Mobvoi's latest remix of the Pro 5 fails to address core issues, but battery life remains outstanding
The TicWatch Atlas is a very minor update to the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro, which itself was a very minor update to the TicWatch Pro 5. Mobvoi's design tweaks here make for a fun twist on its consistent theme of producing chunky, masculine watches, but the line-up is still crying out for a smaller edition or one with LTE. Thankfully, battery life remains a serious strong point, and tracking accuracy ensures this is a viable option for those who want broad overviews into activity, sleep, and health. The next update will have to be more considerable, given Wear OS rivals have bolstered their ranks this year, but the Atlas is still a solid alternative to consider.
Pros
- Looks and feels like a toned-down Casio
- AOD battery life remains clear of rivals
- Dual-display still a winner
Cons
- More reliable optical HR monitors elsewhere
- Insights lag behind Google and Samsung
- Still no LTE option, dual-band GNSS or smaller case size
If the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro was Mobvoi’s attempt at staying relevant amid the fanfare of Google and Samsung’s new releases, the TicWatch Atlas is the brand doubling down on that mission.
At least from a styling perspective, this latest release could appeal to those put off by the steep price of high-end smartwatches like the Galaxy Watch Ultra. The Atlas features the most masculine, ruggedized design in a Wear OS smartwatch at this price point—marginally better than the Enduro released this summer.
Yet, in typical Mobvoi style, there are very few software additions to get excited about here, and the same long-standing issues remain. The Atlas boasts the same brilliant battery life, clever LCD overlaid display, and Wear OS 4, but the occasions when this feels like a premium experience remain rare.
There’s still enough good going on to consider the Atlas, but it’s possible that Mobvoi could do with pushing the pause button on new releases until it can produce an upgrade that puts it on par with the top Android smartwatches.
Price and competition
At least at first glance, the price is one of the more alluring aspects of the TicWatch Atlas.
At $350/£329, it’s in the arc of other mid-range Wear OS smartwatches, with the bonus of some design specs and features that those watches don’t.
It’s an interesting tactic by Mobvoi. As I’ll detail in this review, it surpasses those household-name options under $400 in a couple of areas. But, ultimately, it can’t offer anything close to a top-end experience in hardware or software. So, its competition isn’t premium devices like the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra ($599).
Instead, as its price (but not styling) would suggest, the Atlas is still only comparable to something like the Galaxy Watch 7 ($299) or Pixel Watch 3 ($349), the latter of which we grade as comfortably the best watch for most Android users.
Perhaps even more than the TicWatch Pro 5 or Enduro, it gives those put off by the unisex, plain styling something else to consider.
Design and display
Aside from the Galaxy Watch Ultra, the Atlas is the most outdoor-ready design I’ve tested in a modern Wear OS watch.
When I first saw the bezel’s orange markers and jutted, ridged edge and crown, it conjured images of a G-SHOCK GBD-H2000 on a diet. Yet, when you have it in the hand, the Atlas isn’t hugely different from the Pro 5 or Pro 5 Enduro.
The sapphire crystal glass covering is carried over, as is the sand-blasted stainless steel case material. Like those predecessors, this is still a huge watch. Measuring 52.2 x 47.8 x 12.05mm and weighing over 80g, it’s certainly not for smaller (and perhaps even medium) wrists.
That’s been a consistent theme of Mobvoi’s latest smartwatches, and, at this point, it’s clear the brand isn’t too concerned with only appealing to those craving a masculine look. Part of that, I suspect, is the trade-off it would have to make with battery life (which I’ll come onto later).
Aside from the tweaks to the case, the main design differentiator from other Wear OS smartwatches—the twin low-power display and OLED panel—still shines, as on previous models.
It’s handy for glancing at heart rate zones in workouts, scrolling through metrics like calorie burn, and viewing the time without waking the full-color screen. Plus, the low-power display’s analog style only adds to the Atlas’ Casio-like feel.
I wish Mobvoi had gone a bit further here, perhaps using lightweight titanium for the case or a screen size other than 1.43 inches for the third watch in a row, but it’s hard to argue too much with what you get here for the price.
It lacks that top-end premium feel, as you would guess from the cost and materials, but the Atlas is still MIL-STD-810H certified (meaning it can withstand extreme temperatures, shocks, and exposure to dust or moisture) and water resistant to 5ATM.
The scratch-resistant display has also withstood outdoor workouts and gym sessions better than watches like the Pixel Watch 3.
Activity tracking
Two new features arrive alongside the Atlas, yet the core daily activity and sports tracking experience is identical to what I’ve tested with the previous two releases.
One is heat map tracking (available for sports like tennis, basketball, and soccer/football), which adds a bit of spice to profiles that are typically underserved compared to running and cycling.
TicMotion (auto-workout detection) will now also provide real-time stats on the low-power display before you confirm you’re working out, which we found a neat touch for passive workouts like walks we wouldn’t typically log.
But that’s about it. There’s no dual-frequency GPS, readiness insights, information on training load, ability to pair an external HRM with TicExercise, heart rate tracking algorithm updates, or an option to export workouts as GPX files.
That means my core takeaways are roughly the same as when I tested the Pro 5 and Pro 5 Enduro: the GPS consistently overreports outdoor workout distances, the HR tracking consistently underreports average and max figures in most sports profiles, and this isn’t a smartwatch that can help your training excel as well as other Android watches.
