Fossil Gen 5 Carlyle Smart Watch Review
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Released in mid-2019, the Fossil Gen 5 was at the time of its release the best Wear OS smartwatch on the market. It sports a circular metal watch face and three buttons to the right of the watch, with the middle crown also being a highly receptive rotating crown. Its interface is easy to navigate, reminiscent of an Android smartwatch… so much so that it even has a shortcut to all the most important settings when you swipe down on your main display.
A year later, how is it fairing with more modern competition? Is it still one of the best smartwatches in 2020?
- Smartwatches powered with Wear OS by Google work with iPhone and Android Phones. Case size: 44mm; Band size: 22mm; interchangeable with all Fossil 22mm bands
- Battery: 24 Hr plus multi day extended mode Varies based on usage and after updates install. USB cable with magnetic charger snaps to rings on watch caseback and spins 360 degrees for ease of use. Charge up to 80% in under an hour
- Health and fitness: Heart Rate and Activity Tracking using Google Fit; Built-in GPS for distance tracking; Swimproof design 3ATM; New wellness enhancements allow you to track sleep history, monitor your restfulness and set sleep goals
- Lifestyle: This smart watch has always on display with thousands of watch faces to personalize your look and always see the time. Hundreds of apps from assistant to fitness, payments, music, social, news, games, stop watches, and more. With a swimproof design and charging in less than an hour, it’s perfect for all your activities.
- Smart watch functions: Stay connected with notifications for calls, texts, apps and automatic time, time zone and calendar syncing. Never miss a call - answer and make calls directly on your watch when your phone is out of reach.
Specifications
- Screen: 1.28in AMOLED (328ppi)
- Case size: 44mm
- Band size: standard 22mm
- Case thickness: 12mm
- Storage: 8GB
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100
- RAM: 1GB
- Operating system: Wear OS
- Features: microphone, speaker
- Water resistance: 30 meters (3ATM)
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.2, wifi
- Sensors: altimeter, ambient light, gyroscope, heart rate, NFC, GPS
Box Contents
- Fossil Gen 5
- Charging cable
- Documentation
Fossil Gen 5 Compatible phones
Download the Google WearOS app on your phone and use it with Android™ 6.0+ (excluding Go edition) or iOS 10.0+. Supported features, as usual, will vary between platforms; however, Fossil has created an app for iPhone which allows it to make and receive untethered calls! In my case, I am testing this wearable with a Sony Xperia smartphone.
Fossil Gen 5 Carlyle bands
The Fossil Gen 5 comes in two distinct models which are the Carlyle and the Julianna, which are aimed at men and women respectively. They are both 44mm, have the same specs, and have a metal casing that provides an authentic watch feel. The Carlyle is available in the following:
Fossil Gen 5 Julianna
The Julianna editions of the Fossil Gen 5 present a sublimely chic and fashionable range of smart wearable technology which at first glance, do not look like smartwatches at all. With the vast range of watch bodies and straps offered from Fossil, it’s no wonder this wearable was rated as one of the best smartwatches for women in 2020! The Julianna is still the same size as the Carlyle – packing a hefty 44mm watch face, which might be bulky looking for smaller wrists. If you’re looking for smaller-looking smartwatches, you might want to click here for some more smartwatch ideas!
Is Fossil Gen 5 waterproof?
Yes…kind of! Going over and above the IP68 rating, the Gen 5 series goes all the way up to 3ATM. Whilst their website describes it as being swim-proof, (with Wear OS having some specific apps for swim tracking too), the standard understanding for 3 ATM is that it is splashproof and that bathing or swimming is not recommended.
A number of people have brought this issue up with Fossil, as within the same page they say that:
“A depth rating of 3 ATM will withstand splashes in water. Your watch should not be worn swimming or bathing”
as well as:
“In addition to being water-resistant up to 30M, your device passes a 10,000-stroke swim test and can be worn while swimming in shallow water. Microphone and touchscreen may not work properly while the watch is in water or not completely dry.”
