Fossil Q Founder review

To have a fruitful Android Wear smartwatch experience, the device needs to offer flawless connectivity, zippy speed and long battery life. And based on specs alone, Fossil's debut looks to surpass some of the competition.

It doubles the RAM standard to 1GB over the 512MB that we've seen in most other Android Wear models to date. And, perhaps it's because Snapdragon is still busy prepping its efficient, next-gen Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset, Fossil opted instead for an Intel Atom processor, though its clock speed and core count weren't shared.

On paper, the Q Founder should outperform every other Android Wear smartwatch on the market. But after a few weeks with the device, I can confidently say that the specs don't make a lick of difference with the little stuff, like jumping from task to task, or in terms of big picture perks, like battery efficiencies.

Not that this is a huge deal, mind you. If Fossil was priced above its competitors, then we'd have a problem. But, this just goes to show that, at least in the realm of Android Wear, a spec boost doesn't translate to gains worth noting.

Performance

If you're looking for a daily driver for all of your smartwatch needs, the Q Founder is adept in running through the near-complete list of Android Wear features. It has a bright screen that's easy to catch a glimpse of. The style is easily customizable and although it's large, it's a comfy fit. The Q Founder comes stocked with a microphone to enable queries and commands.

However, for all of the features that it offers, it's missing a speaker, a secret feature that was switched on in few smartwatches with the recent Marshmallow update. It may or may not matter to you, but this watch can't play any sound, which ranges from alarms, ringtones and the voice coming through the call.