Fossil Sport Smartwatch: £62.30

billybonkers · 12-05-2020 3:46pm

Hellrazer wrote: »

Anyone try google pay on it yet?

It does not work in Ireland on Wear OS

12-05-2020 3:55pm

billybonkers wrote: »

It does not work in Ireland on Wear OS

Is this for real? I've had Wear OS phones that have worked for me in the past (usually with a workaround).

The one I ordered for my Mrs has been delivered at PW, so should have it in the next day or two. Will test when I get it.

Hellrazer · 12-05-2020 4:39pm

That's what I thought that someone may have tried the workaround on it yet.
Mines on the way to my PM as well so I should get it tomorrow.

mrcheez · 12-05-2020 5:31pm

Basil3 wrote: »

Is this for real? I've had Wear OS phones that have worked for me in the past (usually with a workaround).

It works on my Huawei Watch 2... I've been buying all my lunch items throughout the year just using my watch, and was the best thing ever at the pub when you could pay with a handful of beers in your arm, great stuff.

I assumed all watches did it so I guess I can now appreciate the wide-eyes at the checkout when people saw me do it (or maybe they were figuring out how to snap it off my wrist) :pac:

Apart from that, the Huawei Watch was a sluggish tempermental biatch, so this Fossil has vastly improved my Wear OS experience (despite the lower specs!)

I'll be investigating the Xda-developers workaround to get Google Pay working with this in a few weeks, but perhaps someone here wants to do the groundwork first?

BROWNE51 · 13-05-2020 5:42pm

Picked up a Falster 2 from Skagen for £89 last week, only to find GPay is a no go here in Ireland on WearOs. Only reason I bought it as I have a Gear and Samsung Pay is ?.

Easiest way for me is disable wifi on watch, install Gpay whilst running PIA VPN app on my Note 8 and leave it run in the backgroud. Once installed you dont need the phone for Gpay and its as quick, if not quicker, than a card. Updates with transactions on watch after and minimal batter drain on phone (doesnt affect watch). Batter life with my final settings (notifications and Gpay basically) is 24hr so far, only had it a few days. Without Gpay though its just a nice watch.

13-05-2020 5:59pm

BROWNE51 wrote: »

Picked up a Falster 2 from Skagen for £89 last week, only to find GPay is a no go here in Ireland on WearOs. Only reason I bought it as I have a Gear and Samsung Pay is ?.

Easiest way for me is disable wifi on watch, install Gpay whilst running PIA VPN app on my Note 8 and leave it run in the backgroud. Once installed you dont need the phone for Gpay and its as quick, if not quicker, than a card. Updates with transactions on watch after and minimal batter drain on phone (doesnt affect watch). Batter life with my final settings (notifications and Gpay basically) is 24hr so far, only had it a few days. Without Gpay though its just a nice watch.

Samsung Pay is only in the UK, not Ireland, AFAIK.

13-05-2020 7:07pm

Received the watch today, set it up. Quite slow and laggy, but hopefully it will settle down. There's a definite delay when lifting your wrist to look at the time which is much faster on Tizen devices.

Downloading playlists to the watch on Play Music takes a long time, but I find it speeds up if you disconnect from your phone and let it use Wi-Fi.

listermint · 13-05-2020 7:10pm

Basil3 wrote: »

Received the watch today, set it up. Quite slow and laggy, but hopefully it will settle down. There's a definite delay when lifting your wrist to look at the time which is much faster on Tizen devices.

Downloading playlists to the watch on Play Music takes a long time, but I find it speeds up if you disconnect from your phone and let it use Wi-Fi.

It would be Bluetooth from the phone so you shouldn't use that. Use wi-fi for the speeds.

13-05-2020 7:34pm

listermint wrote: »

It would be Bluetooth from the phone so you shouldn't use that. Use wi-fi for the speeds.

Yup, that's what I just said.

If you're connected to your phone (as most people will be), it will try to transfer over BT.

14-05-2020 7:48am

Been messing with the watch, have a few thoughts....

