Fossil Gen 6 Review | Two weeks later... | Best WearOS Smartwatch?

Reviewing the Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch after a fortnight of testing, to see if it's one of the best wearables of 2021 - and a strong rival to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. You can buy the Fossil Gen 6 now in the UK from £279.
This Wear OS smartwatch offers a premium set of specs, similar to the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra and Amazfit's GTR3 Pro. You have full voice assistant support, a crisp and bright OLED screen, 24/7 fitness tracking and everything else you'd expect.
I enjoyed my time with the Fossil Gen 6, and appreciate the variety of designs and bands you can choose from. Performance is great thanks to Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus chipset, designed for smartwatches. Battery life however is as disappointing as usual for a Wear OS watch, despite decent fast charge support.
That's my thoughts on the Fossil Generation 6 after two weeks. Check out my round-up of the best smartwatches of 2021 for more ideas!
Fossil Gen 6 Watch Review Chapters:
0:00 - Shut up already
0:29 - Design
1:55 - Screen
2:17 - WearOS features
4:01 - Controls
5:06 - Mic & speaker
6:02 - One MIA feature
6:25 - Fitness tracking
7:24 - Battery life
8:39 - Verdict

[@denniss.5173]

One of the best tech channels around, keep it up! Cheers from Germany.

[@angusgibbins4954]

I love mine. But in the Gen 5 you could double tap the top button to launch Google Pay (freeing up one of the buttons for other apps). Why they took this out is beyond me.

[@qazwsx80]

You sir are a great reviewer. I dont know if youtube gives away awards but if they do you should absolutely get one. Ive watched several of your reviews and they are simply top notch. Thanks!

[@chrisshf]

A day of battery life may not be a problem at first. But after about 1,5 to 2 years of use, the battery will only last a couple of hours. At least, that's my experience with the Fossil Gen 4 and the Moto 360 before that

[@taaoquinn3731]

It's not quite that bad for me with the Huawei W1, but that's exactly the type of problem that has me looking for anew smartwatch. I'm sick of the watch dying by the time I get to dinner on any day that I have a vaguely early start.

[@GretSeat]

After a year, to two years you should be upgrading your smart watch... just saying.

[@miketipping1583]

If a lithium battery has degraded that much you're doing something wrong to it. You should be getting 2000+ charge cycles before it hits 80% capacity which is over 7 years od charging every day. My 2 yr old Ticwatch did a day and a bit when new and still does a day and a bit but it gets charged on a slow charger every night when it's at about 40% so that's only about 400 charge cycles over 2 years.

[@chrisshf]

@@miketipping1583 I don't know what's wrong with these watches, I only charge them over night on pretty slow charger. I know how to handle Lithium batteries, My phones and tablets all have great battery life after years. Even my LiPo batteries for my racing quads survive more "charge cycles"

[@chrisneale6781]

I'm still using the Gen 4 which would be 2.5 years old now and easily get a day out of it. It is painfully slow though so will be updating soon

[@Odin31b]

First smartwatch and first time watching your videos. Thanks for posting.

[@eterneal]

I almost watch every single video of ur reviews...great content..

[@electorofsaxony7646]

Hi mate. Can you cover the new Huawei matebook 14s? I just pre ordered the 16gb 1tb version, looks amazing. Free monitor and tablet too on the UK site. Would love your input.

[@MisplacedAmerican]

Any news on Gen 7? I know that the Pixel Watch's grand reveal is next week but... I'm hopeful that the Gen 7 does a better job of competing with the Samsung watch without me needing to commit to the rest of Samsung to receive the full benefits.

[@danielnorman4057]

Hello Chris, thanks for your review. I was wondering how big that watch would be on me. My wrist is 6.5 inches. Not sure what yours is. Thanks.

[@RobertSerrano1]

Correction: You can take music with you on the go without your phone if you download KZbin music. Can go jogging with just your watch and Bluetooth headset.

[@philc.2504]

Do you know if there's Spotify support to store music on the watch too?

