Important points of ZDNET
- The Mobvoi TicWatch Atlas is available in black or silver for $349.99.
- This Google Wear OS smartwatch features long battery life, dual display technology, and a sapphire glass display.
- The watch runs Wear OS 4 until OS 5 is released, and requires a button and touchscreen tap to use the two buttons.
Having tested the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro only a few months ago, I was looking forward to trying out the next watch in the lineup. tick watch atlas See how they compare.
The Atlas is a similar device, but with added colors, a slightly revised case design, and Wear OS 4 installed at launch (instead of Enduro’s Wear OS 3.5). Atlas has the best battery life of any Wear OS watch, so if that’s your top priority, it’s the watch to consider.
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But ever since I saw the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro, the competition has changed. Google released the 45mm Pixel Watch 3, which offers some important safety features and cellular connectivity, and Samsung released the Galaxy Watch Ultra, one of the best-looking premium, rugged smartwatches on the market. has been released.
With such strong competitors, it comes down to what Mobvoi does best: making devices with great battery life.
One of the reasons the Mobvoi TicWatch Atlas has great battery life is its dual display technology. The watch features a primary OLED display with a high resolution of 466 x 466 just below the ultra-low power display. Like the Enduro Pro 5, this low-power display shows key metrics at a glance. I love looking down and seeing what zone I’m running in, rather than navigating menus or looking for specific heart rate numbers on a graph.
TicWatch Atlas is extremely responsive thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Plus Gen 1 chipset. There are two buttons on the top right of the watch, and the crown can also be rotated to scroll through the list. However, having to use both buttons and swipes to interact with the UI is annoying. I would like to use one or the other. At least it’s easy to turn the crown and access the metrics.
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The Pro 5 Enduro is supposed to launch with Wear OS 5, but it comes with Wear OS 4 and there’s no news on when this upgrade will be available. Google and Samsung have a track record of providing timely updates to their watches, so this is one area where TicWatch is holding back, in my opinion. Atlas’ software may not be upgraded anytime soon, so make sure you’re happy with Wear OS 4.
Despite its older version, it is a Wear OS device, so you can download and install applications available on the Google Play Store. By default, Atlas is loaded with a few core apps and some Mobvoi-specific apps like TicBarometer, TicBreathe, TicCare, TicCompass, TicExercise, and TicHealth.
TicHealth displays an overview of all your health data and TicExercise is the default app used to initiate selected activities. There’s no option to customize the data screen or optimize workout settings to your liking, so I used Strava and other apps for exercise monitoring.
Thankfully, this watch supports 5 GNSS so you can accurately track your outdoor activities. Heart rate sensors are suitable for most activities, and some installed apps allow you to pair external sensors, but TicExercise does not support this feature.
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Although this watch does not have cellular functionality, it does have some useful safety features. Set up Fall Detection and Emergency SOS to allow your watch to initiate a call to an emergency provider or selected contacts when the motion sensor detects a severe fall when it’s paired with your smartphone. You can also manually initiate these calls by pressing the Digital Crown five times.
Mobvoi is touting its new personal heatmap feature, but as an athlete who has played rugby for over 20 years and American football for over 10 years, I don’t fully understand how to participate in these sports while wearing a smartwatch. you can’t. It would definitely be interesting to see the data, but I didn’t test this feature because I need to tightly wrap my watch to protect myself (and my opponents).
The TicWatch Atlas costs the same as the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro, and your choice will depend on your preference for case design and whether you want to install the new version of Wear OS by default.
ZDNET purchase advice
Looking for a Google Wear OS smartwatch with battery life that lasts more than a few days? Mobvoi TicWatch Atlas This is the best option since it comes with a newer version of Wear OS than the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro.
Dual display technology offers some interesting use cases for ultra-low power modes, but there are limitations to what the TicExercise app offers. With Google’s larger Pixel Watch 3 and Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Ultra, the Mobvoi TicWatch’s benefits are still limited to longer battery life.
