A new flagship smartwatch from TicWatch is teased to take on the Pixel Watch

A new flagship smartwatch from TicWatch is teased to take on the Pixel Watch

We already have some potentially great smartwatches to look forward to by the end of the year, including the Google Pixel Watch, and it looks like we may add another to the list courtesy of Mobvoi and its TicWatch brand.

Mobvoi has apparently sent an email (opens in a new tab) to some customers about a new device, as spotted by 9to5Google (opens in a new tab), and it looks like a flagship Wear OS smartwatch is on the way . No name is mentioned, but it's probably the TicWatch Pro 4.

We were quite impressed with the TicWatch Pro 3 that launched in 2020 and the Ultra version that followed in 2021. We've also seen more affordable TicWatch wearables appear, but the next one is likely to be positioned towards the other, more expensive end of the spectrum. spectrum.

Potential Features

In his email, Mobvoi evokes a "flagship" watch with a "premium design." There are also references to a long battery life, support for NFC and GPS payments, and IP68 waterproof protection. Sounds like a pretty premium smartwatch to us.

The communication also talks about the ability to monitor irregular heartbeats (atrial fibrillation) and stress levels; these features are also on the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, but Mobvoi hints that the new model will offer more improvements.

As we heard at Google IO 2022, there's new momentum behind the Wear OS platform and the devices that support it. It seems that Mobvoi wants to be a part of this, and the email states that the product in question is "about to be released".

Review: A fresh start for Wear OS

Wear OS, formerly known as Android Wear, is the smartwatch operating system that Google created to compete with the mighty Apple Watch, and it's fair to say that devices running the software have had mixed luck in recent years.

Actually, only Mobvoi with the TicWatch brand, and Fossil with its impressive series of smartwatches, have the Wear OS flag flying. Meanwhile, the Apple Watch has continued to go from strength to strength year after year.

However, the signs for the future are promising. Google has been putting more time and effort into Wear OS recently, while Samsung has moved its own watches onto the platform, with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro now just around the corner.

Then there's the Google Pixel Watch, which is coming later this year. Throw in any new TicWatch models, and we're talking serious competition for the Apple Watch by the end of 2022.