If you’re shopping for a Fossil smartwatch, you should consider the Fossil Sport smartwatch or the Fossil Hybrid smartwatch. Both devices have their strengths and weaknesses, meaning that all you have to do is choose one that fits your needs.
Fossil Hybrid offers a more traditional-looking face complete with physical hands, but behind the hands is a black and white E-Ink display that allows you to navigate between apps. On the other hand, the Fossil Sport is a normal smartwatch with a big head and a colored touchscreen OLED display.
Pay attention to the features offered by each device to choose the right one for you.
The Fossil Sport smartwatch is designed for fitness enthusiasts who want a premium fitness tracker at an affordable price. Since it runs the Wear OS, it has access to hundreds of third-party apps available on the Google Play Store.
The price of Fossil Sport smartwatches for women ranges from $193-$300. The base versions for women have all the fitness tracking features expected from Sport fitness models, but they come pricier with premium straps and colors. Men’s models cost about $255.
The Fossil Sport is a lightweight smartwatch with a comfortable strap that makes it easier to wear for long periods of time. The watch face is also big enough to allow you to read notifications and time without squinting, making it easier to select apps through touch. If your fingers are too wet to touch the screen, you can always use the rotating crown for navigation.
The touchscreen is an OLED display that’s colorful and sharper than most LCD displays on rival smartwatches.
This display needs a lot of processor power to run seamlessly, which is why the Sport smartwatch has a powerful Qualcomm chipset supported by 512MB of RAM and 4GB storage. These specs also allow for smooth navigation between apps, accurate fitness tracking and listening to music.
Another advantage is that Fossil Sport is waterproof, meaning you don’t have to take it off when swimming. Its sensitive sensors can track your heart rate and fine-tune your workouts.
You can customize your watch by changing the watch face by using the preinstalled faces in the watch or downloading faces from third parties. Fossil smartwatch straps are also customizable and Fossil offers straps of different colors made from different materials.
Since this smartwatch uses an OLED display and runs other powerful apps, it has a much shorter battery life after a single charge compared to the Fossil Hybrid. While the battery life is determined mostly by usage, the average battery life for the Sport smartwatch is 2 days, but this is easily mitigated by the model’s fast-charging capability.
It also has limited high-end features if you compare it with similar watches from other brands. For example, it takes more time to connect to GPS compared to other high-end fitness trackers. The greatest issue with this watch is that it’s a little pricey, especially if you have a tight budget.
Fossil Gen 5 Julianna Smartwatch
If you’re a fitness enthusiast, the Gen 5 Julianna has you covered with its ability to keep tracking your running, even when untethered from your phone. You can also make or take calls, receive or reply to texts and keep a lot of your tunes in its 8GB storage.
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Fossil Gen 5 Carlyle Smartwatch
You get accurate fitness tracking, contactless payments, heart rate sensors and a multitude of preinstalled watch faces. It also has a beautiful crisp display and a sleek design. If you love music, this watch comes with adequate storage and a useful built-in speaker.
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The first time you see this watch, you might gasp at its luxurious design. Just like the Fossil Sport, it can track your workouts, monitor your heart rate and receive notifications from your phone.
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Hybrid smartwatches are called “hybrid” because they have a traditional design as well as smartwatch features, such as an electronic display and ability to run apps. The physical hands and overall design of the Fossil Hybrid smartwatch makes it look just like any traditional watch — until you get notifications.
On average, Fossil hybrid smartwatches cost $98-$200. Cheaper versions have limited software support and are less accurate than more expensive models.
The Fossil Hybrid’s E-Ink display draws very little power, making the battery last up to 3 weeks on a single charge. What’s even more impressive is that you only have to wait an hour for the watch to charge when the battery is drained. These displays are designed to mimic paper to the extent that they’re glare-resistant, making them great for reading text, especially under sunlight.
Just like on other normal smartwatches, you get to use different kinds of apps and even receive notifications from your phone. You also get three buttons that you can use to navigate between apps. The physical hands spin so as not to obscure the display when you activate the E-Ink display.
You can use the Fossil Hybrid app on your phone to import faces to your watch, including watch faces that you make on your own. Users can customize their watches using straps from Fossil or from other third-party strap makers.
This watch can track steps, heart rate and other metrics that fitness trackers are known for.
While the E-Ink display is great for battery life, it only presents black and white images. The E-Ink display is not a touchscreen, meaning that you have to use the buttons to navigate. You also can’t rely on its fitness tracking features, especially if you’re a competitive athlete. These watches have no GPS, meaning they aren’t good at tracking distance covered or steps.
You can't rely on their sleep tracking features or heart rate monitors.
Withings ScanWatch Hybrid Smartwatch
If stylish with a 30-day battery life sounds to you like a fantastic description for a hybrid watch, then Withings smartwatches are the right choice for you. They have swappable wristbands, can monitor your heart rate, measure your blood oxygen levels and can track a variety of workouts.
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This smartwatch has a sophisticated analog design and offers smartwatch features such as the ability to keep track of sleep, heart rate, stress, hydration and more. It also keeps track of your workouts and connects to GPS via your phone.
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Withings Steel HR Sport Hybrid Smartwatch
Specifically designed for fitness activities, this sturdy option can measure blood oxygen levels, track more than 29 workouts and monitor your sleep. It uses your phone’s GPS connection to track activities such as running and bike rides. The Steel HR Sport has steel straps and a battery life of up to 25 days.
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The Fossil Sport smartwatch is better at tracking different fitness activities compared to Fossil Hybrid, making it the appropriate choice for fitness enthusiasts. However, if you’re looking for something cheaper that retains a traditional classy look but can still track your heart rate, then go for the Fossil hybrid smartwatch.
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Michael Rodgers writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