Device is slow and laggy, but this is just how Android Wear is in my experience. The time it takes for the screen to turn on when looking at your wrist is too slow.
Even though I had the watch set to use watch and phone for location, the distance it recorded for my run this morning is way off (more than 10%). I haven't looked into it, but I'm guessing it used my strides to guesstimate distance rather than using GPS as it should have.
If you want a watch for running, get a Garmin. If you want to check your distance/speed while running, you have to hold your wrist up for what seems like 10 seconds. It takes a few seconds for the screen to turn on, then you have to wait for it to update the stats, which only just happens before the screen goes off again.
Google Pay was on the watch when I got it, but got disabled. I've used Pay Enabler to enable it again, but am now getting the message that Pay isn't available in this location. I didn't have this problem with my last Android Wear device (Ticwatch Pro). Will have to research.
BT audio quality while running was decent. Had the occasional break-up of sound, but generally it was very good. The volume range seems a lot better than other watches I've used.
Haven't had the watch long enough to gauge battery life, but at 7:45am after a half-hour run this morning and messing with Google Pay, I'm already down to 64% after a full charge last night. This is with always-on display set to off.

statto25 · 14-05-2020 7:57am

If you're in any way tech savvy have a look at putting a custom ROM on the watch. I have a Huawei watch 2 and was seriously thinking about getting a Garmin as it was becoming so laggy and slow. I flashed a custom ROM and it's night and day. It's far faster with little lag.

mrcheez · 14-05-2020 10:37am

statto25 wrote: »

If you're in any way tech savvy have a look at putting a custom ROM on the watch. I have a Huawei watch 2 and was seriously thinking about getting a Garmin as it was becoming so laggy and slow. I flashed a custom ROM and it's night and day. It's far faster with little lag.

cool, any links? My Huawei Watch 2 is kinda going unused at the moment so I can afford to hack it a bit.

Did the custom ROM stop Google Pay working?

mrcheez · 14-05-2020 10:40am

Basil3 wrote: »

Received the watch today, set it up. Quite slow and laggy, but hopefully it will settle down.

Mine was initially slow and laggy for first day or so and then once all updates were in place it sped up dramatically. If no change, do a factory reset once the latest Wear OS firmware is installed.

I've also limited the number of apps I installed on it, limit to just two beyond the base setup, and I'm sure this helps a lot.

It's smooth as silk now and rotating wrist to activate is fast.

Also be sure to clear cache on your phone's Google app / Wear OS app / Google Play app

greenspurs · 14-05-2020 12:17pm

Brego888 wrote: »

Interested in an android smartwatch. Can anyone recommend a decent budget alternative to this fossil? Battery life is putting me off.

If you need it for running/jogging etc,

I use this watch. I find it really good. Heartrate, steps, sleep, gps also.
Great price. Garmin 35

https://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=104568

Cheaper on Littlewoods.
https://www.littlewoodsireland.ie/garmin-forerunner-35-gps-running-watch-with-wrist-based-heart-rate/1600404464.prd

14-05-2020 7:55pm

Down to 5% battery by 8pm. Half hour run in the morning, 20 minute workout this evening. Apart from that, have hardly used it. Not sure how people make it into a second day.

Always on display turned off. Background HR monitoring off.

statto25 · 14-05-2020 8:03pm

mrcheez wrote: »

cool, any links? My Huawei Watch 2 is kinda going unused at the moment so I can afford to hack it a bit.

Did the custom ROM stop Google Pay working?

I don't but there are a few options if you have a google. It did but there was a workaround to get it going again.

mrcheez · 14-05-2020 8:21pm

Basil3 wrote: »

Down to 5% battery by 8pm. Half hour run in the morning, 20 minute workout this evening. Apart from that, have hardly used it. Not sure how people make it into a second day.

Always on display turned off. Background HR monitoring off.

Do you have Play Music installed?

I found that was slowing my watch performance so I installed Wear Media instead

Try killing all open apps.

My watch is at 25% now and I charged it yesterday plus just came back from 1 HR cycle with GPS

14-05-2020 8:50pm

mrcheez wrote: »

Do you have Play Music installed?

I found that was slowing my watch performance so I installed Wear Media instead

Try killing all open apps.

My watch is at 25% now and I charged it yesterday plus just came back from 1 HR cycle with GPS

Yeah, have Play Music, but only showing downloaded music to access my one playlist. The concerning thing is that I don't even think GPS worked for my run, so no idea why drain was so high.

mrcheez · 14-05-2020 9:42pm

Play Music seems to run a lot of background processing in my experience with it.

What apps have you installed beyond the basic?

Also what watch face? I'm using Essential Digital

14-05-2020 9:49pm

mrcheez wrote: »

Play Music seems to run a lot of background processing in my experience with it.

