The first time I saw Fossil’s hybrid analog smartwatches was in the back room at IFA 2019. I had just seen a small army of smartwatches from Fossil — and every other designer brand under its umbrella. I remember feeling tired. Most of these watches were basically different flavors of the same smartwatch. But when a spokesperson showed me the Fossil Hybrid HR, I perked up. A hybrid smartwatch with an E Ink display? It’s been a rare sight since Pebble’s untimely end, and I was intrigued to see what it could do. Three years later, I have the Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid for $229 ($249 as tested), and while it retains the same DNA as the original, I can’t help but feel that Fossil has gotten ahead of itself.
The Gen 6 Hybrid retains the e-ink screen, customizable watch faces and basic fitness tracking. Its analog hands still cleverly move to the side when navigating the dashboard or reading notifications. It adds the ability to measure blood oxygen, a new heart rate sensor, Amazon Alexa, and a redesigned dashboard. Fossil’s companion app has also been updated – but just barely. And, uh, Fossil went in a slightly newer direction with the design.
Good things
- A more intuitive dashboard
- Improved heart rate sensor
- Customizable watch faces
Bad things
- Text can be difficult to read
- Heavier than previous versions
- Shorter battery life
- The new SpO2 and Alexa features don’t add much
- I could do with less glitter
Style can make or break a hybrid analog smartwatch, especially when compared to other wearables. Let’s put it this way: The Gen 6 Hybrid with a silicone strap costs the same as the Fitbit Versa 3, but doesn’t have a touchscreen or nearly as many features. That means you’re paying extra for style, so it better look the part. Fossil has previously made a strong case for paying a premium for a stylish hybrid counterpart. This time… not so much.
The watch comes in two versions: the 45mm Machine and the 41mm Stella. As soon as I unboxed my Stella review unit, I knew this watch was not for me. This is the watch I imagine Kim Kardashian wearing in a luxury perfume ad, her dark eyes piercing your soul as she whispers, “I have expensive taste.” It’s not that the watch is hideous; it’s more than the 150 hand-set Czech crystal pavés and the link bracelet exude ostentatious sparkle. I wish I could say I prefer the mechanical, but this watch has an overly masculine look with very aggressive serrations, which also didn’t suit my lifestyle. I also don’t like how the display looks so much smaller even though it’s the same size as its predecessors. Of course, this is my personal preference, and from looking at the SKUs, this is more of an issue with the Stella models than the Machine models.
For some reason the screen on the Gen 6 Hybrid looks smaller even though it’s the same size. From left: Withings ScanWatch, Fossil Hybrid HR, Skagen Jorn, Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid
What bothers me about Stella’s design is how it somewhat changes your style. Stella is for glamorous women and it’s too bad if you want a more versatile unisex design for everyday wear. This is disappointing: the original Fossil Hybrid HR and the Skagen Jorn (Skagen’s watch version) had more flexible case designs. You can get a pave setting or not. There’s only one non-pave version of Stella, and if it doesn’t suit your taste, you’re out of luck. Case in point: my husband would rather clean out the litter box than wear this Gen 6 Hybrid, but they wore my Hybrid HR review unit for a few weeks because it was lightweight and fit their fashion sense. And most importantly, the Gen 6 Hybrid is noticeably heavier than its two predecessors.
As a smartwatch, the Gen 6 Hybrid gives you all the basics—and some advanced features you might not expect. For example, you can set timers and stopwatches, check the time, ring your phone, view notifications, and control your music, but don’t expect to be able to answer texts or take calls from your wrist. That’s all you really need from a hybrid analog, but Fossil has also added Alexa and SpO2 spot checks to give the watch a little more charm. It’s great on paper, but in reality the new features don’t really add much.
The Gen 6 Hybrid has a new heart rate sensor and SpO2 sensors. Alexa is one of the new additions to the Gen 6 Hybrid. But you can also see how narrow the screen looks when reading notifications.
