May 11, 2024
The Mobvoi Ticwatch Pro 5 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, showing different watch faces.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional (left) and Mobvoi Ticwatch Professional 5 Andy Boxall / Digital Tendencies

After reviewing the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional, I made a decision to swap instantly to the Mobvoi Ticwatch Professional 5. The explanation was easy: till the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional got here alongside, the most recent Ticwatch was my private high Android smartwatch and the very best performer you can get. I needed to search out out if may retain this title, as I’d actually liked sporting the Watch 6 Traditional.

I’m every week into sporting the Ticwatch Professional 5, I’ve discovered a lot, and — crucially — I believe my total opinion about which one among these smartwatches I’d personally purchase has modified.

The Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional’s consolation is off the charts

A person wearing the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic.
Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional Andy Boxall / Digital Tendencies

You get probably the most quantity of profit from a smartwatch in the event you put on all of it day and in a single day. However to do that, not solely does the performance must make it worthwhile, however the smartwatch must be comfy. Actually comfy. Between these two, I’m completely certain solely the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional offers true 24/7 wearability with out compromise.

The Ticwatch 5 Professional’s strap is guilty. It’s a floppy, rubbery factor that doesn’t look very good and feels even worse. It will get scorching and sweaty throughout the day, not to mention at evening, and I often find yourself taking the watch off mid-evening as a result of it’s annoying. It lacks breathability and, for me personally, is both too free or too tight. It’ll fluctuate from individual to individual, however I don’t suppose it’s ok on a smartwatch that prices $349 — the identical because the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional.

The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 on a person's wrist.
Mobvoi TicWatch Professional 5 Andy Boxall / Digital Tendencies

Maybe I’m too explicit about wearables and straps, however I don’t suppose so, as after they’re well-designed, I’ve no downside with sporting them on a regular basis. The Apple Watch Sequence 8 with the Sport Loop band is an efficient instance, and the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional is one other. I fortunately wore my Watch 6 Traditional evaluate mannequin in the course of my time with it and by no means had any must take it off resulting from consolation points.

The hybrid design with an eco-leather high, a rubber underside, twin keepers, and simply the correct amount of flexibility removes irritation — making it easy to get the precise match. It’s not simply among the finest smartwatch straps I’ve worn, it’s among the finest watch straps of any kind I’ve worn. I believe the best way it suits in with the lugs makes a distinction right here too, and the Ticwatch Professional 5’s large 24mm strap dimension offers you much less selection if you wish to change it for one thing else.

Samsung succeeds with its selection of supplies, too, with the stainless-steel case, sapphire crystal, and ceramic case again feeling top quality and costly. The Ticwatch Professional 5 can’t compete and even has a plastic case again, which actually lets it down. The Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional is available in a lovely polished stainless-steel end and a relatively plain black, whereas Mobvoi has launched a brand new Sandstone shade lately for the Ticwatch Professional 5. There’s a selection of case sizes with the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional, which you don’t get with the Ticwatch.

The Ticwatch Professional 5 is so quick

The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 on a person's wrist, showing the menu.
Ticwatch Professional 5 Andy Boxall / Digital Tendencies

Whereas I’m very happy sporting the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional all day, after we flip to efficiency, the Ticwatch Professional 5 is way sooner and extra fluid, and I put all of it right down to the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 processor. The Mobvoi smartwatch is the primary — and nonetheless the one mannequin — to make use of Qualcomm’s chip, and it actually impressed me once I reviewed it initially.

Its ultra-fast, tremendous easy efficiency can put the Exynos W930 chip within the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional to disgrace at instances. Whereas it’s positively not sluggish, it does stutter greater than I believe a smartwatch launched right now ought to, and it’s not fairly as immediately reactive because the Ticwatch both. The Qualcomm chip offers the Ticwatch Professional 5 a fluidity I often affiliate with the Apple Watch, and that’s very excessive reward certainly.

The Ticwatch Professional 5’s battery life is wonderful

The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 on a person's wrist, showing the backlit secondary screen.
Ticwatch Professional 5 Andy Boxall / Digital Tendencies

I’ve been sporting the Ticwatch Professional 5 for 4 days now, and though I haven’t tracked my sleep as a result of consolation, I’ve had all-day well being monitoring energetic and have tracked a few exercises too. The battery has an astonishing 50% remaining. That is very good effectivity, and the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional can’t get shut. I’d have recharged it at the least as soon as already.

A variety of the Ticwatch’s lengthy battery life comes from the second display, which overlays the conventional full-color display with a easy LCD to indicate the time and different info. It’s the best answer to not wanting a black display in your wrist and in addition not desirous to sacrifice battery life on the identical time. Not having to fret about charging the Ticwatch Professional 5’s battery for every week at a time (with regular use) is a large deal, I simply want it was extra comfy to put on for longer durations.

The Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional’s rotating bezel beats the crown each time

A person wearing the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic.
Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional Andy Boxall / Digital Tendencies

The bezel rotates to make it simpler to navigate screens and menus on the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional, and the crown rotates on the Ticwatch Professional 5 to do the identical factor. The bezel is extra ergonomic, simpler to regulate, and extra pure to make use of than the crown, which is a bit more fiddly and fewer accessible. It could simply be me, however I don’t like typically catching the hairs on my arm once I twist the crown both, one thing that doesn’t occur with the bezel.

