Tag Archives: Smartwatch

Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw (MKT5133) Wear OS Smartwatch Review: Flashy Smarts

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There still exists a strong divide between smartwatches and traditional mechanical or digital wrist watches. Tech companies such as Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi have developed feature-filled, capable smartwatches and fitness trackers that are accessible to people the world over, and this has naturally shrunk the market for traditional wristwatches. Few traditional brands have been willing to adapt to the need for modern devices. However, one traditional wristwatch maker that has put in exactly this kind of effort is Fossil.

American company Fossil Group licenses and manufactures wristwatches and smartwatches under various familiar fashion brands apart from its own, including Armani, Diesel, and Michael Kors. The latest product from the company in India is the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw smartwatch, which is priced at Rs. 24,995 onwards. Powered by Google’s Wear OS, is this designer smartwatch the best you can buy for less than Rs. 30,000? Find out in this review.

The crown of the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw controls power and voice assistant functionality, and can also be turned to scroll

 

Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw design

Most smartwatches tend to look a certain way, and are designed around comfort since you need to have them on your wrist practically all day long to track steps, heart rate, and sleep. Of course you need to be able to check and respond to notifications as well. Such watches usually come with rubber straps, for a snug and comfortable fit. Unlike them, the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw looks and feels just like a traditional mechanical dress watch, with a large metal casing and dial, metal link watch strap, and a crown and buttons on the right. Indeed, many people who saw the watch on my wrist commented that they did not think it was a smartwatch at first glance.

The Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw is available in a single 44mm dial size, and four colours – two-tone (dull gold and silver), rose gold, gold glitz, and rose gold glitz. The price of the smartwatch in India starts at Rs. 24,995 and goes up to Rs. 32,495, depending on the finish you choose. The two-tone and rose gold variants are the lowest priced.

Although Fossil’s marketing suggests that the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw is a women’s smartwatch and the rose gold review unit that was sent to me was quite eye-catching, I didn’t feel awkward wearing it, and I think it can be worn by anyone regardless of gender.

That said, the metal strap and casing of the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw makes it somewhat too heavy to wear all day, and I found it uncomfortable to wear while sleeping or working out. This isn’t a problem I have with traditional smartwatches such as the Apple Watch.

The metal strap also meant that I couldn’t get a snug fit, and so the gap between the sensor and my wrist interfered with the effectiveness of the heart rate and SpO2 sensors. It is possible to replace the 22mm strap on the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw with an aftermarket option, but that would change its whole look and take away from its formal and sophisticated design.

The Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw smartwatch has a 1.28-inch round AMOLED display, and Bluetooth 5 for connectivity with the source device. Powering the device is the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100+ processor, with 8GB of internal storage. There is an optical sensor at the bottom for heart rate and SpO2 readings. It also has built-in GPS and Wi-Fi connectivity, plus other key sensors such as an accelerometer, compass, altimeter, ambient light sensor, and pedometer.

The circular AMOLED screen has an ‘always-on’ mode for watch faces

 

The touchscreen can be used for for navigation, and there’s also the crown which controls power and Google Assistant through long-presses, opens the app drawer or goes to the home screen with a short press, and scrolls through menus when rotated. The two buttons on the side can be customised to open certain apps or perform certain functions. To go back a step, you need to swipe from left to right on the screen.

The built-in speaker and microphone on the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw let you use it for voice commands and phone conversations when connected as a wireless ‘headset’ using Bluetooth. This also allows for audible alerts when receiving notifications. The smartwatch is rated 5 ATM for water resistance, and charges using a magnetic charger which is included in the box.

Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw software, interface, and app

Like other smartwatches from the Fossil Group, the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw runs on Google’s Wear OS operating system. Usefully, this doesn’t mean compatibility is limited to Android. Wear OS has companion apps that allow it to work with iOS as well, and the smartwatch can work as a standalone device to some extent, too.

The Wear OS app on Android or iOS handles the connection between the smartwatch and your smartphone that’s paired using Bluetooth. Wi-Fi connectivity allows it to function even when it isn’t connected to the smartphone, for tasks such as updating its firmware or specific apps, or to fetch data from select apps, when you’re within range of a known network.

I used the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw smartwatch paired with a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ (Review), and connection stability wasn’t a problem for the most part. A key advantage with Wear OS is that notifications are synced with your smartphone. You’ll get notifications on your watch for all apps that are allowed to show them on your phone, and disabling notifications for a particular app on your phone also ensures they won’t appear on the watch.

Wear OS is a fully functional platform for smartwatches, with its own version of the Google Play Store and native Google apps such as Keep, Maps, Translate, and YouTube Music, to name a few. You can install more apps through the Google Play store. Popular options available for Wear OS include Spotify, Microsoft Outlook, and Shazam.