[@Bu9PowderDust]

The Fossil gen 6 site says KZbin music and Spotify apps are supported for music on the go without phone however pre download required no streaming.

[@philc.2504]

Update: I now own a Fossil Gen 6. Can confirm once you get the Spotify Watch app you can select playlists to download to the watch for phone-less listening

[@Bu9PowderDust]

@@philc.2504 Thanks I wanted to try and confirm this as I heard conflicting information.

[@buddybleeyes]

@@philc.2504 Thanks :D legit looking to replace my worn gen 3, and was very curious about this. Happy to say, gunna have a new watch to open Christmas day now :D

[@Musicownz1997]

Upsetting that Apple, Samsung, and Fossil can't get their battery game up to par. Ordered the TWP3U today!

[@Kolcobrzuch]

And how is it? Can't decide is I should get Fossil 6 or TWP3U which is currently cheaper in Germany...

[@roshandangol2897]

Did you remove the metal bands and put on the plastic/leather ones? If so where to find the replacement bands?

[@arianamejia5135]

I'm excited to get this for my father. He loves watches!

[@RyukFerry]

i have a fossil gen 4, a good watch but with some (important) disapointments, i don't trust a lot in fossil, but i have to admit it looks nice

[@frankfrank1364]

6:39, does anybody know what watchface he is using? I couldn't find it on fossil's selection.

[@81tibr]

Great review thanks!! 😍🙏

[@dnkahir1119]

Love to watching your videos ❤️

[@Ladco77]

Just picked a Fossil Gen 6 up this week on sale. Other than a nightmare trying to get it paired to my phone, so far so good. The pairing issues were all with the Wear OS app hanging on my phone and had nothing to do with the watch. Once I got the app to actually run and search for the phone, everything went seamlessly.

[@ReggieBishop]

Does it have WearOS 3 now?

[@phoenixdowner]

@@ReggieBishop - It's my understanding it does have Wear OS 3 as an option now, but requires a factory reset.

[@efitreze]

Wear OS app looks a nightmare, I just downloaded to check (even before buying any smartwatch) and it just doesn't open, stays in the logo page forever.

[@harrshamanjunath367]

Please guide me which one is better for productivity not for fitness.., Samsung watch 4 ? or Fossil gen 6 ?

[@ridlerz]

Why have fossil got rid of the double tap of top button to bring up Google pay on the gen 6! I loved that on the gen 5 as it allowed a spare item on the single click of the top button. Anyone found a way to do it... If it can.

[@d-boy5465]

i always tune in for the "cheers" even if am not interested in the product

[@Midnight_tarot]

this was the most fascinating vid on english slang I've ever come across. have to replay to hear about the watch now haha

[@gengar5704]

Which one is better Fossil gen 6 or galaxy watch 4?

[@davidmccarthy6061]

Very disappointing OS 3 doesn't arrive on non-Samsung until late 2022. I really want to match this with my Pixel 6 phone so I'm still on a long hold.

[@FAROUS70]

Does it upgrade to wear os 4?

[@gillsroges2398]

Bro I'm using apple music premium on my android phone is it possible to use my gen 6 along with my bluetooth earpods. Is it possible to change track and to navigate my playlist via Gen 6 when connected to my pods.

[@jblackbath]

Im glad you mentioned the battery. I just got this watch as a surprise Christmas present and I gotta say the battery’s pretty disappointing. Personally I give the watch a solid B+, especially when comparing it to the latest Garmin one. Thanks for your reviews keep em up!

[@sirjxy2332]

look mate, if you're disappointed then I'll gladly take it.

[@alyssaxrae98]

I’m debating getting this and ditching my old Apple Watch but I’m not sureeee. Someone help I have an early gen on the Apple Watch. Mostly use it for gps and time.

[@michaelschwabe8157]

I have a Fossil 5 that had a recurrence of self restarting. Now a third time. Sent in to Fossil for "repair" twice before and after months recurred with repeated restarting. I am done with that version. Any one with any problems with Fossil 6?

