CES 2016: Fossil's fifth wearable and it's just getting started...
Fossil has officially announced the Q54 Pilot, the company’s third smartwatch and fifth wearable as it continues its push its fashionable line of connected devices.
More Q Grant than Q Founder, the Pilot takes a more subtle approach to adding its smart powers, so there’s no touchscreen and you can’t read phone notifications.
Instead, it relies on a built-in vibration motor to give you a nudge when notifications are received and series of coloured LEDs to know who the notification is from. It also packed in motion sensors to double as an activity tracker to track steps, distance and calories burned.
Essential reading: The best Android Wear watch
Where it won’t let you down is styling. Fossil says it has used the same watch case that features on its original Pilot 54 analogue watch and has a design that’s “inspired by vintage aviation”.
It’ll pair with iPhones and Android phones although we hope Fossil manages to address some of the issues we’ve had pairing its wearables with the smartphones running on Google’s operating system.
The Fossil Q app is in line for a refresh with promises of improved activity tracking, the ability to choose from three different types of vibration alerts and the ability to add photos to the profile section. You’ll still be able to participate in Fossil’s daily Curiosity challenges and you can read our Fossil Q Reveler review to find out exactly what we thought of those.
App support for its Q Notifications is set to grow as well with the likes of Misfit and Tinder growing the number of apps you can send filtered notifications from up to 50.
Fossil plans 100 wearables for 2016
The Q45 Pilot won’t be the last of the Fossil wearables we see this year with the company promising to launch more than 100 connected devices before the end of the year.
It will largely be made up of smartwatches and activity trackers plus whatever innovative stuff Misfit comes up with and it has a pretty impressive list of fashionable brands under its wing to turn smart including Armani, DKNY, Karl Lagerfeld, Diesel and Michael Kors.
It’s already announced that it’s going to offer its Q Dreamer activity tracker in two new looks with Tortoiseshell and Shimmer Horn models on the way for the Summer.
Clearly Fossil has struck up a good relationship with its tech partner Intel and it of course snapped up Misfit last year as well, so we might not have to wait too long before we see our first Armani or Michael Kors smartwatch.
If you want to grab the Q54 Pilot smartwatch, it’s up for grabs in Spring 2016 and is set to cost between $175 and $215 depending on which band you go for. The new Dreamer models will be available for $145.