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Introduction
The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro first launched one year ago with dual displays. Although it didn't pioneer the idea (that was Casio), the premise is simple. There's an AMOLED touch display which functions like any other Wear OS watch, but there's also a transflective screen that shows you the time and step count while the display is off.
The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 4G is a successor to the TicWatch Pro. Although the design is similar, there are several notable differences in features, hardware and connectivity. The main differences are double the RAM and 4G/LTE support. Is this difference enough to get you to consider one over the Galaxy Watch?
The TicWatch Pro still doesn't offer sleep tracking, but Mobvoi promises it will come in a future update. Otherwise, it covers most activity tracking like total distance walked, total active time, heart rate monitoring, and step counts.
Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 4G LTE specs:
- Case: Polyamide & glass fiber, stainless steel bezel, aluminum back cover, matte black finish
- Display: Dual [AMOLED + FSTN LCD] 1.39" displays; Gorilla Glass 3
- Battery: 415 mAh; magnetic four-pin charger
- Dimensions: 45.15mm x 52.8mm x 12.6mm
- Weight: 47.4g
- Strap: Interchangeable 22mm; silicone strap included
- OS: Wear OS with TicHealth and Essential Mode
- Chipset: Snapdragon Wear 2100
- Memory: 4GB ROM; 1GB RAM
- Connectivity: 4G/LTE FDD; Bluetooth v4.2 + LE; Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n; NFC
- Sensors: PPG heart rate sensor; accelerometer; gyroscope; e-compass; ambient light; off-body sensor; GPS + GLONASS + Beidou
- Misc: IP68 (suitable for swimming pool); MIL-STD-810G compliant
- Compatibility: Android and iOS
Smartwatches powered by Wear OS are not exactly flying off the shelves. The wearable operating system has had slow development over the last few years, and although Google has been updating the firmware more frequently in the last year, how much room for improvement is there? Let's find out.
Hardware
This smartwatch has a similar aesthetic to its predecessor with some notable changes. One of the complaints about the original TIcWatch Pro was the Hybrid leather/silicone band but the new TicWatch Pro 4G comes with an all-silicone band which feels soft and comfortable while also being durable.
The watch is made of a few different materials including a stainless steel bezel, strap hardware and buttons, and an aluminum back cover. The watchbody itself is made of polyamide and glass fiber construction that keeps it light and durable.
Curiously, the rounded buttons turn as if they were dials on a real watch. They are fun to play with, but turning them doesn't actually do anything.
Even though the new TicWatch Pro variant has an updated watchbody and added a 4G modem, it actually weighs less than its predecessor at just 47.4g without the watch strap. The TicWatch Pro is 12.6mm in thickness so not quite as thin as the Apple Watch Series 4 (10.7mm).
The new TicWatch Pro is rated for IP68 water resistance and is suitable for tracking your swim session, as long as its a swimming pool. The watchbody is also built to be durable - it is compliant with the MIL-STD-810G standard.
Display
The TicWatch Pro 4G has identical displays to its predecessor. There's a 1.39-inch AMOLED display with a 400x400px resolution, which works out to about 407 ppi. Directly atop this AOMLED screen is the secondary FSTN LCD display. Its similar to a display you'd find on a digital alarm clock.
This display comes on when the main AMOLED display times out so you can always glance at the time no matter what you're doing. This secondary display is also transflective so you'll have no problems viewing it while you're outside running or strolling through the park.
Of course, actually using the AMOLED display in direct sunlight is a bit of a challenge. You have to squint a bit to see what's on the screen but it isn't entirely useless outside. The transflective FSTN display does offer a bit of glare between the main AMOLED display and the top glass layer so it does inhibit the display's visibility a bit.
Battery Life
The TicWatch Pro 4G has the same 415mAh battery as found on its predecessor. Of course, LTE connectivity will certainly draw more power from the battery than using it in a Bluetooth-only scenario.
The TicWatch Pro's display is certainly an advantage for its battery endurance. We like that the display will turn itself off after quickly glancing at the watch and then turning it back away. Otherwise, the screen will automatically time out in six seconds.
There's a magnetic charger with a four-pin connector via exposed metal contacts on the aluminum backplate. This can also be used to interface with the watch on a PC via USB if you wish to experiment with ADB and Fastboot commands.
