People are often undecided between buying an analogue watch or a full-blown smartwatch. If you’re on the fence, and want a bit of both, the Fossil Hybrid HR deserves your attention. It recently went on sale in India at an MRP of Rs 14,995.
On the surface, the Hybrid HR looks like an analogue watch with the hour and minute hands and three buttons flanking it on the right.
Beneath it, there is an E-ink display that shows smartphone notifications. There’s also a built-in heart rate monitor that lets you track your fitness activities. It supports both Android and iOS devices through the Fossil Hybrid app.
The hybrid watch has five dial options, and comes in leather, silicone, and stainless steel straps. The watch straps are easily interchangeable. We tested the black silicone strap version for about two weeks. Let’s find out if it’s worth the Rs 14,995 price tag.
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Design and display
The Hybrid HR isn’t heavy and doesn’t weigh down your wrist, but it cannot be called lightweight either. For someone with a smaller wrist, the dial might pose some problems. The watch is 13mm thick and 42mm in diameter.
Fossil has prided itself on its design, and the Hybrid HR continues that tradition. Despite the big dial, the circular watch face is quite small. The e-paper screen is surrounded by a ring that houses the hour indicators.
The screen displays four types of information that Fossil calls complications. You can switch from one to the other. Notifications displayed by the screen include calorie count, time zones, weather alerts, battery status, etc. The three buttons on the right allow you to change watch modes - workout mode, wellness dashboard (showing fitness stats), stopwatch, timer, weather, and commute time.
You can also change the background of the E-ink display, and add photos from your phone gallery. While this is easy, it takes well over four minutes to change the watchface.
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Notifications and tracking
Sometimes, when using a traditional watch, the information is hard to read or is altogether blocked by the minutes and hours hands. Fossil has offered a solution to that.
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But the screen is so tiny that you have to scroll down for longer notifications. That’s when things get annoying because the refresh rate is excessively slow. In such cases, you might want to pull out your smartphone, instead.
The Hybrid HR displays notifications from all apps and that is the best part about this watch. But, what you cannot do is reply to them.
In two weeks of testing, we used the Hybrid HR alongside the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4G. The former surprised us with its fitness tracking ability. It is no Fitbit or Garmin, but it’s quite high up in the smartwatch ladder. Steps and heart-rates were also tracked accurately, but the sleep tracker could be a bit better.
Verdict: Is it worth your money?
The Hybrid HR is a beautiful watch, especially if you love traditional watches.
But, if you are looking for a proper smartwatch, there are some limitations, mainly with the small e-ink display. The device, however, has a fantastic battery life. It’s rated for two weeks (higher than average) and will easily last you 12 days.
If wearing comfort is your top concern, then you might consider this product.
But, if you want a lot more out of a smartwatch, you can dish out a bit more and get the FitbitVersa 2 or the Galaxy Watch/Galaxy Watch Active 2.