What apps have you installed beyond the basic?

Also what watch face? I'm using Essential Digital

No extra apps. Did install pay and pay enabler, but uninstalled. Also uninstalled Spotify, as I don't use it.

Using the same watch face as you.

mrcheez · 14-05-2020 9:54pm

Basil3 wrote: »

No extra apps. Did install pay and pay enabler, but uninstalled. Also uninstalled Spotify, as I don't use it.

Using the same watch face as you.

I did a factory restart once I got the latest firmware, also cleared cache on phone for Google and Wear OS apps...

Just installed Wear media and the FTP transfer thingy..
Everything else is native. Turned off touch to activate too.

Hellrazer · 15-05-2020 10:48am

Just setting mine up now. Any tips for setting it up?

mrcheez · 15-05-2020 10:57am

Hellrazer wrote: »

Just setting mine up now. Any tips for setting it up?

Just based on my own experience...

- Set it up as normal... download a few apps / watch faces to try ... identify the ones you want to keep

- Wait until the latest firmware has been installed (you'll know it's there when you scroll right off the home screen and it gives you the option to add more sub-screens). I *think* there's a way to speed this up under Settings -> System -> About -> System updates... or perhaps you might need to wait a day?

- Once you know which apps you want to keep ... wipe the device (Settings -> System -> Disconnect & reset). It retains the firmware, so I assume it's a soft-reset rather than a factory reset.

- On your phone clear cache on Google app, Wear OS app, Play Store app

- Set up your watch again ... install only those few apps you want

- Under Settings -> Gestures, disable Touch-to-Wake, but do activate Tilt-to-Wake. It stops things like water splashes when washing hands activating the device

My recommendation for the watch face is Essential Digital as you can have several icons on the homescreen that summarise everything you want to know without having to touch the screen and waste battery.

Hellrazer · 15-05-2020 11:08am

Whats the best way to wipe it?

mrcheez · 15-05-2020 11:12am

Hellrazer wrote: »

Whats the best way to wipe it?

I wrote that in there

Hellrazer · 15-05-2020 11:13am

mrcheez wrote: »

I wrote that in there

Thanks.Its downloading the latest firmware now.
Whats the wear media app you mentioned earlier?
Sounds a lot better than google music.

mrcheez · 15-05-2020 11:17am

Hellrazer wrote: »

Thanks.Its downloading the latest firmware now.
Whats the wear media app you mentioned earlier?
Sounds a lot better than google music.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=qubin.de.wearmedia&hl=en_IE

and you can transfer mp3s directly onto the watch using

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.turndapage.navexplorer&hl=en_IE

Just install them through the watch directly. Nav Explorer is a bit confusing to use initially, but the ftp process works very well once it's setup.

I'm not sure if Music Player for Wear works with downloaded playlists, but I'm mainly just uploading several mp3s to the watch directly.

Hellrazer · 15-05-2020 1:02pm

Done all setup now. Couple of things I did was enable developer mode and turn all the animations off - much faster UI altogether.
Definitely recommend doing this.

Also tried this

https://technologypenguin.com/2019/05/28/fossil-sport-double-battery-life-with-one-setting/

Apparently always on is more efficient than tilt / tap to wake.

Charging now to 100% - lost about 30% - 40% setting it up which isn't unexpected with all the BT and wifi transfers.

Ill see how it goes.

mrcheez · 15-05-2020 1:10pm

Interesting... also I highly recommend getting 2 extra chargers (links earlier in the thread) so that you can keep it topped up when sitting at desk or other stuff where you know you won't need the watch for 30 mins or so

I have one in my bedroom for a top up before bed, and one plugged into my laptop while working, plus one I'll leave in the car or bring to office when we're back.

You get fairly used to keeping it charged this way and eventually it becomes a habit rather than an annoyance as you don't need to constantly seek out a charging point since you have them to hand everywhere you go.

Also screen protector if you want to go the whole hog. My screen protector has already saved my Fossil Sport from a nasty smash when I was out.

.

bonkers · 15-05-2020 1:25pm

In case anyone is looking for one, I got two delivered and am only going to keep one.

https://www.fossil.com/en-gb/products/fossil-sport-smartwatch-grey-silicone/FTW6025.html is the version i have unopened. 68e as what i paid for delivery

mrcheez · 15-05-2020 4:06pm

bonkers wrote: »

In case anyone is looking for one, I got two delivered and am only going to keep one.

https://www.fossil.com/en-gb/products/fossil-sport-smartwatch-grey-silicone/FTW6025.html is the version i have unopened. 68e as what i paid for delivery

You got 2 sent by mistake?