[@marcoontingco5370]

may i ask what's the diameter of your wrist? i have a kids sized wrist too and 44mm sounds a bit large for me but seeing you wearing one it looks fine. thanks

[@taranagnew436]

what's the price differance between a gear s4 and this watch?

[@alexwebster64]

The King has done it! I’ve been looking forward to this! I’m torn between this and the watch 4. Any advice? I’m a pixel user if that helps.

[@turbo11]

I have the fossil 6, and its a beast. Looks great and has every feature I need

[@alexwebster64]

@@turbo11 I also got the 6. I Love it. It doesn't drop connection, it's quick, and gets me through everything I need. Plus it's nice to have a watch with working raise to wake. My apple watch 4's randomly stopped working and it was infuriating not being able to use a watch as a watch.

[@Ali.E]

I have Galaxy watch 4, Galaxy watch 4 classic and fossil gen 5 As my experience Samsung smartwatches are better. If you don't own a samsung smartphone, the functionality of Gen 6 and GW4 are almost the same but you get better user interface, updated OS, more health tracking features and kind of better battery life. I think GW4 is an easy recommendation.

[@jsteelize]

@@Ali.E I've been reading reviews on GW4, and everyone is saying how awful it is, legs, and isn't accurate. They also mentioned how horrible the battery life is. I'm contemplating between Fossil Gen 6 & Ticwatch Pro 3

[@Pugwash.]

Have they switched to wireless charging yet or still using the metal rings on the back?

[@madbujor]

Metal bro

[@itzmeash1]

Is there a speaker from the watch for audio calls? .

[@rdnax5775562]

Fossiles are definitely one of the best designed smartwatches... Unfortunately for 24/7 tracking and an hour exercise per day, battery life is still too short... Tracking of longer activities (like that 10 hours trekking) is also impossible...

[@harshil_kaundal]

Yes that's true but having wear os makes it a true smartwatch. I own Fossil Gen 5 and I just love it. It gives me battery backup of aone day with 1 hour of activity tracking and attending occasional calls from the watch in the day the fast charging also helps, but when I want to do sleep tracking I need to top-up the watch slightly.

[@FranciscoNogueira]

These watches were never intended for 10h long workouts.

[@HughesyTech]

@@FranciscoNogueira Suunto 7 does these workouts for 15hrs of GPS tracking battery life

[@FranciscoNogueira]

@@HughesyTech By these I was referring to Fossil watches which are clearly more on the fancy side of things than on the sports hardcore kind of type. Which, Suunto, from what I know of that brand, has been for a long time.

[@HughesyTech]

@@FranciscoNogueira has nothing to do with fancy or whatever. Suunto was the only one to actually get the co-processor on the 3100 working properly, to get the advertised 12-15hrs tracking life. Not Mobvoi, not fossil, not anyone else managed to do that. Suunto did it all themselves.

[@bak-unin]

4:40 both the GW4 & GW4C have 16GB internal memory, not 8. Admittedly, half of that is taken up my the OS and pre-installed apps, but I assume the fossil is similar.

[@turbo11]

I have about 5 gigs of storage available out of box in gen 6

[@AlonExplorer2323]

How to turn off continuous heart rate monitoring?

[@eterneal]

Love ur vids

[@abdoulkadiripantami3568]

You are a great reviewer Sir. I like watching your vids. Plesase have the pleasure to mention also smartphone you use on your watches reviews videos. Thanks

[@mr_nevermind]

Watch battery is fine for me. I wear it all day, use timers, calc, GPay, and sleep tracking and it last through all of that. I pop it on the charger when I wake up in the morning, 20-30 mins later it's full.

[@JGPlayball]

Awesome thanks for sharing.

[@acereg4382]

Is it compatabile with ios will google map works on this watch

[@Funfun_d]

How to turn facer off/ how to turn screen off ???still has time and date display I don't want it I wanted to be blacked out like a phone

[@abhimanyuthakur1991]

I'm about to buy my first smart watch which I should go for fossil Gen 6 or Samsung galaxy watch 3 lte ?

