SUMMARY
Fossil Q Marshal has display for apps and other functions of the smartwatch. On the wear-ability side, this smartwatch weighs . It has other features like Circular, Flat Dial, Water proof, Wireless.MARKET STATUS:AVAILABLECRITIC REVIEW
Fossil Q Marshal smartwatch review: The Moto 360 alternative
Robin Sinha | Gadgets Now | Nov 6, 2016, 12.48 PM IST
NEW DELHI: Indian smartwatch market recently saw new launches from luxury brand Fossil. The company launched a range of smart wearables including its Q Marshal and Q Wander smartwatches.
A relatively new player in the Indian smartwatch market, the company last year introduced its first-ever Android Wear device Fossil Q Founder, however, it was overshadowed in a crowded market by the likes of Samsung Gear S2, Moto 360 (2nd Gen) and others. With few new smartwatches launched this year, the company seems to be better placed.
Launched globally earlier this year, both Q Marshal and Q Wander were launched in India late last month at a price of Rs 21,995 each, pitting them directly against the Moto 360 and the Moto 360 Sport.
Besides Q Marshal and Q Wander, Fossil also launched 10 more smartwatches and fitness bands in the country across its owned and licensed brands -- Emporio Armani, Michael Kors, Misfit, Chaps, and SKAGEN. This gives the company several fallback options in a market that is still considered niche.
We recently got our hands on one of its Android Wear-based smartwatches, the Fossil Q Marshal. Is the smartwatch a hit or another miss by the company, read our review to find out.
Design and display
When it comes to smartwatch design, companies really don't have much to play around with. So, most products end up looking nearly the same. It's the minor details and the finish that marks a difference. Fossil has followed the same theory and has chosen a simplistic design for its Q Marshal. The overall look is similar to other watches with circular dial.
The circular metallic case of the Fossil Q Marshal is pretty much identical to that of Moto 360. However, like I said, there are several changes when you look closely. The most prominent is the grove design surrounding the dial. It could trick you at first to think that the groves rotate like in Samsung Gear S smartwatches. But they don't.
The metal build gives it certain level of sturdiness, so the overall design gets a thumbs-up from us. We received the Black colour variant along with Black Silicone band, which together gave an overall stealthy essence to the Q Marshal.
Of course, the Silicone band is detachable and can be replaced with the metal band or the leather brown strap. We like the Silicone band that came with the unit. It's comfortable and doesn't irritate even when wearing it for hours. Just like a classic analogue watch, the Fossil Q Marshal also has a side crown, which again tricks you to think that it can be rotated but unfortunately it's just a push button with limited functions.
The Fossil Q Marshal features a 1.4-inch circular LED display with 320x290 pixels, tab bit lower than that of Moto 360's 1.5-inch 360x330 pixels LCD display. This, however, shouldn't make a difference at all. The touch screen is easily viewable in bright daylight. But what bothered us was the flat-tyre display and the extra screen bezels. Fossil could've made an effort to remove the bezels and make the screen look slightly more bigger and immersive. The Huawei Watch's circular display still holds the crown for us with its 1.4-inch 400x400 Super Amoled tech.
The Q Marshal's display stays in the Always-On mode. You can also double click the side button to completely shut off the screen. Long-pressing it opens the app menu. There are also several gesture-based functionalities available in the smartwatch such as single-handed use, covering the screen to dim it and more.
Performance and battery
The Fossil Q Marshal runs fluid when it comes to the performance. Engaging with notifications, opening and working apps like Google Maps, BBC News, Hangouts, Swarm and others were glitch-free. The smartwatch is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100 processor along with 512MB RAM and 4GB of inbuilt storage.
Besides, a stutter-free performance, the smartwatch comes with 20 preloaded watchfaces, most of them imitate the look of a classic analogue watch. Switching watchfaces is easy and so is navigating through apps. Fossil uses the pure Android Wear interface we have seen in other competing smartwatches as well so its pretty much easy to understand and straightforward.
