After the quite successful previous model , Mobvoi comes with a new model of smartwatch, this time called TicWatch Pro 3.
What all does this watch have to offer and why is it one of the best watches we can currently get on Android? That's what we'll tell you in this review.
Content of the review
The Ticwatch Pro 3 is really a minor revolution among Wear OS smartwatches. It brings interesting innovations and finally already great battery life. Let's take a closer look at them.
Slimming down has been a success
Mobvoi has put a lot of thought into the watch, and we can see that in the craftsmanship itself. The body is made of stainless steel, which promises sturdiness and resistance to scratches or abrasions. We can also notice that the watch is thinner than its predecessors. The weight of the watch is 42 g and the dimensions are then 47 x 48 x 12.2 mm. These are definitely points to the good, because the TicWatch Pro 3 looks much better on the wrist than the previous model.
They come in a neutral black color. So you can wear them with practically everything. What is a minus, however, is clearly the absence of a rotating lunette, which would make the watch easier to handle. So you have to make do with just two buttons on the side and a touchscreen. You can set the buttons to launch your favourite apps (or Google Assistant, for example). Then there's a microphone between the buttons.
We should also take a look at the strap processing. It has a thickness of 22 mm and is silicone. Of course, it can be replaced if necessary. On the underside of the watch you will then find the heart rate sensors, the blood oxygenation meter and of course the battery charging pins. In addition, the watch is IP68 certified, so you can go swimming with it.
Larger, and even dual display
In the case of this watch, the manufacturer has bet on a 1.40-inch AMOLED Retina display that will offer a resolution of 454 x 454 pixels. It offers very hilarious colors and its overall design is very appealing. You can also rely on theAlways On feature that will leave the watch always on. At the same time, it is a primary display that is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. Yes, this watch has two displays right away.
The other one is the regular LCD display, which is located above the primary one. This secondary display is no longer in color and only displays the time, steps elapsed, and other necessary information. As you can probably guess, the secondary display is meant to save battery and indeed, if you were to use only this display, the battery life gets up to 45 days.
You activate the second display by turning on the so-called Essential mode, but as a rule, you will use it more in a situation when you are already low on battery but you don't have the possibility to charge the watch right now. However, the energy-saving LCD also turns on automatically when you put the watch away, e.g. at night. Again, this saves battery life and therefore provides a longer battery life per charge.
A nimble operating system
The TicWatch Pro 3 has the advantage of a snappy operating system. Here again, the manufacturer Mobvoi has chosen Google's Wear OS. This in itself ensures a fast pairing with a phone that has the Android operating system and notifications work very well too. More about them later. The OS itself will offer users a large number of apps, which is a big difference compared to other smartwatches on the market. The connectivity between the watch and the mobile can be called perfect, the operating system environment does not crash, which is also due to the improved hardware of the watch.
What deserves a lot of praise is clearly the Google Assistant. It works wonderfully on the watch and you can use it to dictate a reply to an incoming message. In addition, it also works in English, which gives you the opportunity to use it much more universally than before (you can find practical applications in this video review). It's just a pity that it doesn't get along too well with various routines from other Google devices. You'll also find quite a number of pre-installed Ticwatch apps on the watch, many of which you'll actually use.
You can install various apps from the Play Store, such as Spotify, on your watch. Although the watch has a large internal storage, unfortunately, you won't be able to download anything from Spotify. This option is simply not there. And unfortunately, this isn't the only oddity. The other is undoubtedly the absence of YouTube Music. Why this is, we have no idea, but there's probably a more fundamental reason. You'll also find Google Pay, but neither the Czech Republic nor Slovakia are supported regions, so you can't pay with the watch.
New processor for longer battery life
The hardware has gone a long way forward for this watch. The manufacturer reached for the new Qualcomm Wear 4100 processor. This is manufactured with 12 nm technology and this makes the processor more powerful than its predecessor. This allows for faster launching of applications and smoother running of the operating system itself. The processor is also more power efficient, so the battery doesn't suffer as much.
It was the older processors that had much higher demands, which is why the smartwatch's battery life was at a maximum of two days. However, the TicWatch Pro 3 offers 3-4 days of battery life, which you'll definitely appreciate if you're going somewhere for a weekend, for example. Even if you use the watch a lot, you'll get up to three days of endurance.
The endurance is really excellent with this watch. But the downside is that the watch does not support wireless charging. This means that you only charge it via pins and there is no option to use reverse charging from your phone, for example. While the pins work seamlessly, it means that if you're going somewhere, you have to pack an extra cable. But the lack of wireless charging is no reason to condemn the watch. Charging from zero to a hundred takes about two hours extra, which isn't too bad for a 577 mAh battery.
The connectivity of the watch is also important. You can rely on the integrated Wi-Fi receiver. In addition, the watch downloads passwords from the paired phone, so you don't have to enter anything and the watch connects itself to the wireless internet. Bluetooth is here in version 5.0 and the watch has 1 GB of operating memory, which is a notional minimum for the Wear OS for a fast and agile environment. The internal storage itself for downloading songs and podcasts is then 8 GB in size.
Notifications and telephony
We've already touched on notifications in a small way, we should now go into them in a little more detail. Notifications work precisely. If you receive a message, you can simply respond with a smiley face, e.g.or the aforementioned voice input in Czech. Notifications from different apps work just as well.
The watch has a microphone and also a speaker. You can also use it to make phone calls without any problems. Simply answer the call on the watch and you can start the call. In this, the operation is very easy and the call is clear and loud.
Activity tracking and pre-installed apps
Your activity is measured by the watch through built-in sensors and displayed through pre-installed apps. These apps are nicely designed and clear. One of them, for example, is TicHealth, which offers a clear processing of data from all sensors and your overall activity. TicOxygen, on the other hand, tells you how oxygenated your blood is. Another important app is TicPulse, which helps you measure your heart rate.
If you don't want to use pre-installed apps, then it's perfectly possible to use an app from Google, specifically Google Fit. This can also aggregate all the data from other devices (e.g. Oura Ring), so you can have much more control over your activities, and in one app
If you're hiking somewhere, you might also be interested in the barometer, which tells you thewhat altitude you're currently at, and can even record it in your activity. You can get an idea of how strenuous the hike was in hindsight thanks to several pieces of information, including the barometer.
Price on the Czech market
If we look at the price of the watch, you can get it from the official store for €300. It's not yet available in the Czech Republic, but the price shouldn't exceed €9,500.
We bought the watch for testing from the official Mobvoi website. The shipment arrived within a week from the Polish warehouse, so you can avoid paying CLA or VAT. In case of a claim Mobvoi covers all shipping costs of the product.
Where to buy Ticwatch Pro 3 cheapest?
Conclusion
To conclude the review, we have to reiterate once again that this is indeed one of the best watches you can get for Android (but also iOS). The very hilarious dual display and the slimmed down body will grab you at first sight. Design-wise, there's nothing to fault. The watch looks good in a meeting, just as good in the gym.
What disappoints is the lack of wireless charging, also lacking the ability to download offline songs from Spotify. But it's certainly nothing downright drastic that should make you say you don't want this watch. Fast and snappy operating system and up to four days of battery life on a single charge, that's the TicWatch Pro 3 with a price tag of €300 ( in future Czech sales).