The sensor at the bottom of the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw is used for heart rate and SpO2 tracking

 

Although certain aspects of the operating system can be customised by manufacturers including the watch faces and some of the pre-installed apps, the core experience is stock Wear OS, including the settings and app menus, notifications, Google apps, and Google Fit for fitness tracking and data analysis. I quite like the general look and feel of Wear OS, particularly the notification shade and app drawer, which are similar to their look on Android smartphones.

Watch faces are a major customisation factor on Wear OS smartwatches; the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw has a good number of preinstalled options that go well with the aesthetic of the watch and are in keeping with the Michael Kors brand image in general. The watch faces have bright colours, conspicuous logos, and catchy animations.

Impressively, there are around 70 Michael Kors watch faces available to use, all of which are well designed, and many of which have customisable complications. Switching between watch faces that are already stored on the watch is quick and easy, while the others can be selected and transferred to the watch from the Wear OS app.

Google Assistant is supported on the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw, and works as expected. The built-in speaker is used for relaying verbal responses and playing sounds, and the screen provides visual prompts or information. On-device functions such as the setting of timers and alarms worked fine, but I strangely wasn’t able to place calls from the watch with voice commands – Google Assistant just stated it was unable to do so.

The Michael Kors Access app on the smartwatch allows some customisation, such as accessing social media, selecting and syncing new watch faces, and more. However, I found the app to be slow and clunky, with many functions either taking too long or not working at all. You won’t miss much if you ignore this app entirely, since most of its key functions can be accessed through the Wear OS companion app on your smartphone.

Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw performance and battery life

Much like other premium smartwatches such as the Apple Watch series and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw is designed to be an everyday wristwatch. The traditional watch-like design and second-screen functionality form the core of the usage experience with this device, but there are some fitness and health-related features too.

The metal strap on the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw looks great, but this means that the smartwatch isn’t comfortable enough to wear all day

 

That said, my experience with its health and fitness tracking functionality wasn’t too good. Heart rate tracking was accurate when compared to the readings from an Apple Watch Series 5 and a medical-grade pulse oximeter when sitting still. However, if measured while moving around, the loose fit meant that readings were all over the place, often much higher than my actual heart rate. SpO2 readings on the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw were quite inaccurate too when compared to the pulse oximeter, and this wearable often either took too long or failed to produce a reading altogether.

When tracking steps while walking and manually counting to 1,000, the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw detected 1,051 steps – an error margin of around five percent. Over a longer workout, the Gen 6 Bradshaw detected around 1,045 steps per 1,000 that the Apple Watch showed when both were worn simultaneously.

Distance estimation indoors, without GPS active, was oddly lower than that of the Apple Watch despite the Michael Kors device counting more steps; it estimated a distance of 1.02km when the Apple Watch detected 1.1km. Outdoors, with GPS active, the watch measured 1.04km for a walk that Google Maps estimated to be just under 1km. GPS tracking was a bit iffy, and this device sometimes didn’t lock on to a GPS signal despite being outdoors and under clear skies.

The Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw does somewhat make up for these shortcomings with decent sleep tracking, and by functioning well as a smartwatch. Notifications were pushed in a timely manner and were easy to read and react to quickly. Information was clear and concise, and Google’s Find My Device functionality worked well, among other things. Although not quite as seamless and smooth as an Apple Watch, the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw does objectively perform well and works without any significant or glaring issues.

You can also use the device as a handsfree speakerphone for calls using Bluetooth connectivity. Audio wasn’t very loud because of the small speaker on the watch, and the microphone wasn’t exceptional either, but this is a useful feature to have on a smartwatch for occasionally answering calls if you’re unable to pick up your smartphone.

Battery life on the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw was quite poor, even for a full-featured smartwatch such as this. With basic use that didn’t involve GPS connectivity or the speakerphone functionality, I was unable to get even a full day’s worth of battery life. The device discharged its fully-charged battery in around 13-14 hours even with a static watch face. With workout tracking and a few short calls, the battery level dropped even quicker, forcing me to charge this device at least twice a day.

Verdict

Most smartwatches look like, well, smartwatches. From big rectangular screens to animated watch faces, many models simply aren’t trying to pass off as traditional watches. Many premium smartwatches don’t look old-school enough for some people, and that’s where the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw comes in. It has all the charm and style of a mechanical wrist watch, while offering modern smarts and functionality. This is a good-looking smartwatch that won’t feel out of place even with formal clothes.

However, there are some big drawbacks to the Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw, including iffy fitness and health tracking, and sub-par battery life. It doesn’t quite deliver the ‘wear-all-day’ smartwatch experience that you can expect with devices such as the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch. Instead, consider this something you might want to grab for a few hours a day when you’re out and about.