Hellrazer · 15-05-2020 4:10pm

So far Im quite impressed.
Definitely turn off the animations if you have one..makes it so snappy.
I got the 41mm one - straps are a little bit too skinny for my liking but I have a box of Bip straps here which are 19mm. Found a blue one that's identical to the Fossil strap and its not tapered - it looks like it would look quite good on the sport.. Im going to notch 1mm of one of them with a Stanley knife and see if I can get it to fit.Doesnt bother me if I destroy the strap as Ive a few to practice with before I cut the one that matches.

Ill post pics later.

Anyone been aboe to make a call with it yet using BT headset?I just keep getting a message to check Bluetooth / mobile connection.
Strange one.

Hideki99235 · 16-05-2020 12:52am

I'm currently in the market for one. Any idea how well it works with an iPhone? With the health app etc. Cheers.

18-05-2020 12:51am

this is a great launcher / app organiser app that also features useful things like sticky app launch

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dyna.logix.bookmarkbubbles

(useful for apps so you can get back to where you were after screen timeout)

https://bubble.dynalogix.eu/sticky/

18-05-2020 12:55am

I've also checked the heart rate accuracy vs a chest strap and on my unit anyways it's actually much more accurate than I thought it would be.

it's usually within a few %, even at higher heart rates

due to the battery life though it's not the best sport tracker and most of the apps for doing same are pretty crap

this (beta) is probably the best option if you use heart rate

https://www.reddit.com/r/WearOS/comments/g7x6d2/wear_logger_updated/

(sends to google fit and strava)

20-05-2020 12:27am

Hellrazer wrote: »

So far Im quite impressed.
Definitely turn off the animations if you have one..makes it so snappy.
I got the 41mm one - straps are a little bit too skinny for my liking but I have a box of Bip straps here which are 19mm. Found a blue one that's identical to the Fossil strap and its not tapered - it looks like it would look quite good on the sport.. Im going to notch 1mm of one of them with a Stanley knife and see if I can get it to fit.Doesnt bother me if I destroy the strap as Ive a few to practice with before I cut the one that matches.

Ill post pics later.

Anyone been aboe to make a call with it yet using BT headset?I just keep getting a message to check Bluetooth / mobile connection.
Strange one.

did the bigger strap fit in? I plan on getting a 20mm silicone strap and cutting off a bit on each side.

listermint · 20-05-2020 11:44am

Anyone elses watch update like 2 times (firmware) and then like 3 WearOS updates.

Mine did that, also did a restore and cleardown once that was all done. Primarily to clear out any old cached OS remnants.

Very impressed with it so far. Some gripes include the letargic nature of Google Play and also Wear Cast. Can get a bit tetchy.

20-05-2020 11:52am

listermint wrote: »

Anyone elses watch update like 2 times (firmware) and then like 3 WearOS updates.

Mine did that, also did a restore and cleardown once that was all done. Primarily to clear out any old cached OS remnants.

Very impressed with it so far. Some gripes include the letargic nature of Google Play and also Wear Cast. Can get a bit tetchy.

yes it "settles down" after all the updates are done

it's not that laggy once they are all done.

pity that there is no way to Android Pay working

Hellrazer · 20-05-2020 12:05pm

glasso wrote: »

did the bigger strap fit in? I plan on getting a 20mm silicone strap and cutting off a bit on each side.

Nope- I trimmed it and it fits in and looks a lot better than the original but the "bar" on the 20mm is too long - it wont compress enough to go into the fossil. Id have to use the bar off the original strap but I dont want to make a complete mess of it and have no strap at all!!!
Im hoping I can find a cheap 18mm strap around somewhere and use teh bar off that but I havent gotten back to trying it yet.

mrcheez · 20-05-2020 3:05pm

Hellrazer wrote: »

Nope- I trimmed it and it fits in and looks a lot better than the original but the "bar" on the 20mm is too long - it wont compress enough to go into the fossil. Id have to use the bar off the original strap but I dont want to make a complete mess of it and have no strap at all!!!
Im hoping I can find a cheap 18mm strap around somewhere and use teh bar off that but I havent gotten back to trying it yet.

