Today, Mobvoi is announcing the second-generation
TicWatch Pro with 4G LTE connectivity. Aside from a refreshed exterior and
all-silicone band, the new TicWatch Pro 4G/LTE (yes, that’s the full name)
debuts with automatic workout detection and heart rate monitoring via the
company’s in-house TicHealth app.
The new TicWatch Pro retains the unique dual-display
design which switches between the AMOLED and FSTN LCD display. The latter
requires minimal power and is perfectly visible in direct sunlight, meanwhile,
the AMOLED display comes on to interface with Wear OS. Essential mode uses the FSTN LCD
display and tracks steps, the time, and monitors your heart rate. With all the
smart features disabled, the TicWatch Pro can last up to 30 days on a single
charge.
The new TicWatch Pro has an eSIM built-in so it can
connect to cellular data. The smartwatch also supports Number Sharing and Cloud
Synchronization so you can receive calls, texts, and notifications while away
from your phone.
The TicWatch Pro 4G/LTE is now available for
purchase from Amazon for an early-adopter price of $279. Customers wishing to
connect the wearable to Verizon will need to wait one month before cellular
support is enabled by Verizon. Meanwhile, you’ll be able to use Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth, and Google Payments via built-in NFC.
The on paper, there are two apparent downsides to
the second-generation TicWatch. The first is that it still uses the outdated
Snapdragon Wear 2100 platform. However, the new TicWatch does bring double the
RAM (1GB) that the 2018 model had (512MB) so we expect to see a noticeable
improvement in performance and smoothness.
Secondly, there’s no mention of a sleep tracking
feature on the product page and we don’t know if Mobvoi has intention of adding
it with a future OTA update. That brings us to Wear OS. Although Google has shown interest and
effort into updating its smartwatch OS, it is still far behind Samsung’s Tizen
OS and Apple’s Watch OS on their wearables.
