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Fossil’s first smartwatch based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform was launched today as the Fossil Sport, boasting an ultra-lightweight design and a wide range of color choices, some of which are now available for purchase online from the watchmaker’s official website. A few flavors are only available for pre-order as of this writing, but every variant carries the same price of $255, regardless of color and size. The Fossil Sport can be acquired in 41-millimeter or 43-millimeter sizes. Oddly enough, the announcement issued via BusinessWire mentions a total of six colors but the official website showcases seven flavors instead, with the addition of Smokey Blue Silicone aside from Blush, Black, Gray, Light Blue, Red, and Neon Silicone. The larger 43-millimeter model also seems to be more limited in terms of color choices, and can only be pre-ordered with a Black or Smokey Blue Silicone wrist strap.
Fossil entered the smartwatch market more than two years ago with the launch of the Fossil Q Founder, and since then the manufacturer continued to release new models powered by Google’s wearable software, including a direct Q Founder sequel, while also expanding the lineup with additional series. The Fossil Sport is another new entry in the company’s smartwatch portfolio, but its arrival was foreseen in September when Qualcomm introduced the Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform designed for Wear OS. At that time, it was confirmed that Fossil will be among the first smartwatch manufacturers to adopt the new platform, along with Louis Vuitton and Montblanc, the latter of which already introduced the Wear 3100-powered Summit 2 smartwatch in mid-October. As for Fossil Sport, the wearable features a handful of sensors including an altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope, and a heart rate sensor, all the while offering NFC, GPS, and Bluetooth connectivity. The wearable is compatible with smartphones running Android 4.4 Kit Kat or higher, sans Android Go, and the manufacturer claims that its battery should last for up to 24 hours on a single charge, or a total of three days if it’s being used exclusively with the battery saver watch mode enabled.
The Fossil Sport will be available in retail stores globally beginning with November 12. Starting with November 9 and ending on the 11th, the smartwatch will be showcased at a pop-up store in New York City, 138 Wooster St. between 10 AM and 7 PM, where visitors will have the opportunity to experience the product and all of its features first-hand. As the OEM’s first smartwatch powered by Qualcomm’s new Wear OS-optimized platform, the device should offer all of the benefits of the Snapdragon Wear 3100, including snappier performance and improved autonomy. Considering that Qualcomm’s previous Wear 2100 platform lasted for roughly two years, it’s safe to say that the Fossil Sport will not be the watchmaker’s last model to make use of this particular hardware.