Regularly connected to Bluetooth, battery life was generally around 2 days without wearing it to sleep. You could definitely stretch battery life if you frequently used Wear OS's built-in theater mode or disabled lift to wake.
Wear OS 2.7 (2017)
The new TicWatch Pro 4G comes with the most current version of Wear OS, which is v2.7 and was released almost two years ago. During this time Wear OS has been slowly adding features here and there, with the most recent one being Tiles - which lets you swipe between dashboard-like screens to check on fitness, the weather, and a news ticker.
Tiles: TicHealth • Weather • Google News
Setting up the TicWatch Pro 4G is exactly as you would with any other Wear OS smartwatch. You'll have to use the Wear OS app with an Android or iOS smartphone and follow the instructions to get your Google account paired to the Watch.
The Wear OS interface has seen a few changes since its initial launch. From the main watchface screen, swiping down shows your control panel with handy shortcuts for the settings, airplane mode, Google Pay, Theater mode, Do Not Disturb, and a shortcut to ring your misplaced smartphone.
Watchface • Pull-down quick settings
Swiping from left to right shows you a Google Assistant screen with voice commands and your feed, swiping up from the bottom shows you all notifications, and swiping from right to left shows you all the enabled tiles. You are limited to five at a time.
Notifications • Google Assistant
Google Assistant can also be summoned with the "Hey Google" wake word. You do have to enable it in the Assistant settings though. The easiest way to make a voice command is by holding the upper button until Google Assistant pops up.
You can change the watchface by tapping and holding anywhere on your current watchface. You can also choose a watch face from the Wear OS app or download hundreds of them from the Play Store on your smartphone.
Available watch faces
Unique to the TicWatch Pro is Mobvoi's "Essential Mode" which uses the secondary FSTN display in an ultra-low-power mode which automatically comes on when the watch drops below 5% by default. When the AMOLED screen is off, the secondary display comes on until you wake the TicWatch back up.
Essential Mode switches the watch to use only the low-power display and disables all connectivity and smart features. In this mode, you can only see the time, count steps, and track heart rate periodically. In this mode, the TicWatch Pro can last up to 30 days on a charge.
You have the Wear OS ecosystem of apps available by visiting the Play Store on the Watch.
It will also compare which apps are on the paired device and show you which are available for Wear OS.
Play Store: Recommended • My Apps • Apps on Phone • Menu
You can access the app drawer by pressing the upper button - this is also how you access recent apps.
App carousel • Recent apps
Many are companion apps that sync with the smartphone counterpart but with the 4G connection, you can stream music or respond to notifications without your phone nearby.
TicHealth
Once set up and past the tutorial, you have the option of downloading the Mobvoi app. This app is required if you plan to use TicHealth - Mobvoi's in-house fitness tracking platform. You can either sign up with Mobvoi, or sign in using a Gmail or Facebook account.
The Mobvoi app's device tab shows the activity that was recorded on your wrist with options to sync with Google Fit, RunKeeper, or Strava. We did notice that settings that relate to sharing of health and fitness data have clear and detailed explanations and are all opt-in settings so there are no surprises with your data.
Health Center • Daily Stats
There are three fitness apps in the Watch itself: TicExercise, TicHealth, and TicPulse. This, of course, in addition to the pre-loaded Google Fit app so you can decide which you want to use. Currently, the TicWatch Pro 4G does not support any kind of sleep tracking but this might be added later via an OTA update.
TicPulse
TicExercise is set as the default app when you press the lower side button but you can always change this. TicExercise has only six activities to choose from: Outdoor Run, Outdoor Walk, Indoor Run, Cycling, Pool Swimming, and a catch-all "Free Style" option. This is severely limited when you compare it to the list of exercises that Google Fit lets you track.
After logging a three mile run, details given by the TicHealth app include total distance, duration, calories burned, average heart rate, and average speed. There are also visual graphs showing heart rate over time, pace per mile, cadence, stride length, and a map of the activity.