One of their representatives goes on to clarify in the comments section that its rating is slightly higher than 3 ATM, in that “in addition to being water-resistant up to 30 meters (under static condition), this device passes a 10,000-stroke swim test and can be worn while swimming in shallow water or showering”.
He goes on to explain that the following measures should be adhered to to safeguard the safety of the watch:
- Do not adjust the crown while the timepiece is in contact with water.
- For timepieces with pusher-enabled functionality, do not engage the function underwater.
- Exposure to extreme atmospheres is not recommended (i.e. hot water, saunas or steam rooms).
- Avoid exposure to water moving with force (i.e. water running from a faucet, ocean waves or waterfalls).
- Avoid long exposure to saltwater. After contact with salt water, rinse the watch under tap water and wipe dry with a soft cloth.
Fossil Gen 5 Battery life
The Gen 5 is equipped with a 310mAh non-removable Li-ion battery, and is described by Fossil as having 24 Hr + multi-day in Extended Mode.
It charges via a USB cable with an inductive charging magnet which may snap on to the watch case-back and spins a full 360° for ease of use. A full charge takes about an hour.
Wear OS isn’t known for having it’s best battery saving techniques, however in this wearable, Fossil came in to Google’s rescue providing three custom battery modes of its own.
- The Daily Mode drains your battery the quickest, keeping all of its features switched on, namely- the always-on display, location, speaker, NFC and everything else.
- The Extended Mode turns off everything except for your notifications, vibration, and button-to-wake. It gives you slightly more control as you may choose to set your Bluetooth to automatically turn on and off at particular times, in order to preserve battery when not need needing those notifications, say whilst you’re asleep.
- The Custom Mode allows you all the flexibility in that it tells you what the battery draining activities are and you can choose which to keep on or not. The always-on display and NFC are the first for me to go, as I could easily turn on NFC when I know I’ll be needing it. This setup allowed the watch to last a full day on one charge.
- Finally, the Time-Only Mode has a basic black screen with the Fossil logo, time, and date. This not-always-on mode will let your watch last a good number of days or even weeks.
These custom battery modes have been updated with a simplified design in the latest August 2020 Fossil Gen 5 update. Wear OS has been known to be sluggish with its battery life, however, Fossil’s added custom modes and 1GB of RAM (when we usually see 512MB of RAM on Wear OS!) are ensuring a smoother experience of their wearables. Having said that, even in Custom mode, with most settings turned off, I managed to take barely over a day out of the watch!
Important to note is that even though the watch comes with a 2-year warranty from Fossil, the battery can’t be replaced; so essentially if its battery starts giving you problems, you have to start looking into investing in a new smartwatch altogether!
Google has promised that in its Fall 2020 update of Wear OS, there shall not only be an improvement in speed of OS as well as amelioration of pairing but also improving battery life, saying that
“You want your smartwatch to match the pace of your lifestyle. With Wear OS, you can now do more throughout the day and enjoy a longer battery life on your smartwatch.”
In terms of availability, this update will be available on Suunto 7 devices first, and will eventually roll out to other manufacturers in the following months.
Fossil Gen 5 Apps
If you’re as much as a Google app fan as I am, you’re going to love this watch! The watch comes pre-installed with:
- Google Assistant
- Google Pay
- Google Fit (Workout, Heart Rate, Goals, Breathe)
- Agenda
- Alarm
- Calendar
- Contacts
- Stopwatch
- Timer
- Translate (although it doesn’t speak the translation like it does on other devices such as the Galaxy)
- Fossil Smart Battery Modes
- Enhanced Phone Dialer App
- Wellness Apps with Sleep Tracking
- Battery-Optimized Activity Mode
- Cardio Level Tracking
- Spotify
- Noonlight
- Nike Run Club
- Cardiogram
In its Fall 2020 update, Google also automatically downloaded a hand- wash timer aimed at helping out during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The idea of a timer is great, however somewhat pointless if you consider you have to touch your smartwatch with ‘dirty’ hands to start the timer anyway! You might have spic and span hands after 40 seconds of rubbing, but you’re back at square one after you touch your smartwatch! The only way I could think of to minimize contamination is to set up the timer on one of the customizable buttons on the right-hand side of the watch; that way you may start the timer by awkwardly tapping the button with your elbow or whatnot.
