Review: TicWatch 4G LTE Comes with Long Lasting Battery & Dual Display
Mobile smartwatches are not much available on the market. Samsung’s Galaxy Watch or the Apple Watch 5, 4 and 3 series are the best options. But what about the 4G LTE on Google’s Android Watch Wear Network? The most recent releases were made in 2017, including the Huawei Watch 2 LTE and the unsuccessful Verizon Wear24. The 4G LTE version of TicWatch Pro is now available to fill this void. Mobvoi is known for its ultra-precise Wear OS smartwatches. TicWatch Pro was launched last year, but it was slightly different for TicWatch 4G LTE. Not only does it have a cellular connection (meaning you have to pay for a monthly data monitoring plan), it also bumps up RAM to improve efficiency and has subtle design improvements. It’s packed with multiple features and its worth is $299. You can easily buy this best Wear OS smartwatch if you’re looking for connectivity even without your mobile.
4G Availability
Next, a short word about the 4G LTE connectivity of the watch. You only need to be a Verizon subscriber to use TicWatch Pro cellular connectivity. It’s operating through Verizon. Mobvoi may open LTE connectivity to other carriers, but no additional support is currently announced.
What is the 4 G LTE coverage? You can leave your mobile phone and still receive text, make calls, receive notifications from other devices. It’s perfect for athletes who don’t want to take their mobiles with them, or for people who want to reduce their smartphone time, but still want to stay alerted.
The downside is that you pay a monthly fee for the smartwatch data plan, which is likely to give you a monthly fee of $10.
I wasn’t carrying mobile in a lot of cases when reviewing, but it was great to see alerts coming through on the watch and responded to immediate messages. This helps people even more when you’re working out and you don’t want to drag your mobile around.
Design
TicWatch Pro 4G LTE looks better than TicWatch Pro last year and there are few improvements. The bezel around the screen looks more formal and less sporty; I don’t think the number on the bezel is more prominent, making it harder to read. The sides are also designed for visual flair on the right side of the two keys.
It’s black and 11 gm lighter this time, but that’s what the variations are all about. The 45 mm watch, however, is of the same size and looks as rugged and masculine. I want Mobvoi to take a long year to try to keep it slim, or at least offer a version that wasn’t as bulkier for those who had smaller wrists. It’s heavy because there’s some smart dual-display technology in there.
Battery & Dual Display
TicWatch Pro is distinguished by the dual display technology from other smartwatches. Just like TicWatch Pro, last year, the Google Wear OS app has intrdouced a 1.39-inch, 400×400 resolution OLED screen. There’s an LCD monitor of Film Compensated Super Twisted Nematic (FSTN), which serves as an ambient watch screen. The transition is seamless-two screens are not visible-with very little battery life added to the LCD screen.
Click the button and a bright, high-resolution Google Wear OS technology display will welcome you. The screen will pop up so updates are easy to read and so on. It’s bright enough for you to read them when outside.
It’ll switch to a monochrome LCD panel that looks like old digital watches when you’ll not use it for a few seconds. Only date and time and battery life will be shown in this mode. It’s also perfectly readable in sunny weather. Changing from LCD to OLED means that you have a two-day battery life that addresses the main point of the smartest clock.
Usually, at 8:30 or 9 p.m., I had about 40 percent battery. The battery was charged at 8 a.m. This is good compared to almost any Wear OS smartwatch; it’s easy to go for two days.
When I connect to the 4 G LTE network, the 415 mAh battery drains faster, but I still had a full day of service at 7 p.m. around 20 per cent. It happened due to the use of a watch to answer alerts, so if you don’t have a very long workout and use the 4G service a bit, it might run for a whole day.
Read More: Google Buying Fitbit Could Save Wear OS From Certain Doom
Software
The Google Wear OS system has its support to the Ticwatch Pro 4G / LTE, which is easy to use. Swipe left on the customizable tile head, like widgets; swipe right from the top, pull down the quick settings; open Visual Snapshot with Google Assistant, where relevant data such as data tracking, calendar events, and more will be displayed. Swipe up can trigger updates.
You may respond to alerts but interactions don’t feel as elegant as responding to Apple Watches. There is also a strong lack of good Wear OS apps that can hinder it. For example, the Facebook Messenger Wear OS App doesn’t allow you to display all your messages on the watch— you can only see the message history when updates arrive.
Performance
The results are surprisingly decent, given that Qualcomm’s 2100 processor is the driving force behind the watch. This usually works with some things, such as downloading or updating different software, and it’s a difficult process to call Google Assistant. But most of my daily interactions with the watch were simple and straightforward.
Final Verdict
The TicWatch Pro 4 G LTE is an up-to-date Wear OS and one of the few smartwatches on the Google 4 G platform. It’s good for those who want to get away from their mobile phones on a regular basis— whether you’re doing exercise or trying to reduce the time on the screen— but especially for people who are fans of the Google Wear OS app.
Read Next: Google to bring new Wear OS smartwatch UI
