Folks looking for a useful smartwatch and not wanting to splash hundreds of dollars now have a new budget-friendly option on their hands. The latest Ticwatches from Chinese company Mobvoi offer all the functionality of Android Wear 2.0 at a price that seriously undercuts some big-name competitors.
Mobvoi actually debuted a US$99 smartwatch last year, but the catch was that it ran the company's own version of Android. Looking to tap into the expansive ecosystem that Android Wear 2.0 offers, it has now licensed Google's operating system and returned with a couple of new offerings.
The main difference between the Ticwatch S (Sport) and Ticwatch E (Express) is that the former hides the GPS antenna away inside the watch band, which is claimed to offer better accuracy. The Ticwatch E instead has it built into the body, but does feature replaceable bands.
Both models are IP67 water- and dust-resistant, and feature fitness tracking abilities to monitor things like heart rate, steps, calories burned and workout route mapping. Both also feature a 1.4-inch, 400 x 400 OLED display with batteries rated for 48 hours.
Big-name smartwatches running Android Wear 2 like the LG Watch Sport of the Huawei Watch 2 cost $300 and upwards, so the new Ticwatches may be of interest to those wanting the functionality of Google's OS at a friendlier price point.
And there seems to be plenty who fall into that camp. The Ticwatch S and E are currently the subjects of a Kickstarter campaign, where Mobvoi has raised a whopping $2,500,000 at the time of writing. An early pledge of $119 for the E or $139 for the S will have one headed your way in November if the campaign runs as planned.
You can check out the pitch video below.
Source: Kickstarter