Swiping from right to left opens the app menu and swiping towards right goes one step back. At the home screen, you can also swipe from top to bottom to access 'Do Not Disturb', 'Sound', 'Cinema Mode', 'Brightness' and 'Settings' options.
There's also in-built activity tracker in the Q Marshal. You would have to connect the watch with the Fossil Q app and Google Fit to keep a track. You can change watchfaces directly from the app as well. The device is compatible with Android OS 4.3 and iOS 8 and later OS versions.
While it tracks pretty much everything -- from walking to cycling and more we were quite disappointed with the company's decision to omit the heart rate sensors, which are present in most of the new smartwatches in the market. So, many health-conscious users may not find it the right piece of wearable for them.
Coming to the battery of Fossil Q Marshal, the company claims its wearable can run for 24 hours. But that is when the device is in ideal condition. The battery life can vary based on how you use it. For us, the smartwatch ran for a little over 12 hours before being charged. While this was on regular day-to-day usage, heavy users might need to charge the device after 6-8 hours.
In addition, the Fossil Q Marshal takes almost 2 hours to charge fully from 0% to 100%. It comes with a bundled wireless charger and shows up a dim screen with charge percent indicator as soon as it is kept on the wireless charger dock.
So all-in-all we found the battery life of the device almost the same as some of the other competing smartwatches. However, if you are looking for a wearable with good battery life, Pebble still rules the game.
Verdict
The Fossil Q Marshal is one beautiful-looking smartwatch. Its appealing rugged design and the stainless steel build really gives a premium feel. Attaching a leather strap or a metal strap further enhances the looks. Unfortunately, design is where the game ends.
The performance of the smartwatch is just about average and raises no eyebrows as such. The simple Android Wear UI is easy to use, which is how we think it should be and the battery life is also not much impressive.
A relatively new player in the Indian smartwatch market, the company last year introduced its first-ever Android Wear device Fossil Q Founder, however, it was overshadowed in a crowded market by the likes of Samsung Gear S2, Moto 360 (2nd Gen) and others. With few new smartwatches launched this year, the company seems to be better placed.
Launched globally earlier this year, both Q Marshal and Q Wander were launched in India late last month at a price of Rs 21,995 each, pitting them directly against the Moto 360 and the Moto 360 Sport.
Besides Q Marshal and Q Wander, Fossil also launched 10 more smartwatches and fitness bands in the country across its owned and licensed brands -- Emporio Armani, Michael Kors, Misfit, Chaps, and SKAGEN. This gives the company several fallback options in a market that is still considered niche.
We recently got our hands on one of its Android Wear-based smartwatches, the Fossil Q Marshal. Is the smartwatch a hit or another miss by the company, read our review to find out.
Design and display
When it comes to smartwatch design, companies really don't have much to play around with. So, most products end up looking nearly the same. It's the minor details and the finish that marks a difference. Fossil has followed the same theory and has chosen a simplistic design for its Q Marshal. The overall look is similar to other watches with circular dial.
The circular metallic case of the Fossil Q Marshal is pretty much identical to that of Moto 360. However, like I said, there are several changes when you look closely. The most prominent is the grove design surrounding the dial. It could trick you at first to think that the groves rotate like in Samsung Gear S smartwatches. But they don't.
The metal build gives it certain level of sturdiness, so the overall design gets a thumbs-up from us. We received the Black colour variant along with Black Silicone band, which together gave an overall stealthy essence to the Q Marshal.
Of course, the Silicone band is detachable and can be replaced with the metal band or the leather brown strap. We like the Silicone band that came with the unit. It's comfortable and doesn't irritate even when wearing it for hours. Just like a classic analogue watch, the Fossil Q Marshal also has a side crown, which again tricks you to think that it can be rotated but unfortunately it's just a push button with limited functions.
The Fossil Q Marshal features a 1.4-inch circular LED display with 320x290 pixels, tab bit lower than that of Moto 360's 1.5-inch 360x330 pixels LCD display. This, however, shouldn't make a difference at all. The touch screen is easily viewable in bright daylight. But what bothered us was the flat-tyre display and the extra screen bezels. Fossil could've made an effort to remove the bezels and make the screen look slightly more bigger and immersive. The Huawei Watch's circular display still holds the crown for us with its 1.4-inch 400x400 Super Amoled tech.
