According to conversations between Fossil tech support and a Gen 5 customer, revealed on Reddit yesterday, Fossil will be releasing the new Gen 6 Smartwatch in July this year.
Fossil fans and industry analysts are hoping for a better upgrade this year since Fossil did not update the Gen 5 model in 2020.
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08/18/2021 – Latest update
Fossil Gen 6 images and specs were leaked this morning by WinFuture.de.
According to WinFuture.de’s info, the Gen 6 smartwatches will have a brighter 1.28-inch OLED display with a resolution of 416×416, compared to the AMOLED display on the Gen 5.
As expected the new watch will have the Snapdragon Wear 4100+ processor, along with 8GB of storage.
The battery life is expected to last up to 24 hours, and it should take about an hour to charge the watch fully. ( This is an area where the watch falls short severely, given that the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 provides up to 40 hrs of battery performance)
The Fossil Gen 6 will be available in two sizes; 42mm and 44mm according to the information revealed by the leaker.
We are expecting the new Fossil watches by the fall time.
Fossil Gen 6 Availability
Earlier details were posted on the r/wearOS sub.
Fossil Gen 6 Smartwatch, here’s what you can expect
Although it’s unclear as to what might be included in the new Gen 6 update from Fossil, based on rumors, we can speculate the following:
- The Fossil Gen 6 will finally adopt the Qualcomm 4100+ chipset as the main processor. Given that the 4100+ processor has been available for some time now, only a handful of wearOS based smartwatches has opted to include the faster and more efficient processor. This could change with the arrival of Fossil’s flagship Gen 6 smartwatch.
- Out of the box support for the latest wearOS update. Google has announced that it will be releasing a new wearOS update by the end of Spring. This would probably mean that when the Gen 6 watches are released in July, they will feature the latest wearOS update. Fossil is one of the smartwatch makers that is quick to absorb the wearOS updates.
- Although the company did not upgrade the hardware in 2020, it did roll out several software updates last year that provided additional health monitoring features to Fossil customers. Most notably, the August 2020 update provided users with the VO2 max tracking and sleep tracking. Given the competition on health monitoring, it will be important for both wearOS and Fossil to include new and better features.
- You can definitely expect battery life enhancements with the new Gen 6. The 4100+ chipset, along with software optimizations made by Fossil’s team and wearOS, is definitely going to increase the battery life for more than the 24 hrs that the smartwatch supports today.
- Lastly, one can expect LTE variants of the Fossil Gen 6 to release simultaneously when the main Gen 6 is released.
We will be closely following the Google I/O update coming up in May to see if Google sheds more light on the direction and advancements for wearOS.
As a Fossil user, are you planning to upgrade to the new Gen 6? What are some of the key considerations that you will be using to decide in favor of an upgrade? We would love to hear from you.
I had a Fossil Sport and adored it until the classic charging-ring-fell-off issue.
Sent it in for repairs, learned they no longer sell or repair the Sport, and was given credit towards a new watch.
Yesterday I excitedly brought home the gen 5E. I am NOT happy with it.
I’ll be returning it and waiting (impatiently) for the gen 6, hopefully, a 42mm version.
Thank you for this update, the post helped make the decision for me
I’d love to upgrade to the Gen 6 (I have a Gen 5 and loved it to start off with) but the problems with the charging rings coming off are a real hurdle to overcome.
I’d have to seriously consider my options if it remains the same.
I really think Fossil should move to a back like the Apple Watch which is completely enclosed to counter what seems to be a common problem with the watch.
But that conversation with tech support says July 2020, not 2021. Wouldn’t that mean the rumored date has long passed?
Hi DS,
No, we don’t think it’s delayed but rather the message was a typo for the year (pandemic makes 2020 seem like a lost year for many of us! Customer service reps included.) All signs point to this Summer (2021), even Fossil Store employees are talking about a release date of sometime this Summer or as late as September 2021.
In the past, Fossil released its smartwatch Gen series in August, on a yearly basis. However, the global pandemic disrupted that cycle so it’s possible that updates will be every two years moving forward.
Fossil did say that the new Google Wear OS 3.0 will feature on the Gen 6, and that all currently released watches will continue with the older wearOS and won’t be upgradable to the new operating system.
I would like to see if it will be compatible with Google Assistant and Google maps? Along with Receiving and placing Call’s!