The TicWatch Pro Double Screen Is A Winner

TL;DR: The TicWatch Pro promises a month of battery between its two (yes, two) screens and makes good on it.


 

I just got done reviewing the Huawei Watch GT, and while I was testing that watch, I was also testing the TicWatch Pro. No, I didn’t wear one on each wrist, but managed to swap them out every few days.

Also, I feel like I should mention: my daily smartwatch is a TicWatch E from Mobvoi’s kickstarter a while back. Since then they’ve released the TicWatch E2 and S2, nice updates to those original models, but I haven’t found a reason to upgrade just yet.

The TicWatch Pro, however, is tempting. Every single Mobvoi smartwatch is competitively priced and works wonderfully with WearOS.

TicWatch Pro: Design

TicWatch Pro Review

The design of the TicWatch Pro is the most interesting thing about it. On the surface, it might look like a slightly thicker smartwatch with a round face, but it packs some seriously cool technology. I’m not going to bury it here: it has two screens!

On top, there is a low-powered LCD screen that displays the time, battery, heart rate, and steps. Underneath that screen is a bright and clear AMOLED screen that gives you a glimpse of all the smartwatch features WearOS has to offer. To switch between the two, just look at your wrist — the LCD screen is always on, but disappears completely when the AMOLED screen lights up when you lift your wrist to check your watch. It’s really neat, and there’s barely any lag at all.

The AMOLED screen is .39″ at 400×400 + FSTN, and it looks just as crisp as it sounds.

The watch itself is made out of both metal and carbon fiber reinforced with high-strength nylon, and some plastic. It’s IP68 water resistant, so you don’t have to worry about water. Mine came with a hybrid silicone/leather strap, which was nice enough and I didn’t mind using it for fitness.

Inside the watch, you’ve got GPS, Google Pay NFC, Bluetooth 4.2 and WIFI, a 415 MAH battery, 512mb of RAM, 4GB of storage, a heart rate sensor, and ambient light detection. Everything you could want from a smartwatch.

Battery Life / In Use

I was not surprised to see the TicWatch Pro make good on its promises. With the AMOLED screen, I got almost 2 solid days of battery life before it switched to its LCD-only mode, which lasted me an additional 27.5 days — only half a day away from the 30 Mobvoi advertises.

I also never had an issue with switching the displays. As soon as I’d lift my wrist to look at a notification, the AMOLED screen would switch over smoothly, and I could interact without a hiccup using the 512mb of RAM. There was even a moment where I left my wallet at home and made only NFC payments from it in a pinch.

It tracked my workouts just fine, read my heart rate just fine, and was a nice addition to my daily tech. Other than the screen magic, it works just like other high-quality smartwatches, which is exactly what you want.

Also, I should mention that the TicWatch Pro uses a proprietary charger, so I would get an extra one just in case!

Downsides

While I’m almost completely pleased with the TicWatch Pro, there were a few downsides that I should mention.

  • The metal bezel scratched the first day I wore it. The little blemish was visible at the top the whole time I tested the watch. I didn’t put it through any harder paces than just being a regular dad, so I wish the bezel was a little more scratch resistant.
  • The LCD screen is an awesome feature, I just wish it was arranged differently, and there’s no way to customize it. I have no idea why they decided to offset the date instead of center it, but the part of me that loves symmetry just couldn’t ignore it.
  • The hybrid leather/silicone strap was comfortable to wear, but briefly irritated my skin — I think this was due to the ridges in the silicone being slightly difficult to clean after a workout, but, once I got the hang of it the irritation disappeared completely.

In Conclusion

For the amount of technology you get in the TicWatch Pro, including that innovative dual-screen design, I’m shocked that the thing doesn’t cost $300. Normally listed for $249, you can almost always find a generous deal on it from Mobvoi on either their site or Amazon, and you can usually snag one (plus an included screen protector) for around $200.

At the time of publishing, they’re offering an Easter Deal for $50 off, which is in line with the $200 price point I usually see.

Is it worth it? Absolutely. There aren’t many competitors that offer this level of quality and functionality for these prices.

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