The Q Marshal's display stays in the Always-On mode. You can also double click the side button to completely shut off the screen. Long-pressing it opens the app menu. There are also several gesture-based functionalities available in the smartwatch such as single-handed use, covering the screen to dim it and more.
Performance and battery
The Fossil Q Marshal runs fluid when it comes to the performance. Engaging with notifications, opening and working apps like Google Maps, BBC News, Hangouts, Swarm and others were glitch-free. The smartwatch is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100 processor along with 512MB RAM and 4GB of inbuilt storage.
Besides, a stutter-free performance, the smartwatch comes with 20 preloaded watchfaces, most of them imitate the look of a classic analogue watch. Switching watchfaces is easy and so is navigating through apps. Fossil uses the pure Android Wear interface we have seen in other competing smartwatches as well so its pretty much easy to understand and straightforward.
Swiping from right to left opens the app menu and swiping towards right goes one step back. At the home screen, you can also swipe from top to bottom to access 'Do Not Disturb', 'Sound', 'Cinema Mode', 'Brightness' and 'Settings' options.
There's also in-built activity tracker in the Q Marshal. You would have to connect the watch with the Fossil Q app and Google Fit to keep a track. You can change watchfaces directly from the app as well. The device is compatible with Android OS 4.3 and iOS 8 and later OS versions.
While it tracks pretty much everything -- from walking to cycling and more we were quite disappointed with the company's decision to omit the heart rate sensors, which are present in most of the new smartwatches in the market. So, many health-conscious users may not find it the right piece of wearable for them.
Coming to the battery of Fossil Q Marshal, the company claims its wearable can run for 24 hours. But that is when the device is in ideal condition. The battery life can vary based on how you use it. For us, the smartwatch ran for a little over 12 hours before being charged. While this was on regular day-to-day usage, heavy users might need to charge the device after 6-8 hours.
In addition, the Fossil Q Marshal takes almost 2 hours to charge fully from 0% to 100%. It comes with a bundled wireless charger and shows up a dim screen with charge percent indicator as soon as it is kept on the wireless charger dock.
So all-in-all we found the battery life of the device almost the same as some of the other competing smartwatches. However, if you are looking for a wearable with good battery life, Pebble still rules the game.
Verdict
The Fossil Q Marshal is one beautiful-looking smartwatch. Its appealing rugged design and the stainless steel build really gives a premium feel. Attaching a leather strap or a metal strap further enhances the looks. Unfortunately, design is where the game ends.
The performance of the smartwatch is just about average and raises no eyebrows as such. The simple Android Wear UI is easy to use, which is how we think it should be and the battery life is also not much impressive.
Until and unless you are all for the design or are a loyal Fossil fan, we will not recommend it. If you are looking for a more 'value for money' smartwatch in the same price segment, Moto 360 (2nd gen) is already available on several ecommerce websites. Sports enthusiasts who want a health-focused smartwatch, can go for Moto 360 Sport (priced at Rs 19,999). Huawei Watch and the Samsung Gear S2 are available in the same price bracket.
You can also move away from Android Wear and try WatchOS by purchasing Apple Watch Series 1 at Rs 23,900.
You can also move away from Android Wear and try WatchOS by purchasing Apple Watch Series 1 at Rs 23,900.
FOSSIL Q MARSHAL SPECIFICATIONS
| SUMMARY |
| ||||||||||||
| GENERAL |
| ||||||||||||
| FEATURES |
| ||||||||||||
| SENSORS |
| ||||||||||||
| ACTIVITY TRACKER |
| ||||||||||||
| CONNECTIVITY |
| ||||||||||||
| SMARTPHONE REMOTE FEATURES |
| ||||||||||||
| DESIGN |
| ||||||||||||
| DISPLAY |
| ||||||||||||
| BATTERY |
| ||||||||||||
| COMPATIBILITY |
| ||||||||||||
| NOTIFICATIONS |
|
0 comments:
Post a Comment