Mobvoi is one of the few companies that's been keeping Wear OS alive for folks not interested in watches from Kate Spade and Michael Kors, and the latest addition to its lineup, the TicWatch Pro, is shaping up to be its most exciting release yet.
Where Mobvoi's TicWatch S and TicWatch E have been cheaper/more affordable watches, the TicWatch Pro aims to offer every feature you could ask for. There's NFC for making mobile payments with Google Pay, a heart-rate sensor, step-tracking, GPS, an OLED display, etc.
All of that sounds like stuff you'd expect from a flagship smartwatch, but Mobvoi's trying something different with the TicWatch Pro by adding a second FSTN LCD display on top of the OLED one. Here's how it works.
When you're interacting with the TicWatch Pro, you'll see the OLED panel and use it like you would any other gadget. However, when you toggle the screen off or the watch is just sitting on your wrist, the OLED screen will turn off and the LCD one will kick into gear — showing basic information such as the time, your heart-rate, battery life, steps-taken, etc. When you lift the watch to your face or tap on the screen, the LCD will shut off and you'll be met with your regular Wear OS interface and OLED display.
The TicWatch Pro in normal mode (left) and with the power-sipping LCD panel (right)
Furthermore, the TicWatch Pro will also come with an "Essential Mode" that'll completely turn off Wear OS and the OLED screen and only show you the basic info found on the LCD panel. If you want to toggle Wear OS back on, you'll need to wait about one full minute for the boot process.
If you allow Essential Mode to automatically switch on, Mobvoi touts you can get 5 days of juice. If you exclusively use Essential Mode, you're looking at an impressive 30 days of battery.
You can buy the TicWatch Pro from Amazon right now for just $249.99 in either Black or Silver colors. Do you plan on picking one up?
