While Wear OS 3 was launched in mid-2021, only a few smartwatches yet run it, with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 family being the main devices to tout it. Two more smartwatches are coming soon though, and they'll be able to upgrade to Wear OS 3 later in the year.
Unveiled at annual tech event CES 2022, these new watches are the Skagen Falster Gen 6, and the Razer x Fossil Gen 6. That's right, watchmaker Fossil has teamed up with gaming brand Razer for that latter watch - it's actually the first-gen device made between the brands, despite the name (it's the sixth-gen Fossil watch), but it sounds like future devices could come from the collaboration.
We'll run you through the watches below, but the main selling point could be the access to the newest version of Wear OS, something few smartwatches offer. While both devices run with Wear OS 2, they will both be eligible for the third-gen software update in mid to late 2022.
Now let's look at the watches.
New Fossil and Skagen smartwatches
Let's start with the Skagen Falster Gen 6, which is a follow-up to the Skagen Falster 3 launched at CES 2022 (it seems its name has been changed to bring it closer to the Fossil watches).
This watch uses the Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus chipset, which promises to make the watch faster, but more importantly more power-efficient, than its predecessor. The body is stainless steel, with a 1.28-inch display, and there are six color combinations to choose from.
In our briefing, battery life was emphasized as a major selling point of the Gen 6 - apparently, it'll easily last a day, and charges very quickly too. We've had issues with the battery lives of Wear OS watches in the past, so that's a welcome thing to hear.
The Skagen Falster Gen 6 is on sale now, and costs $295 / £279 - that converts to around AU$410.
Next up is the Razer x Fossil Gen 6, a collaboration between gaming brand Razer and watch company Fossil. It's actually a limited-run device, with only 1,337 going on sale, and it'll cost $329 / £329. The cost converts to AU$450.
Design-wise, this isn't a million miles from the Fossil Gen 5, but with some changes. The bands will come in Razer's distinctive lime-green hue (though there's a black option too), and there are some exclusive watch faces including one that emulates RGB gaming gear (gamers need their RGB, after all).
It also has a 1.28-inch screen, and comes in two options, depending on strap color.
Internally, this watch is similar to the Skagen one with Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, and the battery life and charging speed should be identical.
Performance and software-wise, the two watches sound pretty similar - apparently, the Razer watch will have "elements of a Razer user interface", according to the company, but we don't really know what that means.
The main difference sounds to be in the appearance, with the Fossil and Razer collab resulting in a gamer-aesthetic watch, while the Skagen one looks like a more traditional wristwatch. We'll test these both out to see if they're worth your money when they release.
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