Heart rate monitoring accuracy
Outdoor cycling often causes issues for even the best optical heart rate monitors, but the Atlas had a particularly tough stretch during testing.
Over 70-80 miles of tracking across multiple workouts, it underreported HR anywhere between 15-50BPM, as shown above, while never getting close to matching maximum HR figures on any of those occasions.
This kind of performance is relatively typical in outdoor cycling due to the movement on the arm (so much so I tend to grade it as negligible and focus on running), but, for whatever reason, the Atlas had a disaster in those workouts compared to the Garmin HRM-Pro Plus chest strap.
However, it regained some trust in running and strength training sessions. Again, the tendency here is that it still underreports compared to test devices like the Garmin Fenix 8, Whoop 4.0, or that Garmin chest strap, but it was much more in line with the results of previous TicWatch devices.
Google is still the most consistent option in this area for Android users, and, as ever, an external HRM is the only real option for those serious about getting the best data.
GPS tracking accuracy
The Atlas isn’t capable of top-tier GPS tracking performance, but, like with other TicWatch devices, it’s good enough for a roundabout idea of distance covered.
In real-time on those cycling workouts, I consistently found the mile markers buzzing a few seconds before the Garmin Fenix 8 (using its class-leading Multi-Band GNSS mode). When looking at the post-workout data, it generally overestimates to around 10-15 meters per mile.
It’s nothing devastating, but those planning on logging long workouts will naturally feel this overreporting more. And considering these tests took place almost exclusively on the wide-open coastline, I don’t have much faith the Atlas would cope too well with dense areas like skyscraper villages or forests.
It’s disappointing, too, because an addition like dual-frequency GNSS could have helped make this a more viable upgrade (and given the Atlas a potential boost over the Pixel Watch 3, for which GPS tracking is still only okay).
Smart features
It was a bit of a surprise when Mobvoi announced its latest smartwatches would finally be making the leap to Wear OS 4 – a development that ensures the brand remains in touching distance of Google and Samsung’s features and security updates.
As I’ve detailed plenty of times, aligning Wear OS software updates with the bigger players is more of a signal of intent to the user base than about the new features. Google’s updates to its platform are nowhere near as consequential as Apple’s annual watchOS upgrades, and this jump up at least means the Atlas is capable of cloud backups and other minor features.
Plus, issues Pixel Watch 1/2 owners have experienced with the Wear OS 5 rollout show that being on the cutting edge also has downsides.
Aside from this, the day-to-day realities of using a Google-powered smartwatch remain the same.
There are plenty of Wear OS apps on hand to enrich the core experience, integration with Google services like Maps and Home is tight (even if not quite as good as on Wear OS 5, and there’s still curiously no room for Google Assistant here), and everything runs smoothly through the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chipset.
However, Mobvoi continues to omit a key smart feature: LTE.
Incredibly, this feature last appeared in the 2021 TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra. Not having the option to tack it on to a base model means that Mobvoi’s latest wares will continue to lag behind Google and Samsung in smarts and usability.
Health, sleep, and stress tracking
After mercifully addressing its bloatware issue through the Enduro, all the classic health and sleep tracking features are now much easier to digest. On top of a daily activity summary, TicHealth consolidates heart rate, blood oxygen, stress, and sleep summaries into one, scrollable place.
Like before, I’ve found no glaring issues with the accuracy of anything here. Blood oxygen readings can still plot the odd dodgy spot reading (as shown above), but overnight averages align with Whoop, Oura, and Garmin. The Atlas stayed within range of those gold-standard devices when registering asleep/wake times, too.
As with most elements of the TicWatch experience, I think there’s work to be done here to bridge the gap to Samsung or Google/Fitbit. The data is accurate, but you’ll have to spend ages sifting through the Mobvoi Health app to glean anything useful.
There are no check-ins on your vital signs or trends for areas like stress, meaning this experience remains more akin to Xiaomi’s Mi Fitness than a premier platform like Fitbit or Oura.
There is at least one new feature for the Atlas: fall detection.
However, in a relatively short space of time, this accidentally triggered twice for me – one after I stepped off a ladder and the other after a set of tricep extensions in the gym. I can’t argue much with Mobvoi’s decision to add a potentially life-saving feature, but my experience perhaps shows it needs a bit more tweaking before it can be relied on.
Battery life
Despite minimal upgrades in other areas, Mobvoi can still loosely offer the best battery life in a Wear OS smartwatch. I say ‘loosely’ because achieving close to the 90-hour estimate in ‘Smart Mode’ still relies on the low-power display operating the always-on setting.
Doing so isn’t a compromise in my book, given that it’s more functional than the typical dimmed AOD screen employed on rival watches, and you can still reach a comparable two-day life if you take the same full-time OLED approach.
In my three charging cycles with the Atlas, usage involved relatively heavy daily GPS tracking, all 24/7 tracking features enabled, consistent wrist raises, and that low-power ‘AOD’ screen in use. It consistently lasted around 75-85 hours (or a daily drain of around 30%) before the ‘Essential Mode’ kicked in and I placed it back on the charger.
That’s comparable to the Pro 5 and Enduro, which makes sense given the Atlas has the same 628mAh unit packed inside and—dare I say once again—almost nothing different from a software perspective.
It’s still Mobvoi’s ace in the hole. Yet, improvements are needed in future releases to ensure that remains true. Google’s bigger Pixel Watch can now comfortably last two days, and Samsung will no doubt improve efficiency in next year’s Ultra update to at least match the Pro 5, Enduro, and Atlas.