[@jsteelize]

I'm in the same boat. Also contemplating on the Ticwatch Pro 3... Something to consider as well

[@AndyRC]

I sold my fossil Gen 5 and picked up the Samsung GW4 and tic watch pro 3. The Gen 5 was too small screen wise so I am disappointed that the Gen 6 has the same size. So unless it dropped a lot in price I can't see getting it. They do look good though. I had to add a bezel and new strap on the GW4 classic to get it looking more like a nice dress watch. Tks for the review and update

[@sureshvadakoot1133]

Andre, thanks for the post. Could you kindly tell me a good online store to buy smartwach bezels please? Ringke doesn't have much options. I am thinking of buying a ticwatch pro. Thanks.

[@AndyRC]

@@sureshvadakoot1133 hey do you mean bezel for the galaxy watch 4? If so Amazon and the bezels for GW4 classic and last year's GW3 and both are the same. So I was able to find more colors and they fit on my Gw4 classic. They are the same. Also aliexpress has them for 2 or 3 dollars a piece instead of 10 to 20$ on Amazon. Now if you meant bezels for tic watch I have also not found any for that watch yet.

[@sureshvadakoot1133]

@@AndyRC yes, I meant bezels for Ticwatch. Thanks for your reply.

[@jsteelize]

I'm actually contemplating on a GW4, or a Ticwatch Pro 3 (2020 model). Which one do you like more?

[@garrywatts1211]

Can you review the Seconda Smartwatch? Probably a pile of crap but it’s only £89.

[@piotrprazanowski3902]

The watch has a great looking case but the black bezel makes it look like a toy when the screen is dimmed or turned off. And its funny how you use the rotating crown while its not on the wrist :D the crown is not something you will be using on daily basis unfortunately.. I really tried to love and choose this one above the GW4c but it doesn't make sense yet.

[@biswajitpaul3516]

Sometime in rainy days water split on screen that time screen operating does not work properly that's why rotating crown was there to make ur work easy.

[@shenelleforde9128]

Hi, is the watch swim proof?

[@dustinhankins2153]

Can you leave your phone at home and use Bluetooth earbuds to listen to music on a run? Amazon Q&A says you can.

[@asukakazama449]

can you please do the Amazfit GTR 3 or GTS 3

[@redbeard4869]

Is this compatible with android phone?

[@joh_alt897]

Hey! Great Video I am thinking about ordering the Gen 6. One question I have before ordering is if I need my phone to be with me the whole time that I can use the features?

[@versutilityllc4020]

Looking for that same answer. Have you found the answer?

[@riemikes]

Got myself a stainless steel gun metal gen5 from eBay for $83 , condition is like new with retail box.

[@atulmenon777]

A month ago bought fossil Gen 5 carlynx for 172 Euro, pretty good deal

[@michellewilliams1925]

How to you get ok google to work ?

[@yashkhandelwal2085]

How much does it weighs?

[@tobijacobs5016]

Oh n where can u get ur anime photos for ur phones can u pls drop a link pls

[@parthsb]

Can you please review Fossil Gen 6 wellness edition

[@clarkkent6249]

How does it work with iPhones?

[@Sonic_mena]

Nice 👍

[@markb1935]

The way you say “shenanigans” hehehehe

[@123looneygan]

After 6 generations Fossil still stuck with 1 day battery life. So happy that I got Ticwatch Pro 3

[@jramp2783]

Holy crap..just picked this up 2night and have been lookin @ how to us and get the most out of it...but ya had me @ Sunderland...it's my surname..my dad went years ago👍

[@pablood327]

Does this watch have Polish language uploaded?

[@MrXxTyphoonxX]

Marshall Minor III review please

[@Lynn-zw7dr]

I'm buying this watch tomorrow from John Lewis, my Garmin Venu 2 Plus is buggered! Hoping it'll be ok! 👍🏻🙂

[@T_Ocha_Streams]

I have yet to see this but can someone on KZbin so a water & swimming test with the fossil gen 5 & gen 6? Every video is just saying it is but no one is testing it.

