TicWatch Pro

TicWatch Pro Bluetooth Waterproof Smartwatch

The Chinese company Mobvoi, founded by former employees of Google several years ago is already quite well known due to several released models of smart watches. Their first devices were TicWatch and TicWatch 2, which run under their own operating system TicWear OS. Last year, the company released two more watches – TicWatch S and TicWatch E running Wear OS (formerly Android Wear). All these models have received a high enough rating of users and great popularity.

Well aware of the main drawback of smart watches – a short battery life, Mobvoi decided to release a new watch that can solve this flaw. This gadget is called TicWatch Pro. Compared to previous models, TicWatch Pro looks more premium, and received an additional bonus in the form of mobile payments NFC. But the main feature of these watches is an additional FSTN-display over the main OLED-screen. Thanks to this duo, manufacturers were able to improve the autonomy of these smart watches. But first things first.

Design and build quality

As soon as you get the watch out of the box, immediately it seems that you have a premium quality device in your hands. It is immediately evident that the materials used are of higher quality than in TicWatch S and E. If the previous models were completely plastic, then the watch case is made of nylon reinforced with fiberglass. It is not only relatively light, but also quite durable.

The frame around the screen and the back cover are stainless steel. I’m not a fan of metal frames around the screen, but in this watch it is perfectly in harmony with the overall design of the watch and looks good. To the materials of the strap, the developers approached non-standard: the upper part is leather, and the lower part is silicone. Many may not like this, but from the point of view of practicality the solution is really correct. Silicone will not absorb sweat when worn, and, at the same time, it is easier to clean.

TicWatch Pro is a rather bulky clock, you can not get away from it. With a diameter of 45 mm and a thickness of almost 13 mm – this is not the most compact watch that we have seen. But somewhere it was necessary to shove 2 screens, GPS, NFC, pulse sensor and a battery with a capacity of 415 mAh? So with dimensions it is necessary to reconcile. The build quality is at an altitude, and there is nothing to complain about. The case is protected against water and dust according to the IP68 standard, but the manufacturer does not recommend bathing with the clock.

Screen

If you already had a watch on Android (Wear Os), you probably faced a quick discharge of their battery. Mobvoi decided to save us from this shortcoming by using two displays located one above the other. The main display is a 1.39-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 400 * 400 pixels. The top of this multi-level display is the FSTN LCD panel. It is transparent, and in the inactive state, the main display is viewed through it.

The TicWatch Pro screen has three display modes:

1. Basic mode. In this mode, only the FSTN screen is used, allowing the clock to run up to 30 days from one battery charge. It displays the date, time, number of steps and heart rate.The main screen and all smart clock functions in this mode are disabled.
2. Smart mode. In this mode, TicWatch Pro works like a normal smart clock with one screen.If desired, one battery charge in this mode can be stretched for two days, but still, the most optimal solution will be the use of the third mode – the hybrid mode.
3. Hybrid mode. In this mode, you can use all the functions of the clock as comfortably and effectively as possible. In the standby mode, only the FSTN screen is active, displaying the time and date, and if necessary, use the rest of the clock functions, this can be done with a single click of a button. In this mode, you can achieve 5 days of battery life, but I, for some reason, on average received only three days, which is also very good.

In the settings you can set at what level of the battery charge the clock will automatically switch to the main mode: at 20%, 15%, 10% or 5%. So if your battery is discharged, the clock will not turn into a beautiful, but not a working piece on your hand, and at least you can look at them.

As for the quality of the picture, it seemed to me that the brightness of the main screen did not appear with the automatic brightness mode, and in the sun it had to be shaded. But with the FSTN-screen everything is fine, in the sun it can be seen perfectly. It is unclear whether there is any oleophobic coating on the protective glass, since it collects prints very quickly. But, this is not the biggest problem.

Manage your watch

Unlike most smartwatches, TicWatch Pro does not have one but two hardware buttons. And this time Mobvoi placed them on the right side of the case. Pressing any of them displays the clock from sleep mode. The following clicks perform the following actions:

• Short press the top button – the list of applications.
• Long press the top button – Google Assistant
• Short press of the bottom button – the application you have installed starts (the Mobvoi Health application opens by default).
• Double-click the bottom button – Google Pay.
• Long press of the bottom button – the power menu (main mode, restart or power off).

Software and Performance

TicWatch Pro, like most of its competitors, is controlled by the operating system Wear. Not everyone likes it, but lately the developers have intensively engaged in its improvement and optimization. For the performance of the clock is responsible for the outdated Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 (in February this year, he celebrated a two-year anniversary). And this is probably the biggest drawback of this gadget.

Coupled with 512 MB of RAM, this processor, of course, will cope with all the main tasks, but you may have to deal with slowdowns. This is especially annoying when you start Google Pay. It took about 6 or 7 seconds to open the clock, which is not very pleasant, especially if a decent line is lined up behind.

In addition to the standard applications for Wear OS, Mobvoi has added several of its own: Essential Mode, Step Ranking, Mobvoi Privacy, Heart Rate, Health and Fitness. Apart from Mobvoi’s privacy policy and Essential Mode, they are mainly aimed at tracking health and exercise.

The Fitness application is used to monitor the heart rate and during exercise. The Health app keeps track of your steps, the distance and the amount of calories consumed, and the Heart Rate app lets you know the heart rate in real time.

Autonomy

Autonomy TicWatch Pro – one of the main reasons to buy this watch. According to the manufacturer, the gadget can run from 5 to 30 days from one battery charge. On paper it sounds cool, but you need to understand at what intensity of use you can get such autonomy.

30 days can only be obtained if you do not use any clever functions. That is, you can only view the time, date and the number of steps passed, and there can be an occasional heart rate. But hardly anyone will want to use the device for $250 as a regular chronometer.

Five days of use can be obtained after two days of use in hybrid mode, and then 3 days of use in Essential Mode, after the battery is discharged to 5%.

At the end of the first day of use, I had only 35 percent of the charge, but that’s because I just did not let them out of my hands. With the normal use of all the functions of the charge, it’s easy enough for 2 days, but everything will depend on how often the pulse is measured, and how long the GPS is turned on.

That is, for five days of autonomy with intensive use is not to be counted, but two days for such a set of functions and capabilities is an excellent result.

Let’s sum up the results

TicWatch Pro – cool quality smart watches with good battery life. But to say that they are not perfect. First of all, this is due to the obsolete processor. There is a chance to face performance problems. Another disadvantage is that there is not enough internal memory – only 4 GB.

These watches are more expensive than the same Misfit Vapor or Fitbit Versa, but cheaper than other famous brands, for example, Huawei Watch 2. TicWatch Pro costs $249.99 and is available in black and silver colors.

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