which Fossil made many, lone necessitated downloading the Wear OS app connected iOS oregon Android.

But successful 2021, Google and Samsung teamed up to make Wear OS 3. After that, Samsung gave up connected luring implicit iPhone users. Google’s Pixel Watch was besides Android only. That near Fossil arsenic the main Wear OS ticker that worked crossed both, but the Wear OS app was deprecated, which meant that Fossil had to make its ain companion app. (There was besides the Montblanc Summit 3, but astatine $1,290, it’s not what I’d telephone accessible.)

It didn’t assistance that determination was evident favoritism from Google and Samsung toward their ain products. Google Assistant would get connected Google’s and Samsung’s watches but stay missing connected galore third-party Wear OS 3 devices. Fossil yet got it connected its watches, but it took truthful long, it turned to a concern with Amazon Alexa to capable the spread successful the meantime. Delays were par for the course, truthful it’s nary astonishment Fossil decided the foodstuff wasn’t worthy the squeeze.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge The OnePlus Watch 2 is the closest happening to a existent Google oregon Samsung alternate I’ve seen yet.

I thought a batch astir Fossil portion reviewing the OnePlus Watch 2 — chiefly due to the fact that it was the archetypal clip successful 4 months erstwhile I thought to myself, “Could OnePlus beryllium the caller Fossil?” On the surface, it feels similar it could be. It’s a nice-lookin’ watch, peculiarly if you’re a instrumentality of much classical timepieces. The artillery beingness is superb, acold outlasting Samsung’s Galaxy Watch bid and the Pixel Watch lineup. There’s decent fittingness tracking, too, on with dual-frequency GPS — things neither Samsung nor Google has implemented connected its watches. At $300, it’s besides competitively priced. Like Fossil, it’s missing LTE connectivity, EKGs, and information features, but I’ve heard from plentifulness of folks who aren’t rather arsenic funny successful overmuch beyond the basics.

It ticks astir of the boxes Fossil did but 2 large ones: assortment of benignant and level interoperability. The latter, I understand. Wearables are progressively the instrumentality companies usage to support radical happily wrong an ecosystem. For Android watchmakers, going aft iPhone users doesn’t marque sense, unless, similar Montblanc, that’s what the bulk of your existing clientele use. OnePlus, similar Samsung, makes Android phones.

Meanwhile, Fossil had a veritable horde of smartwatches from assorted decorator brands nether its umbrella. Off the apical of my head, determination was Diesel, Armani, Michael Kors, Kate Spade, and Skagen. There were ladies watches with truthful overmuch pavé, my eyes were blinded by bling. Skagen had that Scandinavian minimalist elegance. It experimented with E Ink hybrid watches.

OnePlus has precisely 1 benignant of ticker successful 1 size. (There are, however, 2 colors.)

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Mobvoi suffered galore of the aforesaid woes Fossil did.

The lone different superior Wear OS contender present is Mobvoi — and that’s different concerning story. Mobvoi has had loyal fans for its TicWatch smartwatches for a agelong portion now, but a batch of that goodwill eroded implicit the past 2 years. Its Snapdragon Wear 4100 watches were announced arsenic eligible for Wear OS 3 successful July 2021 but didn’t get the existent upgrade until December 2023. Making the power meant losing Google Assistant. Meanwhile, its archetypal Wear OS 3 watch, the TicWatch Pro 5, was heavy delayed and ended up launching 2 weeks aft Wear OS 4 was announced. That ticker besides didn’t person Google Assistant (and inactive doesn’t). About a twelvemonth later, Mobvoi has yet announced the Wear OS 4 beta program is unfastened for applications.

All of this sounds awfully acquainted to what Fossil slogged through. And similar OnePlus, Mobvoi besides doesn’t connection the aforesaid scope of styles oregon level interoperability Fossil did.

Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge Fossil besides experimented with E Ink hybrids. Who other is going to instrumentality up that mantle now?

The question I’m near asking is whether it pays to effort to beryllium an alternate to the tech juggernauts. Fossil surely didn’t deliberation so. Mobvoi hasn’t fixed up, and OnePlus has entered its chapeau into the ringing — but I don’t deliberation it’s a coincidence that some person akin limitations and constraints. It’s adjacent little surprising, then, that genuinely platform-agnostic fittingness trackers are present multisport watches similar Garmins oregon overmuch much pared-down devices similar hybrid analogs from Withings — and that astute rings are starting to look similar appealing alternatives to smartwatches wholly portion fund trackers are starting to autumn by the wayside.

I anticipation that OnePlus and Mobvoi instrumentality it out. It’d beryllium good for Wear OS if they did. But going forward, I don’t deliberation we’ll spot a wearable institution similar Fossil anytime soon. It takes a batch of patience to run retired of idiosyncratic else’s sandbox — and that truly is simply a shame.