[@tobijacobs5016]

Can u please 🥺🥺 do a Nokia 7 plus unboxing n review for 2021 pls 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

[@victorlogan5038]

It's beautiful but honestly that black bezel is ridiculous. So many competitors have far better screen body ratio, I'm quite disappointed fossil didn't seem to feel that was important.

[@gazh5305]

Is DHL still holding the new Amazfit to ransom?

[@TechSpurt]

It actually got returned to sender. I do not like those guys.

[@FranciscoNogueira]

KZbin Music is already available on Fossil watches.

[@Gaetano.94]

Ending up getting this off of someone for less than $200 usd. Was so confused and thought it was fake for days but I guess I just got a good deal. Kicks GW4 out of the water

[@PhilipBallGarry]

I'm struggling to find a watch better than the Huawei Watch GT2. Not the most feature rich I'll give you but with 10-12 day battery life, I'll take it 👍

[@MetroxFX]

Try the Oneplus Watch

[@craigmeyer3123]

@@MetroxFX Huawei Watch GT3 😉

[@Dragnmastralex]

ticwatch pro 3 watches battery is great for about 3 maybe 4 years. after that point they won't hold more than an 8 hour charge even in essential mode. its not a long term watch at all.

[@ZeginMakesMusic]

Every single time I get a notification, the act of pulling up my sleeve to view it swipes away the notification On both watch and phone. I haven't seen notifications in over 2 months.

[@stupid_user_of_this_app]

rollup the sleeve or short sleeve then?

[@PAUTNETER]

Man what the hell is a shandy? Bro I’m from the US I have never heard that before.

[@Nite-owl]

Sadly, daily charging is a no-no for me. Nice looker but it's definitely one I can tick off my list of "potentials".

[@geometrist_]

until they improve battery life. daily charging on watches like this sucks. cant sleep overnight with it.

[@Nite-owl]

@@geometrist_ My current smartwatch (Nokia/Withings) goes around a month but its a limited function watch and the sensors are shit. I'd be happy with around a week on the battery so I'm considering the ticwatch.

[@turbo11]

My gen 6 lasts a day and a half with aod disabled, 24*7 monitoring and sleep tracking enabled and battery saving mode on . Good enough for me especially with the fast charge

[@LU-nc6oy]

As a poor person that can finally afford this stuff I am absolutely dumbfounded as to the level of badassery the semi basic rich people can get.......

[@nivas_knight]

1 day battery was enough for me, especially when you have quick charging. Got it on the day of launch .

[@vikasgouda9417]

You are from India bro !!?

[@ap19926]

What about activities? My fossil sport would last max 3.5 hours of cycling .. very poor..

[@turbo11]

@@ap19926 this lasts about 1.5 days for me, with 24*7 tracking enabled , and battery saving mode enabled

[@PremKumar-tw5fz]

Ennapa Naga

[@nivas_knight]

@@ap19926 Lasts about a day for me with those trackers and stuff turned on.

[@kenesufernandez1281]

❤️

[@bassmanilil7463]

I have Amazefit Stratos and the battery last for a week when it was new, now after more than two years of use - 4-5 days wich is better than the most new watches. 1-2 day is pretty disappointing!

[@wmurch3]

that's a smartwatch lite though

[@negig2161]

Can the Samsung reply to notifications ???

[@vipinnanhe]

yes

[@markopazlo]

Not having the new wearOS till 2022 is bizarre. By the time you get the update the gen 7 is probably not far off. Also fossil aren't exactly the most reliable company so who's to say it won't be delayed or not even turn up.

[@turbo11]

Ain't there fault tho, google just gave samsung early access

[@telukuntlashiva5144]

U said it has same storage as galaxy watch 4 but watch 4 has 16gb but this one has 8gb🤔

[@prodbydanai]

On the Watch 4, you can only use 8GB out of the 16GB.

[@FearStan]

Put on the watch at 8 am, got home at 9pm and the battery was on 70%...

[@markschwacofer1802]

hope its still good picked one up on amazon for 153.00

[@Hala_Madrid95]

How is it? I'm thinking of getting one too.

