Five new Fossil Group branded smartwatches just hit the FCC
Fossil Group has a few hundred smartwatches, hybrids and fitness trackers in its arsenal. Well, it’s about to get a few more. Five new Wear OS devices under its brand have just arrived at the FCC.
Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets
Reported first by Droid-Life, this includes two watches from Michael Kors (with DW10M1, DW10M2 monikers), and one each from Fossil (DW10F1), Diesel (DW10D1) and Emporio Armani (DW10E1). All of these share the same underlying smarts, the only difference will be design and antenna placement.
If you were wondering, the info on the sub-brand can be deduced from the monikers. After the model number there’s a letter followed by a 1 or a 2. The letter F stands for Fossil, D for Diesel, E – Emporio Armani, M – Michael Kors, K – Kate Spade, S – Skagen, T – Tory Burch, etc. The number that follows reveals how many devices in that particular range.
The FCC listing shows how to access the regulatory agency’s ID on the watches. This reveals that the process is unchanged from the current Wear OS generation running Android 8.1 Oreo and Android 9 Pie.
In 2018, Fossil watches were announced in August after hitting the FCC in June. They came with a slew of improvements offering a more holistic fitness experience. This latest listing suggests we may see the same pattern unfold this year.
The fourth generation slapped on a heart rate sensor and GPS for use without a smartphone. There’s also an NFC chip inside that facilitates payments through Google Pay.
All that we know from the FCC info is that the next generation features Bluetooth, 2.4GHz WiFi and NFC. This is unchanged from last year’s range so it’s no big reveal. As always, a better design is on the cards and perhaps longer battery life.
The question is whether the new devices will feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 3100 instead of the ageing 2100 processor. The new chip brings low-power modes for extended battery life, sports watch-focused tweaks and improved always-on watch faces. The company’s only smartwatch so far with the new processor is Fossil Sport.
We will be surprised if the chipset doesn’t come as standard on the next generation. Our guess is the new watches will get an official reveal in the second half of August, ahead of IFA in Berlin.
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