Jesus! Maybe should have gone for the 43mm?!

listermint · 20-05-2020 3:09pm

Hellrazer wrote: »

Nope- I trimmed it and it fits in and looks a lot better than the original but the "bar" on the 20mm is too long - it wont compress enough to go into the fossil. Id have to use the bar off the original strap but I dont want to make a complete mess of it and have no strap at all!!!
Im hoping I can find a cheap 18mm strap around somewhere and use teh bar off that but I havent gotten back to trying it yet.

i like the OEM strap tbh, i dont know what the problem is with it, neat comfortable durable.

Hellrazer · 20-05-2020 3:31pm

mrcheez wrote: »

Jesus! Maybe should have gone for the 43mm?!

There was none available when I ordered. Only the 41mm left.

Dont get me wrong. Im very impressed with the watch and I think its just that Im used to a wider strap - Ive been wearing it every day since I got it. Its not that big a deal - just thought Id try something out.

As for battery life - Im actually quite impressed. Im getting almost 2 full days from it.
Charged it Saturday @ 2.00,wifi off unless I need it, always on screen off,gps off unless I need it.
Everything else on.

Had 5% Battery at 6 am on Monday when I woke up.
Threw it on charge for 30 minutes before I left for work and that got me back up to 65%.
Installed the sleep tracker last night and had it at 100% before bed. Sleep drained about 22%
Didnt bother charging this morning and its now at 62% - app says 18 hours left.

Once you manage it properly you can easily get used to it.

ablelocks · 20-05-2020 6:10pm

sale30 no longer working? I've been ignoring this thread but should have put 2 and 2 together and got one of these for my brothers 40th.

he has a xaoimi android phone, if that makes any difference?

20-05-2020 6:41pm

deal is over.

the 41mm watch size is fine but the 18mm width on the strap is a bit on the thin side for a guy wearing it, especially as there is a taper in it

billybonkers · 20-05-2020 8:15pm

Hellrazer wrote: »

There was none available when I ordered. Only the 41mm left.

Dont get me wrong. Im very impressed with the watch and I think its just that Im used to a wider strap - Ive been wearing it every day since I got it. Its not that big a deal - just thought Id try something out.

As for battery life - Im actually quite impressed. Im getting almost 2 full days from it.
Charged it Saturday @ 2.00,wifi off unless I need it, always on screen off,gps off unless I need it.
Everything else on.

Had 5% Battery at 6 am on Monday when I woke up.
Threw it on charge for 30 minutes before I left for work and that got me back up to 65%.
Installed the sleep tracker last night and had it at 100% before bed. Sleep drained about 22%
Didnt bother charging this morning and its now at 62% - app says 18 hours left.

Once you manage it properly you can easily get used to it.

Which sleep app?

listermint · 21-05-2020 9:42am

glasso wrote: »

deal is over.

the 41mm watch size is fine but the 18mm width on the strap is a bit on the thin side for a guy wearing it, especially as there is a taper in it

have the 41mm and its oem strap, its not small. I am a guy. There is nothing wrong with it at all and it feels no different to any of my other watches in that regard. And i have some large face watches.

listermint · 21-05-2020 9:43am

billybonkers wrote: »

Which sleep app?

Search 'Sleep AS' in the app store on your phone. Install.

Then go to watch a few mins later and you should get notification of new app on phone and it asks you to install.

It cant be found in the Wear Store on the watch, must be from phone.

Hellrazer · 21-05-2020 10:24am

If you are using sleep as make sure to turn off the sound recording,sonar sensor and just use the accelerometer sensor. Drained only 15% last night with sleep tracking on.Thats quite good in anyones book.

21-05-2020 12:34pm

listermint wrote: »

have the 41mm and its oem strap, its not small. I am a guy. There is nothing wrong with it at all and it feels no different to any of my other watches in that regard. And i have some large face watches.

the strap feels fine and is not small for use.

just the width of the strap is a bit thin lookswise imo (and at least one other poster who also got the 41mm watch here agrees), especially with the taper.

this is personal preference.

I'm going to get a 20mm non-tapered silicone strap with 18mm spring bars and cut off 1mm on either side where it goes into the lugs with a craft knife.

mrcheez · 21-05-2020 3:56pm

What's this taper y'all are talking about?

My 43mm one goes to a point at the end too... like the one on the RHS in this image

Fossil Sport Smartwatch: £62.30

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