SpO2 monitoring—whether measured passively during sleep or on demand—is an increasingly common feature as more wearables focus on recovery and sleep. The Gen 6 Hybrid does the latter. Reading the clock is easy enough. You simply place your hand on a surface, stand still and wait. But during several of my attempts, the process was interrupted by notifications and I had to restart the process. My results were on par with a pulse oximeter, but that’s not really the reason I have this feature. (Reminder: you should never use smartwatches instead of a pulse oximeter for medical reasons. They are not licensed for this purpose and are not a diagnostic tool of any kind.) Passive monitoring of SpO2 during sleep can at least give you an idea of the breathing rate or if you often experience trouble breathing. There’s not much you can do with information from spot checks.
Meanwhile, adding Alexa is more of a party trick than a useful tool. It might be decent if you’re using Alexa to control your smart home, but it’s not as good as Google Assistant or Siri when it comes to answering queries. (It’s better than Samsung’s Bixby, but that’s a low bar.) The Gen 6 Hybrid also has a 0.94-inch display with a 254ppi resolution. Whatever answers you make barely fit on the display and are in the thinnest, smallest print in the world. And that’s if you get answers. Many times when I tried to use Alexa, I got a message that it couldn’t connect and that I had to move closer to my phone to try again. I was in the same room several times. That defeats the purpose of having a digital assistant on your wrist!
The circular dial reminds me of Samsung’s Galaxy watches. This makes navigating the menus much easier than before.
A more significant update is the simplified dashboard. It’s now a circular menu similar to what you see on Samsung’s Galaxy watches. This makes it much easier to scroll and find the function you want to use. I also appreciate that Fossil has made it clearer which button to press to return to a previous menu, start, stop or pause a workout, and return to the home screen. Navigating the Gen 6 Hybrid’s menus can be a pain compared to the Apple Watch, but it’s a notable improvement over previous versions.
The E Ink display hasn’t changed much, which means it still has the same issues as its predecessors. The refresh rate is similar to the Kindle, which is to say slow for a smartwatch. This makes reading your notifications a little tedious, as you have to scroll down, wait a bit for the screen to refresh, and then repeat the process two seconds later. The small font size also makes it impossible to read metrics during exercise. I appreciate that the E Ink doesn’t cause as much eye strain, but I wish the notifications were more readable as well.
The Gen 6 Hybrid also has the same fitness tracking issues as previous models. Although heart rate tracking was within five beats per minute of my Apple Watch Series 7, it’s not a good tool for heart rate zone training. Again, E Ink’s refresh rate is not suitable for real-time activity tracking. Likewise, distance tracking is unreliable. On a 2.08-mile walk recorded by my Apple Watch, the Gen 6 Hybrid logged 1.5 miles. On a 3-mile run, the Series 7 logged 3.0 miles, my running app logged 3.02 miles, and the Fossil watch logged 3.8 miles. I expected less accuracy since the Gen 6 Hybrid relies on your phone’s GPS to record your runs. But as you can see, my run results were drastically different on my phone and my watch. (However, both recorded accurate route maps. Judge.) Sleep tracking was generally accurate, but I didn’t get much context beyond sleep stages and duration.
Normally, I’d say results like these are deal breakers, but that’s not the case here. No one expecting detailed fitness tracking should buy a watch like this. Personally, I would never run or train with this watch except for testing purposes. Not only is cleaning skin crust and sweat off stainless steel links rough, but it’s also too heavy to handle. This watch is much more suited to overall health and ensures that you put in your steps. The Gen 6 Hybrid is a smartwatch that can track fitness, but it’s not built to track fitness.
You can easily customize your watch face in the Fossil Smartwatches app. I chose a photo of my dog.
More disappointing is the shortened battery life of the Gen 6 Hybrid. You get an estimated week on a single charge, while the Hybrid HR and Skagen Jorn get about two weeks. I’m not sure why this is, but it probably has to do with the new features and sensors. Of course, battery life always depends on usage. It’s been over a week since I loaded the Gen 6 Hybrid and I still have over 70…
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