Qualcomm just took the wraps off its new Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chipset which could be the processor that Wear OS has been waiting for, and we already know of two exponents of the wearable platform that are developing smartwatches powered by the new silicon. In Qualcomm's press release for the new wearable chip, it was stated that Mobvoi aims to announce its new TicWatch during this Fall while Oppo will announce its new Watch 3 series in August.
While other brands such as Fossil could jump on board the Snapdragon W5+Gen 1 platform at a later date, it's great to see Mobvoi and Oppo commit to using the new chip. We have Oppo's statement embedded below:
“The announcement of the latest Snapdragon W5 wearable platform will bring smart wearable technology to a new level,” said Franco Li, OPPO Associate Vice President, President of IoT Business. “OPPO and Qualcomm Technologies have closely collaborated for a long time, creating new possibilities of product innovation together. The Oppo Watch 3 series will be launched in August. As the first smartwatch powered by Snapdragon W5 wearable platform, it will delight our users with better performance.”
OPPO
Mobvoi is taking a little longer with its development of the next TicWatch flagship but the fall isn't exactly a lightyear away. Mobvoi's CEO stated the following about the upcoming Wear OS smartwatch which (we think) will almost certainly be called the TicWatch Pro 4:
“Mobvoi has collaborated with Qualcomm Technologies over the last few years to launch a series of TicWatch smartwatches based on the Snapdragon Wear platforms,” said Zhifei Li, CEO, Mobvoi. “Our team is excited about the differentiated features in the new Snapdragon W5+ Wearable Platform and has been working closely with the Qualcomm Technologies’ team to bring these innovations to life in our next gen TicWatch flagship smartwatch. We are eager to launch our latest offering this Fall and are thrilled to be the first smartwatches based on the Snapdragon W5+ Gen1 Wearable Platform.”
While I'm hugely excited about both Mobvoi's and Oppo's upcoming smartwatches, I would probably edge towards the ‘TicWatch Pro 4' due to the likelihood of it continuing to feature a dual display which would enhance battery life even more.