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Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid Smartwatch Review: The Best of Both Worlds

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Modern premium smartwatches are incredibly complex and feature-filled, but they tend to be quite disappointing when it comes to battery life. With even premium devices such as the Apple Watch series offering just about a day or so of battery life, many may want to avoid such devices in order to not have to deal with charging another gadget every day. There’s also the problem of the design of most smartwatches, which tend to look a bit bland; it’s essentially a screen on your wrist, devoid of the classic styling and mechanical engineering that goes into a traditional wristwatch.

That’s where hybrid smartwatches come in. Touted as a combination of smart functionality and old-school charm, a hybrid smartwatch brings together the best of both types of watches, along with the promise of far better battery life than the typical premium smartwatch. The smartwatch I’m reviewing today, the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid, is exactly that.

Priced at Rs. 18,495 onwards in India, the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid has an E Ink display, health and fitness tracking capabilities, Alexa voice assistant function, and a claimed battery life of up to two weeks. Is this hybrid smartwatch the way forward for aesthetic-conscious buyers with a mid-range budget? Find out in this review.

The Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid has three physical buttons for controls and navigation

 

Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid Smartwatch price and variants

Fossil has launched the Gen 6 Hybrid smartwatch range in two variants — Machine (45mm) and Stella (41mm). Apart from the obvious difference in size between the Machine and Stella, the design also tends to make the former better suited for men, and the latter better suited for women.

Both variants are available in multiple colour and strap options, including silicone, leather, and stainless steel. Regardless of the variant, options with a silicone or leather strap are priced at Rs. 18,495, while those with the steel strap cost just a bit more at Rs. 18,595. The black Machine Gen 6 Hybrid with the stainless steel mesh strap was sent to me for this review.

Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid Smartwatch design

Like most hybrid smartwatches, the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid has an analogue timekeeping system, with mechanical hour and minute hands. However, it’s worth pointing out that they aren’t entirely mechanical as the time is set by synchronising with a smartphone, and the hands themselves move around to assist the ‘smart’ functionality of the watch.

There is no seconds hand, and no crown either. The part that looks like a crown is in fact a regular physical button that does not rotate. There are two more buttons above and below the centre one of the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid, which are used for navigation, and can be set to quickly open specific functions from the home screen. The left side of the watch has a microphone, which can be used for voice commands.

The smart functionality on the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid smartwatch is carried out through an E Ink display under the hands. This power-friendly display is what gives this smartwatch better battery life than devices with full colour screens, and is also a lot easier on the eyes. However, this display not backlit, which means that it isn’t legible in darkness unlike watches with backlit displays, but double-tapping on the glass activates lights that illuminate the display for five seconds. I found that I needed to tap the glass quite hard to activate the lights.

You can give voice commands to Alexa on the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid, with responses appearing as on-screen text

 

In the past, numerous complaints about issues of fogging under the glass have been raised in the older versions of the Fossil Hybrid smartwatch series. However, I didn’t encounter these issues even in humid monsoon weather, or when stepping out from an air-conditioned car, so it seems that Fossil has addressed these concerns with the Gen 6 Hybrid.

The black colour of my review unit matches well with the stainless steel mesh strap, and has a 45mm case with a sophisticated, straightforward design that will fit in with both formal and casual looks. The strap of the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid was fairly comfortable for me, but added quite a bit of weight to the already hefty smartwatch. I would recommend the silicone strap for a more comfortable fit, and the straps themselves are replaceable with any 24mm quick-release watch straps.

At the bottom of the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid are the optical sensors for detecting heart rate and blood oxygen levels, as well as the magnetic charging system. The charger clamps on and makes contact with metal running around the middle, so you can attach the charger onto the watch in any direction.

The Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid is 3ATM water resistant, and uses Bluetooth 5 for connectivity with the paired smartphone. It’s powered by the Fossil Q Intel Atom processor, and has 16mb of internal storage, although this is used for its own functionality and isn’t user accessible. The sales package includes the magnetic charger with a USB Type-A plug on the other end, and instruction leaflets.

Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid Smartwatch software, interface, and app

I would ordinarily expect the software and user interface on a hybrid smartwatch to be fairly simple, but the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid surprisingly has quite a complex one this kind of device. Although the E Ink display would have you think it’s a bit basic, it neatly covers the essential functionality of a smartwatch. It has the ability to clearly render text to display notifications and data, and also gives access to various tools including timers, music controls, and weather reports, to name a few.

The companion app manages the Bluetooth connection with the smartphone, and also lets you choose a theme for the E Ink display

 

When viewing notifications, the hands usefully move out of the way to allow for an unobstructed view of the operative parts of the E Ink display, snapping back into position to tell the time when you’re done. Even from the home screen, a quick shake of your wrist will cause the hands to move around once to let you see complications on the display. It’s a useful set of tricks that ensures a clear view of the display at all times.