[@billholt2010]

I got the Fossil Gen 6 because too many robots in the world have what Apple calls a ‘watch’. I hate the Apple Watch. It is ugly. They ruined the watch industry…. So I got a Fossil because it looks like a watch. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! 😉 😄

[@rgirishr]

Agree...Getting Fossil just because they know the 'watch business'

[@moonwrusse5649]

I 2nd this

[@tjeym8897]

😂😂😂tf my series 8 is beautiful and very good does everything apple also has the most faces and good ones I have fossil 6 apple 8 and galaxy 6 I love all and apple is the strongest

[@Johninatorful]

what is the bleep @ 5:23?

[@hakkertje100]

he was saying hey google but he bleeped out the hey

[@Johninatorful]

@@hakkertje100 oh! duh. so it wouldn't trigger a device. I'm an idiot lol

[@fyam254]

So what happened to the Google pixel 6/pro 6 reviews.....????🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@robertclark8546]

This watch will reportedly get Wear 3 tomorrow (Oct 17)

[@patterdalezipsuzilil]

Well it's 100 quid direct from fossil uk

[@disastermaster1413]

Let’s go brandon!

[@MonstaMunch101]

Huge bezels and awkward to put on your right wrist of you're a lefty due to the dials. It's a no for me.

[@weekendwarrior8179]

I've tried it, along with GW4 classic/TWPro3 ultra and that screen is so tiny because of those bezels, it's not on the same level as the other 2.

[@vipinnanhe]

what will u suggest between this 3 watches??? i have s20 ultra

[@jsteelize]

I'm Also curious! Contemplating on GW4, or a Ticwatch Pro 3 (2020 Model).

[@vijaykumard1520]

Waste watch.. don't buy it

[@ozgurserdar8627]

battery is one of the most important aspects here. i dont want to charge my watch every day.

[@prussell890]

Thats why i went for the samsung watch 4 because it uses wireless charge and i can charge the 300mah watch on the back of my s21 phone (4000mah) in an hr or so. All smartwatches with nfc (pay using your watch) and all the fancy bells and whistles last no longer than 2 days.

[@ozgurserdar8627]

@@prussell890 my s3 lasts a bit longer than that. i think huawei watches do last a week at least. i wish ios could do that.

[@marksnellingphotography]

"even that Apple lot' 😂

[@sourabhsohani]

😂 worst step counting sensor, whenever i woke up it shows I've been walking in sleep..😂.

[@UnkemptBushell]

I had a Fossil Sport and it was one of the best reviewed watches out there. It was absolutely awful. Battery barely lasted a day and the GPS was useless

[@malawi89]

I'm using a fossil sport and quite like it. As you say battery lasts about a day, day and a half, but I didn't find that to be any big inconvenience. Just charge it up at night and you're good to go for the next day

[@FranciscoNogueira]

It "works". That's what I can say. Maybe you got it on the expensive side. I knew what I was buying 2 years ago so, no major complaints here. It lags like hell when updates are running. That's for sure. Aside from that, it does what a basic smartwatch should do: stay connected to the phone while receiving notifications and having it muted on the process. And it looks great IMHO. Having low expectations is the first step for being happy with a smartwatch.

[@malawi89]

@@FranciscoNogueira yeah agreed - got mine for £65 or so and was quite happy with it at that price point

[@michalklucz6907]

Damn... I wish they have a battery for 36h.. if you need to charge it daily while straight out of the box I have no idea what to expect after a year. And yes. If you buy a watch with google assistant and gPay, you want to use that. I was after GW4 but I like the idea of having a native google system more than some Samsung apps and Bixby as the default and only option. So my question is should I wait for the new release from Garmin and buy a bulletproof smartwatch without wearOS but charge it every week, and rely on my pixel 6 and pixel buds, or wait and see what wearOs change on Fossil. And yes, I need a business-smart watch, so GW4 Classic, Fossil or nice Garmin are the only options.

[@Alex-wt9nf]

8 gigs damn!