this post was submitted on 07 May 2024

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106

It's Over for Fossil Smartwatches (www.droid-life.com)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

38 comments fedilink hide all child comments

all 39 comments

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Google is too big and needs to be broken up. We have entire areas like watches and cars where stuff is just laughably ancient or poorly designed. To my knowledge, android auto doesn't even dynamically scale by screen size, it depends on google and the car maker working together to determine the right size. Cannot control features like AC or heating either.

When you get these mega corps like facebook, google, airlines, train companies, or food/drink companies, they buy up all the competition and then run them into the ground. We are down to like....two very stagnant smartphone OSs now, too.

You have to have regulations against this stuff, or greed takes over until the goverment mandates that stuff like insulin and inhalers are capped at $35/mo so these cunts don't charge $400 for lifesaving medicine.

Same goes for the housing and rental market. Break up these large companies that buy up all the housing and apartments and slap algorithmic rent and purchasing options on them.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

They've done it in the past but that was before the legalization of bribery from corporations. Doubt it will happen now. Instead, they prop up and support these companies even if they're failing.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 5 months ago (5 children)

I love my hybrid, i like having "just a watch" that can show me a notification and the first few words and let me control my music without pulling out my phone, fossil smart watches will be missed

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That is essentially all I use my pixel watch for. I don't reply to texts from it or use apps and shit. It has the time, I can read a quick text if I'm away from the phone, and I can control my media easily. Also heart rate and such for workouts.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (3 children)

I like getting 1-2 months of battery life, afaik the pixel watch doesn't do more than a day or two

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago

I don't even get a full day out of my first gen pixel watch. Gotta turn the screen off to get close to it. Why am I wearing a watch that I can't see the time on, again?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago

Try Garmin. I can put my watch into expedition mode and get up to 50 days of tracking.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

That is definitely an issue, I get about 2 days of power on mine, but I also take it off when I'm home and it sits on its charger

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Have you looked at Garmin running watches? That's what I use, they last over a week on a charge, have basic notification and app functions, and look like a pretty basic watch.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

Yeah but they're like three times the price last I checked.

I refuse to pay more for a smartwatch than a phone.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

I had a Garmin hybrid before. Didn't like the OLED screen at all. Fossil's e-ink is just so much superior in the sun.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Yeah, that's my next watch maker when this one becomes completely incapable of function, i like the look of the instinct crossover

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

that's why i got a huawei band for like 25$

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

That's why I got a smart band. It tracks all useful metrics like HR, sleep, stress, SPO2 and does limited smartwatch stuff. Plus, it costs much less compared to a smartwatch without needing a ton of battery to boot with.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I got a withings for this, though after 2 years it stopped charging, been an expensive paperweight since. It should be fine for you if you treat it like it looks - I tend to be rough with my watches.

Been watchless since, had my eye on fossil but :(

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Fossil didn't particularly impress me with their smartwatches, so a sales decrease doesn't surprise me. I had a Skagen Falster 2 (a Fossil by another name) for a bit and it was annoyingly slow with not enough battery to leave the screen on, and eventually did the Fossil thing of the time where the back falls off the watch. I replaced that with a Fossil hybrid HR as I was chasing something more like the Pebble Time Round I liked before its battery lost usable capacity. I liked the concept and battery life of the hybrid but it had a horribly slow interface (galling to me since Pebble had shown you could do much better with e-ink), the e-ink screen ended up fading, it kept getting moisture inside the face, and as a last straw Fossil decided to be a dick and remove the left handed button mode.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 5 months ago (5 children)

Pebble was the best smartwatch maker to date. It's unfortunate no one is capable of replicating the features, battery life, and community support like them. I like snazzy fast displays like anyone else. But, I also like weeks long battery life. A pebble like smartwatch with E-ink displays should be resurrected in the near future some day.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I love my Pebble! I still use my Pebble Time to this day.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Me too! I had to replace the battery in my Pebble Time Steel a couple years ago, but it's still going strong! Sometimes I think about getting something new, but everything new is worse!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Mine is still on my original battery. While it doesn't last 7 days anymore, it lasts long enough for me, and I'm okay with that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Mine was down to lasting about 12 hours lol

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That sucks.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Yeah, the battery replacement wasn't too hard, though. Just some light soldering and sugru to seal it back up

[–] [email protected] 11 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

I ended up getting a Fenix 6s about a year and a half ago and I think it's about as close to a Pebble successor as things get these days. I get a comfortable week out of the battery, and a responsive e-ink screen with the basics covered plus a few more fitness related things (and a party trick of topo maps) the Pebble didn't have. I don't feel like it has quite the community support that Pebble had in terms of software (or the enabling thereof from Garmin), so it's not 100% the same but it's been working well for me so far.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That looks nice, but dear god is is expensive

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Unfortunately yes. They do put some models on sale occasionally so if you want one it can be worth waiting - I got mine at close on half RRP which made the cost somewhat more palatable.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Same here, Fenix 6 for a couple of years and definitely nearly as good as pebble, but I still miss the comfort and size of pebble. The screen is a bit better I think though and the battery seems to last me more but I barely use any of the fancy useless stuff like gps and what not.

I doubt the community that pebble built can be replicated by any other company... I really miss how simple it was to start creating software for the pebble and talking with other devs.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago

The Pebble UI was also just plain fun while also being so functional. I loved the timeline concept.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

AmazFit BIP series watches are pretty good. It's amazing how horrible the Android OS is for watches but Apple set the tone saying 18 hours is enough.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I have a Bip watch as well. I actually bought a fancier one, but the Bip has a display that is on all the time, and after 5 years of use still has a battery life of about 5-6 weeks!

It tells the time, buzzes when I get a phone call, and tracks my steps. That's about all I need.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I got a fossil Hybrid HR with eink display 3 years ago to replace my pebble and it's the only thing that comes close. Doesn't sound like the hyrbid series are included in the above cancelations

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago

Don't forget ads on the home screen after a major version update.

Good riddance.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

I had gotten myself a hybrid and was disappointed by it pretty quickly. So it doesn't surprise me that they didn't sell well.

IMO it didn't do good in both categories, smart features were lackluster and not well implemented. And the watch part was kinda OK but not good enough. I couldn't tell the time exactly and the hands had to calibrated often.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Good hearing other feedback, I'm more similar to the other commenter, I wanted a simpler watch that was still smart and love my hybrid and now not sure what I'll go to if it breaks

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago

I still have the Carlyle. Not a good watch anymore. Looks pretty good though

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago

It's not completely over if folks help with porting more Fossil models over to Asteroid OS - https://asteroidos.org

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It's a shame as their hybrid smart watch has been my go to for a few years now. Kind of reminds me of my old Pebble with the always on LCD screen. My gf also uses one too. The several days of battery life was another good feature

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Pebble was a real one, nothing has matched them since