The hands also serve as the pointer for the user interface, letting you navigate and scroll to various functions on the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid. The top and bottom buttons let you scroll, while the middle button selects whatever app or selection option the hands are pointing at. In some cases when indicated, pressing the middle button goes back to the home screen. This is a very elegant solution that makes up for the lack of touch controls.

Interestingly, there is also Alexa voice assistant support on the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid. You can set Alexa to be invoked with the top button, or navigate to it through the app menu and speak into the microphone on the left side of the watch. Responses are in the form of on-screen text, and the entire system is linked to your Amazon Alexa account for personalised responses and linking with other devices you may have.

There are various workout modes on the watch which can be selected through the menu, including walking, running, cycling, and elliptical, among others. The data from these workouts can be viewed on the app.

Naturally this needs the smartwatch to be connected to your smartphone, which itself needs to have Internet access. Responses to questions and controlling IoT devices linked to my account was possible for me from the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid, but I wasn’t able to control music playback on the paired smartphone or even on Echo smart speakers. Alexa needs to be set up through the main app to work.

The Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid is rated 3ATM for water resistance

 

The Fossil Smartwatches app (available on iOS and Android) controls the connection between the smartphone and the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid. The setup and pairing process was fairly quick and easy, and connectivity and synchronising was a breeze. The app displays health tracking data and battery status, and also lets you link the health data to Google Fit or Apple Health, if you choose. There are a handful of other basic settings than can be tweaked such as watch hand calibration, preferred distance and temperature units, and daily fitness and health goals.

You can also change the watch faces, although this is naturally not as complex as on smartwatches with full colour screens. It is possible to pick between a white or black background with a few styles available in both colour options, and also choose the complications and data points you want displayed, such as battery level, heart rate, steps, and weather. You can also create a custom style with an image of your choice, but I found that this looked a bit odd and preferred the regular watch faces.

Additionally, you can choose which apps can push notifications to the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid, and also can also make the smartphone ring by paging it from the smartwatch. I found that the Android app caused significant battery drain on the smartphone, and I needed to charge my phone twice as often when it was paired with the device. I didn’t experience the same issues on iOS.

Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid Smartwatch performance and battery life

A hybrid smartwatch is a considerably different device from the typical touchscreen-based smartwatch, or even premium fitness-focused devices from brands such as Garmin and Fitbit. With hybrid watches, focus is on the look and feel, as well as battery life, and the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid largely succeeds at delivering exactly what is expected of it. That said, it also performs impressively as a fitness tracker.

The Fossil smartwatch looks good, and has excellent battery life

 

Heart rate and blood oxygen tracking was accurate when compared to a pulse oximeter and my Apple Watch Series 5 when standing still or sitting down. Heart rate measurements while walking tended to be a bit hard to capture because of the loose fit of the metal strap. All of the data is visible in the wellness app on the watch for easy reference.

Step tracking was among the most accurate I’ve seen on wearables I’ve reviewed; the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid measured 1,001 steps where I manually counted 1,000 steps. Over a longer walking workout of over 3,000 steps as measured by the Apple Watch, the Fossil smartwatch measured a difference of just 30 steps, an error margin of less than one percent.

This is considerably better than most of the competition, including the more expensive Wear OS-powered Michael Kors Gen 6 Bradshaw. There is no built-in GPS on the device, but the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid can use tethered GPS, making use of the smartphone’s GPS to record distances while tracking outdoor workouts such as walking, running, and cycling. This worked as expected, and matched the distance figure I got from my GPS-enabled Apple Watch.

Other core functions of the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid, including the music remote, stopwatch, timer, and weather app worked as expected for me. Notifications were pushed reliably, including caller identification and any text-based messages that could be seen directly on the watch. Connectivity was largely stable, and the watch remained connected to the smartphone at distances of up to 4m.

Battery life on the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid was excellent, thanks to the efficient nature of the hardware. The company claims that the smartwatch can run for up to two weeks on a single charge, and I was able to match up to this figure with moderate use that involved regular notification pushes, walking workouts, and frequent notifications from my smartphone.

Verdict

The concept of a hybrid smartwatch isn’t new, but the lack of real ‘smarts’ in these sort of devices has usually been a key factor why buyers prefer full-fledged smartwatches. The Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid is different, in that, it truly finds the middle ground between new-age smarts and old-school mechanical charm, offering accurate fitness tracking, Alexa support, reliable notification pushing, and very good battery life, along with a sophisticated design.

For authentic all-day wearing and all-occasion suitability, there’s nothing better than the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid that you can buy for around Rs. 20,000 right now, in my opinion. With its efficient and capable hardware, reasonable pricing, and excellent style, this…

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