E-ink display watches are a product of Fossil’s linkup with Google
Fossil has officially launched today a bunch of e-ink hybrids. The range is the first product of the company’s collaboration with Google.
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Simply named Fossil Hybrid HR, the watches cropped up on several retail sites in the past few months. Apparently, a few variants could even be found at IFA 2019 in Berlin. Seeing that most of the info leaked out ahead of time there are few surprises resulting from today’s unveiling.
The watches offer a power-efficient, always-on e-ink display. This sits behind mechanical hands to show heart rate, steps, weather, notifications and more. All of this runs on a proprietary operating system linked with Fossil’s smartwatch app.
There are five iterations in total, three for men’s Collider range and two for women’s Charter range. The only difference between them is the design. The variations iterations are customizable with interchangeable straps in leather, silicone and stainless steel.
The Collider HR range comes 42mm stainless steel case, activity tracking (including heart rate, sleep and more) and 3 ATM water-resistance. Smart functionality includes commute time, stopwatch, alarm, customizable dials, music control, automatic time zones and more.
There are three physical buttons on the right with which you can navigate the menus. The top right button is programmable and you can utilize it as a short-cut to functions you use often.
Battery life is excellent thanks to the low power e-ink technology. The watches are able to run over two weeks on a single charge. You won’t have to take your hybrid off for long seeing as you can get it up to 80% in one hour with rapid charging.
The Hybrid HR range is a result of Fossil’s collaboration with Google. To remind, the search giant licensed the smartwatch technology in a $40 million deal with Fossil at the start of this year. As part of the agreement, a part of Fossil’s 200 strong R&D team joined Google.
At the time Greg McKelvey said the collaboration will result in the launch of “a new product innovation that’s not yet hit the market.” This way the mystery innovation would first hit Fossil watches, before expanding “across the industry over time to benefit all.” This type of display is novel technology but it’s nothing we have not seen before.
This is not Fossil’s first hybrid but it is the first with heart rate and e-ink display. The watches retail between $195 and $215, depending on the model chosen. All of these are available for purchase on Fossil’s website. Amazon availability should follow soon.
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