The Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch running Wear OS 3.0 has already been confirmed by Fossil itself, but not the release date. Based on an email sent to customers it seems that Monday, August 30 could be the big day.
The email, spotted and reported by Droid Life, says that the Gen 6 model is “coming fast” – and Fossil fans are advised to “check your email on Monday for first access to Fossil’s newest, most advanced smartwatch”.
That sounds like an announcement of the Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch to us, and it means we should get some more details about the wearable even if it doesn’t go on sale right away. We will of course bring you everything that’s announced right here on TechRadar.
What we know so far
First up for the Fossil Gen 6 is the software: Google is putting a lot behind the big Wear OS 3.0 update landing this year in a bid to grab some market share from the Apple Watch, and the upgrade brings with it improved battery life, better app switching, performance boosts, new third-party tiles, and plenty more.
Then there’s the hardware: the successor to the Fossil Gen 5 is rumored to be arriving with the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus chipset, 8GB of internal storage, and a 1.28-inch screen running at a resolution of 416 x 416 pixels.
You can expect plenty of on-board sensors and tracking technology to be included in the Gen 6 model, while pricing is rumored to be around the €299-329 mark – with a straight currency conversion (so this probably won’t be spot on), that works out at about $355-390 / £255-280 / AU$480-530 in other markets.
Opinion: Fossil deserves a Wear OS hit
In the shadow of the phenomenal success enjoyed by the Apple Watch, Wear OS manufacturers haven’t had it easy. The available hardware components have been a little underpowered, and it has felt like Google has completely forgotten about its smartwatch software from time to time.
Nevertheless, Fossil has continued to fly the flag for Wear OS on smartwatches: along with Ticwatch, it has pushed out some of the best models of recent years, even if that hasn’t always been recognized with sales numbers.
In short, Fossil deserves a smartwatch hit because of all the effort it’s put in already. Its wearables are always really well built and stylish, even if they’re let down by the operating system provided by Google or the internal components provided by Qualcomm.
With the Gen 6 arriving with both software and hardware upgrades, we’re hopeful that the next Fossil smartwatch can be the one that really hits home in terms of attention, buyer interest and reviewer acclaim. Watch this space for the TechRadar review once we’ve had a chance to try it out.