I’ve discovered I simply use the touchscreen extra on the Ticwatch Professional 5 because it tends to be sooner, however I often used the bezel on the Watch 6 Traditional. There’s nothing flawed with Mobvoi’s rotating crown, which is accompanied by some pleasing haptic suggestions, however I are likely to solely trouble with it once I scroll by way of messages. The Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional’s bezel is extra usually helpful.

The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 on a person's wrist, showing the side button.
Ticwatch Professional 5 Andy Boxall / Digital Tendencies

The rotating bezel additionally makes the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional distinctive. It’s a Samsung-only characteristic within the smartwatch world, which made it ridiculous the corporate didn’t trouble to make use of it final 12 months, and its design and operation have been refined for its return. That stated, I just like the Ticwatch Professional 5’s bezel design, and it’s actually much less outstanding than the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional’s, however Samsung has labored exhausting to make it a cool design characteristic along with its helpful performance.

Put on OS 3 is nice whatever the watch, however nonetheless not good

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic and the Samsung Health app.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional and Samsung Well being Andy Boxall / Digital Tendencies

Google’s Put on OS 3.5 is put in on the Ticwatch Professional 5, whereas it’s Put on OS 4 on the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional. Each have barely completely different appearances and design components, however beneath it’s the identical software program. Samsung’s One UI Watch 5 is superb, full of colourful Tiles and buttons that are straightforward to faucet, and it’s all the time apparent what they do. The Mobvoi UI is a bit more cluttered and fewer finger pleasant.

Put on OS is significantly better than it was throughout the darkish days when variations of Put on OS 2 have been all we had. But it surely appears Put on OS 4 is much less dependable than model 3.5, because the Ticwatch Professional 5 has constantly been higher at receiving notifications, and the soundness has been faultless. The identical can’t be stated for the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional. However I want the design and logic of the Samsung Well being app over Mobvoi Well being, which isn’t as attractively designed or as user-friendly.

The Mobvoi Ticwatch Pro 5 and the Mobvoi Health app.
Mobvoi Ticwatch Professional 5 and Mobvoi Well being Andy Boxall / Digital Tendencies

It might be straightforward to complain that the Ticwatch hasn’t obtained a Put on OS 4 replace but, however I’d be pleased to attend for model 4.5 and let Google squash the bugs I assume are a part of the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional’s downside, and enhance reliability. For now, the Ticwatch Professional 5 doesn’t make me marvel if I’ve missed a message or name, however the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional does. It’s irritating that Put on OS continues to be such a hit-or-miss affair, and I do marvel if the selection of processor has one thing to do with how every watch’s software program reliability too.

In the mean time, based mostly on the software program model I used with the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional, the Ticwatch Professional 5 has the extra dependable, smoother, sooner, and fewer irritating model of Put on OS, however the design and operation aren’t as logical as Samsung’s person interface. Put on OS 3 is much less fragmented than earlier than — just one app is required, and setup is less complicated than ever — however the capability to customise the UI introduces its personal issues, it doesn’t appear to be absolutely optimized for the varied platforms accessible, and model updates nonetheless appear to carry again all these annoying Put on OS frustrations that ought to have been solved years in the past.

Ticwatch Professional 5 or Galaxy Watch 6 Professional?

The side and bezel on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional Andy Boxall / Digital Tendencies

It has been very tough to return to a conclusion and resolve which one among these two smartwatches I’d purchase over the opposite. Each are undoubtedly the very best Android smartwatches I’ve utilized in years, with few compromises or severe downsides. They’re additionally significantly better purchases than the flawed Google Pixel Watch, which prices across the identical.

It’s a good break up of positives and negatives. The Mobvoi Ticwatch Professional 5 has longer battery life, a superb second display, sooner and smoother efficiency, and extra dependable software program. The Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional is way extra comfy, is produced from greater high quality supplies, has a extra logical app, and an exquisite rotating bezel. It’s a really powerful name between them.

The side and bezel on the Mobvoi Ticwatch Pro 5.
Mobvoi Ticwatch Professional 5 Andy Boxall / Digital Tendencies

Nevertheless, there’s one main profit to choosing the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional over the Ticwatch Professional 5, and that’s the selection of case dimension. One dimension doesn’t match all, and Samsung’s consideration on this space offers it the benefit over the Ticwatch Professional 5, as there’s a stronger likelihood it’ll go well with extra wrists and tastes. The 47mm Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional is strictly proper for me.

I’ve worn each these smartwatches for a number of weeks mixed, and would now select the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional because the one I’d put on long-term. None of its points are deal breakers, and software program updates ought to enhance it over time, however personally, I’d all the time relatively prioritize consolation over battery life. If you happen to would like to swap these two elements round, the excellent news is the Ticwatch Professional 5 is a particularly shut second to the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional and nonetheless a high purchase. However, for me at the least, it’s the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional that can stay on my wrist.

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