Google Play Store offers a wide array of apps for all your needs but from Google as well as third parties. Apart from these amazing Apps you have to have on your Wear OS, some of my personal favorites include the following:
- Goggle Keep Notes: I love Google Keep because it is a simple yet great cross-platform way of note-taking. Apart from being able to jot down lists, notes, or voice recordings, you can also collaborate with other users on notes. Making a shared shopping list with your partner? Google Keep lets you go hands-free and keeps you updated whether your partner has in fact already managed to buy some items! All this paired up with a system of color-coded geekiness, pins, and other categories for organizing your memos and reminders!
- Feel the Wear: Ok this one is already listed above, but it’s just to good not to mention! In a meeting and can’t really look at your smartwatch every time it sends you a notification? This app helps you customize vibration patterns for all your notifications, so you immediately know whether you have an incoming call, text, or email!
- Stocard: Declutter your wallet by digitizing all your rewards cards in one place! One less item to disinfect when getting home from the shops!
- Flashlight: No grand app, but a must-have nonetheless! Need some light to help you navigate your way to the light switch at night? This app switches on your display to full brightness which gives you enough light to find your way!
- Todoist: Another great cross-platform app, Todoist keeps me on top of my tasks, goals, and projects. Apart from categorizing your to-do list by deadline, goal, or location, you may list Sub-Tasks, activities, or comments as well as collaborate with workmates or friends on whatever needs getting done! The fact that I can have my detailed agenda (and reminders!) on my laptop, smartphone as well as smartwatch helps give me that extra nudge to stay on track!
- Breathing Zone: By now most of the available smartwatches on the market have some sort of breathing app, and so does Wear Os in Fit Breathe. My only problem with the Fit Breathe app is that unlike that found on other watches such as the Samsung Galaxy, the inbuilt app does not allow you to personalize the amounts of breaths per minute (or give you stats about your changing heart rate for that matter!), which can make the breathing exercises uncomfortable for some. Enter Breathing Zone, which allows you to personalize your 5 minutes of relaxation as you deem best for yourself! I must admit I was quite skeptical of the importance of breathing exercises, however having breathing reminders at your wrist really help you focus on deep breathing for those few minutes!
- StayLit Wear: Wear OS doesn’t give you the facility to choose how long your backlight stays on, and this might at times be a nuisance as you have to make sure to keep touching your smartwatch screen to make sure it doesn’t time out. With this app you have full control of how long your backlight remains on! Do keep in mind, however, that the longer the light stays on, the more you waste on battery!
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Ketchup Timer – Pomodoro Time Management App: This light-weight app helps you to boost your productivity using the Pomodoro time management technique. Just start the timer and focus on your work till your wrist tells you it’s time for your short break!
Fossil Gen 4 vs Gen 5
A lot of you have asked us what the major differences between the Generation 4 and the Generation 5 watches are, and whether it is worthwhile to update to the new model, so we went ahead and highlighted the main points below.
How to reset Fossil Gen 5
Before resetting to factory settings, make sure to back up all your information!
To reset to factory settings, follow these steps:
- Enter the app menu.
- Tap on Settings.
- Tap on System.
- Tap on Disconnect & Reset.
- Tap the checkmark to confirm.
- While the watch is resetting, access the Bluetooth settings on your phone and unpair the watch.
Fossil Gen 5 Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Great screen + viewing angles
- Stylish design
- Customizable buttons make it easier to get to your most-used apps.
- Great performance thanks to Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 SoC/1GB of RAM
- Loads of sports tracking features
- GPS/ NFC/ Heart Rate Sensor
- Built-in microphone & Speaker: Great for calls & Google Assistant
Cons:
- Very poor battery life which doesn’t hold up to the feature-rich watch
- Design ‘fault’: not seamless between the glass display and rest of the watch body: gathers a lot of dirt!
- Very difficult to type on the small screen (you can use speech input, however)
- 44mm design might be a bit too chunky on smaller wrists
