Once upon a time, Fossil seemed more committed to Wear OS smartwatches than either Google or Samsung – but the company has now confirmed that it’s getting out of the smartwatch game, and won’t be making any more models.
The move was a “strategic decision” made in response to how the “smartwatch landscape has evolved significantly” Fossil spokesperson Amanda Castelli told The Verge. The relevant resources will now be redirected to “core segments” of the Fossil business.
This isn’t a huge surprise, as the last Fossil smartwatch – the Fossil Gen 6 – was launched in September 2021, and since then there haven’t really been any hints that a Gen 6 series of devices might be somewhere in the pipeline.
The Fossil spokesperson said that existing Fossil smartwatches will still be supported “for the next few years”, so if you already have one of these wearables on your wrist, you’re still going to be eligible for updates for the foreseeable future.
Your other options
While this isn’t an entirely unexpected development, it’s still something of a shame: Fossil was committed to keeping Android users supplied with smartwatch options long before the first Google Pixel Watch came along.
Fossil watches are typically very well built and stylishly designed, and its Wear OS options were no different. We were regularly impressed by the products, and Fossil also put out some interesting hybrid tech in the form of watches that were only half smart.
Now there won’t be any more Fossil smartwatches arriving – so if you’re in the market for a new Wear OS timepiece, you might want to check out our Google Pixel 2 review, our Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 review, or our Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic review.
If you own an iPhone then you’ll probably gravitate towards the Apple Watch 9 or the Apple Watch Ultra 2, though for pairing with both iPhones and Android devices the best Garmin smartwatches are also well worth a look too.
