Ticwatch Pro S

The Ticwatch Pro S is a full featured smartwatch released in March 2021. Mobvoi is one of the few manufacturers left that make Wear OS smartwatches. That being said there is growing interest in the Wear OS platform with rumors that OnePlus and Samsung will release watches in 2021.

The Ticwatch Pro S has incredibly disappointing specifications. It is using a Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100 processor, which is 5+ years old and 2 generations out of date. In comparison, the Ticwatch Pro 3 which was released 6 months ago comes with the Snapdragon 4100 processor for only $40 more. There is no real explanation as to why Mobvoi made this choice for the Pro S. Perhaps the early 2021 global chip shortage is impacting smartwatch makers as well.

The operating system for the Pro S is Wear OS (Google’s Android operating system designed for smartwatches). While Wear OS does not have the best history it does have access to Google Play Store to install 3rd party apps. This is a great feature when compared to smartwatches with proprietary operating systems that have no access to 3rd party apps.

Design

The Ticwatch Pro S has a circular watch face design with a carbon fiber and reinforced nylon case.  The watch is available in silver or black and has an attractive overall look and feel. For some strange reason, Mobvoi advertises the 2018 iF Design Award for this watch. Technically it was never awarded to this watch and you can see the 4 products that actually won the award here.

This smartwatch is medium sized at 45 x 45 x 12.6 mm and weighs 58.5g. The 12.6 mm thickness is on the larger size and could be uncomfortable for some to wear while sleeping.

The Pro S comes with a 22 mm hybrid leather and silicone interchangeable strap. The leather side faces outward while the silicone side faces inwards. The strap is comfortable and quality is quite good.

You can interact with the watch using the touchscreen and 2 physical buttons. The touchscreen works very well and typically does not lag, but occasionally does. The user interface is simple to navigate and fonts are easy to read. Unfortunately the dated processor results in not the most responsive user experience.

The Pro S has a IP68 water resistance rating which supposedly allows for swimming and showers. This rating should be taken with a grain of salt. The manual specifically advises against contact with soapy water when washing hands or showers. Also chlorine and salt water should be avoided. When owners with problematic watches contact Mobvoi support, one of the first questions asked is whether it was used in the shower.

Screen

The dual screen of the Pro S is one of the highlights of this smartwatch. The 1.39″ AMOLED Touchscreen & Low Power FSTN Screen, has 400 x 400 pixels. When AMOLED screen looks very good while the low power screen reduces battery usage when you are not actively interacting with the watch.

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The Pro S uses Corning Gorilla Glass 3 to protect the screen. Even though this is not a rugged watch, it has passed the MIL-STD-810G military specification for durability. A strong positive, hence we expect this watch to be quite durable.

The watch has an always on screen option but this has a significant impact on battery life. The watch allows for custom watchfaces which is a nice feature.

Battery

The Pro S comes with a 415 mAh battery. Mobvoi claims that typical usage battery life is 3 days and watch mode battery life is 30 days. Real world battery life is a less with 1 day being a expected for normal usage. This is OK for a full featured smartwatch but is very poor when compared to some of the simpler smartwatches that have battery life measured in weeks not days.

Connectivity Features

From a connectivity perspective, the Pro S has good functionality and can receive and respond to notifications from the watch.

One of the biggest advantages of Wear OS is the connectivity with your smartphone. The watch complements the phone well, unlike the more fitness or health focused smartwatches.

The Pro S has both a speaker and a microphone and has the ability to both answer and place calls via Bluetooth.

The speaker and microphone work well for both incoming and outgoing calls. The speaker can be used to play music stored on the 4GB internal memory. The Pro S does not have a camera and does not have cellular connectivity.

On the positive side, it does come with built-in GPS. Unfortunately, GPS connectivity is not the fastest and accuracy is not the best.

Finally, Near Field Communication (NFC) is supported and you can use this smartwatch to make payments using Google Pay. The inclusion of Google Pay on Wear OS watches is another big benefit for this smartwatch. Many competitors cannot boast a payment option with their smartwatches.

Health and Fitness Features

The Pro S comes with 6 sensors: Accelerometer, Ambient light, Compass, Gyroscope, Heart Rate Monitor (HRM), Pulse Oximeter (SpO2). These only cover a few fitness and health areas. These sensors allow you to track the following 10 metrics: Blood Oxygen Level, Calories, Distance, Fitness Level, Heart Rate, Sleep, Steps, Stress, Swimming, VO2 Max.

Also included are 13 different sports modes. Heart rate accuracy at rest, casual activities or steady state runs is relatively accurate. For casual tracking, this may be adequate but could be a concern if you are looking for high tracking accuracy for your sports or fitness goals.

However with interval training, short bursts of activity or high intensity training, accuracy is poor. Tattoos, hair, sweat and even skin color are factors that impact accuracy as well. This is a common problem with nearly all wrist based optical heart rate monitoring. While there are a few exceptions that do a pretty good job on heart rate monitoring, such as the Apple Watch 6, serious trainers should look into a chest strap for best heart rate accuracy.

Mobvoi App

The Ticwatch Pro S uses the Mobvoi app, which is decent but not best in class. While the app has a lot of functions and features, it is not the most refined or easy to navigate. You can see how the Mobvoi app ranks on our Smartwatch Apps Page.

Known Issues

As this watch has just recently been released, there are no common known issues.

Verdict

The Ticwatch Pro S is a poor choice given the dated Snapdragon 2100 processor. This 5+ year old technology, uninspiring performance and high price tag result in an unattractive value proposition. We suggest avoiding this watch due to these drawbacks.

Specifications

Published: March 16, 2021