Fossil has revamped its Gen 5 smartwatch turning it into more of a wearable wrist smartphone. The new variant is capable of doing more than it used to, but its over-a-year-old processor still holds it back from reaching even greater heights. Fossil's no stranger to the smartwatch game, with some of its models being among the best wearables for the money.
Despite being known for making more traditional timepieces, the designer brand has been producing smartwatches that get better with each generation for more than five years. The Gen 5 represented Fossil's top-of-the-line wearable when it debuted back in 2019. It sported better internals and performance than 2018's Gen 4, including a new speaker that added even more functionality. It seems like Fossil isn't giving up on the Gen 5 just yet either, as it's still coming up with variants that can perform even better — and not just because of the results of Google's WearOS updates either.
Fossil has now partnered with Verizon to give its year-old Gen 5 model the capability to not only take calls but make them as well. Based on its product page, the Gen 5 LTE can be utilized for calls completely on its own, without needing to be connected to a smartphone. However, it's worth noting that the Gen 5 LTE will only be available for Verizon users and is only compatible with other Android devices. The company is offering two other Gen 5 variants currently, the original model and the Gen 5E, the only variant that can come in a smaller 42mm bezel. The 5E also comes with LTE and NFC but, unlike the Gen 5 LTE, it's only capable of answering calls. The original Gen 5 retails for $295 while the Gen 5 LTE and Gen 5E cost $349 and $250, respectively.
Fossil Gen 5 LTE: Still Behind The Competition?
Fossil's latest Gen 5 offering certainly brings some smartphone capability into a miniature wearable form factor. The question remains though, is the addition of LTE alone worth the $54 price hike from the original model? Both Apple and Samsung's flagship smartwatches are pretty much capable of the same thing.
While the Apple Watch Series 6 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 might both be about $50 more than the Gen 5 LTE, they're able to do way more on top of making phone calls. It's a shame that Fossil's improved variant still comes with the same old Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor. Given the many benefits of Qualcomm's next-generation Snapdragon Wear 4100 brings to call quality and connectivity speed, implementing it to the Gen 5 LTE would've made Fossil's new offer much more enticing.
Source: Fossil