Outdoor running workout stats
One advantage with TicExercise is that it automatically detects workouts, but it will only be able to automatically track running and walking sessions. Also, only TicHealth can display activity information on the secondary display including current time, heart rate, elapsed time, distance, lap time, and battery life. Workout information isn't display here when using Google Fit.
TicHealth's dashboard view shows you circles that show progress towards your goals. There's no denying their similarity to the Apple Watch's activity rings. These circles show you active hours, and steps towards your goal.
TicHealth: activity dashboard • stats
You can view the stats for each metric, which even shows you a clock that shows you how the activity was distributed throughout the day.
Distribution of steps throughout the day
Connectivity, calls, and LTE
When connected to a paired device via Bluetooth, the TicWatch Pro works just as any other Wear OS smartwatch - you'll receive notifications from your phone to your wrist in the order they arrive.
Both Wi-FI and Cellular connections are set to come on automatically by default. Wi-Fi is connected when the watch is docked to its charger and 4G switches on when the Bluetooth connection to a paired device is lost. The watch will also time out all connections when the wearer takes it off so it can save power.
Bluetooth calls on the TicWatch 4G sounded okay. We do wish it had louder volume but our caller said they could hear us okay on the other end. If you were sitting somewhere noisy, you might have to hold the watch to your ear, but by that point, you're better off using the handset itself.
The TicWatch Pro 4G uses an eSIM to register to the network. Currently, only Verizon will support an LTE connection for this TicWatch in the US. We didn't have a chance to test cellular connectivity as the devices could not be officially activated on Verizon until August.
Performance
Mobvoi decided against using the latest Snapdragon Wear 3100 CPU and instead went with an older Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor but added more RAM to the smartwatch. From 512MB to 1GB of RAM, there's a significant difference in response time and smoothness of Wear OS.
There's no metric for measuring smartwatch performance, but using the new TicWatch Pro has been a pleasure to use. The system is well-optimized, making the UI a joy to navigate with minimal frame drops and smooth animations. The added amount of RAM sure made a difference but there is still room to grow.
Voice dictation works quickly and consistently, even over a Bluetooth connection. The TicWatch Pro does have moments when it needs to think hard before it performs a task, but the added RAM helped improve performance significantly.
Conclusion
Since its initial inception several years ago, Wear OS has seen intense competition. Currently, the biggest competition for wearables comes from Samsung with the Galaxy Watch and the Apple Watch. These platforms are more polished, optimized, and offer more fitness features than Wear OS can right now.
If Google Assistant is your everything, Wear OS is the only platform that lets you talk to it easily. Otherwise, you're left with Bixby on Samsung wearables and Siri on the Apple Watch.
Wear OS's main advantage is its ecosystem of Android apps and direct integration with Google Assistant. It's a shame that developers don't see the potential of Wear OS but Google hasn't made strong enough efforts to improve the platform. Perhaps now that Google is out of the tablet business, it could focus some of those resources on developing a "Pixel Watch".
4G-enabled smartwatches are not exactly on the cheap side. Perhaps deciding to use the older chipset contributed to keeping the cost down. After all, $299 for a cellular-connected smartwatch is a pretty good price.
The TicWatch Pro 4G/LTE is a well-built smartwatch with attractive looks, a big display with power efficient standby feature, and decent battery life. Wear OS is surprisingly smooth despite its aging chipset, and TicWatch's health features offer a nice set of features.
Where the TicWatch Pro 4G can improve is by adding support for sleep tracking. The dual-screen setup could be enough to set this Wear OS device apart from other wearables powered by the same OS, but Samsung's smartwatches offer further polish in the UI and more informative activity breakdowns.
Not to mention, Samsung Health offers a more robust platform for health tracking and even offers a social aspect that Google Fit is missing.
If you're someone who is really serious about running or a frequent hiker, there are other wearables better suited for you with additional features like an altimeter and more advanced GPS tracking.
The TicWatch Pro 4G is a great all-around smartwatch and an excellent candidate to consider for your next smartwatch. We are eager to see the future of Wear OS and hope Google's next move with the platform helps it compete better with Samsung and Apple.
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Ayushmaan Bharat (આયુષ્યમાન ભારત) - નેશનલ હેલ્થ પ્રોટેક્શન મિશન (એનએચપીએમ) - પૂર્ણ લાભો
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