Fossil Gen 5E Smart Watch

At first appearance, the Fossil Gen 5E appears to be a really appealing smartwatch. The majority of the features that casual exercisers would need are covered, and it has a fair pricing, a great style, and a smaller case than the Fossil Gen 5. However, due to some dubious hardware choices and a dearth of appealing features outside of the design, it doesn’t feel very novel or unique.

The Gen 5E is more proof that Fossil has experience with timepieces. On my review model, the black silicone strap is excellent. It has a very similar look and feel to the silicone straps on my Seiko diving watches, which are flexible, cozy, and durable, and that is definitely a positive thing. It is paired with a 44mm black stainless steel case that is identical in size to the earlier Gen 5 watch but does not include the two buttons on either side of the crown. It now has a cleaner appearance without significantly sacrificing functionality.

The smartwatch’s 1.19-inch screen is approximately the appropriate size. These screens are ideal for displaying information quickly; they are not intended for watching video. It is sufficiently sharp and pleasingly colorful thanks to the 390 x 390-pixel resolution, which offers the same 328 pixel-per-inch density as the bigger Gen 5 watch. There are many different Fossil watch faces available, and they are all incredibly diverse.

In an effort to conserve battery life, Fossil’s own fitness tracking system uses the coprocessor in the Snapdragon 3100, but it is quite simple. The only two workout options are indoor and outdoor, and the screen displays time, distance, and heart rate information. Since the Gen 5E lacks built-in GPS, it isn’t really intended for serious athletes, but Google Fit is also included if you want more specialized tracking.

The Wellness app monitors daily activity, sleep, and heart rate while using minimal battery power, and then displays the results on a single screen. However, the inability to put Wellness as a Tile is frustrating because it forces you to use the app. Similar to fitness tracking, it offers basic information rather than in-depth analysis. This, in my opinion, is not a negative thing. Not everyone likes to keep track of their 100-mile bike ride, thus an exceedingly straightforward one-tap activity monitoring option and a summary with the three crucial statistics would be great.