Wear OS to get new budget smartwatch
Mobvoi has been busy launching smartwatches without Wear OS for the last six months, but fans of Google’s smartwatch platform will be pleased to hear a new TicWatch E3 is on the way.
The news has popped up over at XDA Developers, with a supposed picture of the device.
The device looks set to come hot-on-the-heels of the budget TicWatch GTH, its newly announced square-faced smartwatch with built-in SpO2 and skin temperature sensors. The health-focused budget smartwatch is also rolling out to more countries.
It looks slimmer and sleeker than the TicWatch E2, which had hefty plastic bezels and certainly wasn’t winning any awards for design.
The TicWatch E3 retains the pushers at the 2pm and 4pm positions, and we’d wager that it retains the same 47mm case, but expanded the screen size beyond the 1.39-inch of the E2.
Wear OS isn’t exactly inundated with planned new releases – although there’s plenty of rumors that could kickstart things.
A Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 with Wear OS has been repeatedly rumored, and now we have a sign there could be a Pixel Watch landing in October. These would be big flagships with large price tags.
So it’s good that we’ll see fresh meat at the affordable end. The TicWatch E2 retailed for $159 when it was launched in 2019, and it’s important that Wear OS has answers to the likes of Amazfit GTS 2e, OnePlus Watch and even TicWatch’s own GTH/GTX.