I’ve been a fan of Mobvoi watches since I bought the original TicWatch E on Kickstarter in 2017. But what really locked me into the brand was the first TicWatch Pro, which launched in 2018. One of the key features of this series has been the dual-layer display, where the secondary screen is a monochromatic transparent LED panel that is highly visible in direct light but goes away entirely when the full-color OLED panel is activated. This is what keeps me coming back to TicWatch as my primary driver, and that hasn’t changed with the latest model, the TicWatch Pro 5.
This watch is the first from Mobvoi to offer Wear OS 3, 3.5 to be more specific. It’s not only the first to offer the new operating system, but it’s also the first to run the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 Wearable Platform on any watch. Along with these two major upgrades, the secondary display I love so much also picks up some handy new features, like tiles that offer additional information and color-coded backlighting to indicate if your heart rate is out of range during exercise. This is also the first watch from Mobvoi with a rotating crown for navigation. All of this leads to what might be one of the most complete smartwatches on the market, but it won’t be for everyone.
Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5
Mobvoi’s new TicWatch Pro 5 is the first smartwatch to feature the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 Wearable Platform. Along with improved power, it also lends longer battery life to the king of battery for Wear OS 3 devices. New health features and functions on the secondary display make this a very impressive smartwatch.
- Brand
- Mobvoi
- Heart Rate Monitor
- Yes
- Operating System
- Wear OS 3.5
- Onboard GPS
- GPS+Beidou+Glonass+Galileo+QZSS
- Customizable Strap
- Yes, 24mm
- Case Material
- Metal, 7000-series Aluminum and High-strength Nylon with Fiberglass
- Colors
- Obsidian
- Display
- 1.43-inch 466×466 326ppi, Always On Display OLED + Ultra-low-power Display
- CPU
- Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 Wearable Platform
- RAM
- 2GB
- Storage
- 32GB
- Battery
- 628 mAh, up to 80 hrs of use in full smartwatch mode
- Connectivity
- Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 2.4GHz, NFC
- Durability
- MIL-STD-810H
- Health sensors
- HD PPG Heart Rate Sensor, SpO2 Sensor, Skin Temperature Sensor,
- Strap
- 24mm Solid Silicone
- Dimensions
- 50.15x48x12.2 mm
- Weight
- 44.35g
- Audio
- Speaker
- Mobile payments
- Yes (Google Wallet)
- Workout detection
- Yes
- Exercise modes
- 100+
Pros
- Best battery life of any Wear OS watch
- Useful improvements to the secondary display
- Fast performance
- Great build quality
Cons
- The design isn’t for everyone
- No Google Assistant at launch
- Only available in one size
Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5: Pricing and availability
Mobvoi announced the TicWatch Pro 5 on May 24, 2023, and it went on sale the same day. The watch can be purchased at either Amazon or directly through Mobvoi for $350. You can only get the smartwatch in one configuration, with 2GB RAM and 32GB internal storage with an Obsidian black case. But there are five 24mm watch bands to choose from, with Jungle Green, Bonfire Orange, and Twilight Blue as the silicone options. Then Mobvoi is also offering a genuine leather band in either Tuxedo Black or Smart Casual Blue.
Design and hardware: Small but important changes
If you’ve seen a TicWatch Pro model like the TicWatch Pro 4G LTE, you’ll instantly recognize the design pedigree. The same all-black case with a knurled bezel is still here, and it’s still big. The overall size will be one of the biggest drawbacks of this watch for most people. At 50.15x48x12.2mm and 44.35g, it is one of the largest models in the series and one of the biggest Wear OS watches overall. Looking at some of the other best smartwatches out there for comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro comes in at 45.4×45.4×10.5mm and 46g and the Google Pixel Watch lands at 41x41x12.3mm and 36g.
However, with all that real estate, there’s plenty of room for internal hardware and a large display. Mobvoi is the first smartwatch to feature Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 Wearable Platform, and it’s a major leap over the 4100 series used by previous Wear OS devices. The new chip is built on a 4nm process, which Mobvoi paired with 32GB and 2GB of LPDDR4 RAM. In my testing, the watch handled all tasks smoothly. I’ve had nothing but excellent performance, whether I’m opening new apps, scrolling through messages, or using voice-to-text.
The large case also leaves room for the massive 628mAh battery that has been exceptional in my time with the watch. Mobvoi says the watch can get up to 80 hours of use per charge when in full smartwatch mode. With all the health features enabled for 24-hour tracking of blood oxygen, real-time heart monitoring tracking every second, and sleep tracking with temperature monitoring, it consistently got 4–5 days before needing to recharge. This is due in large part to the battery size but also the low-power secondary display acting as an always-on option. I got even more per charge by changing the heart rate tracking to ping less frequently and reducing other lift-to-wake features.
When it comes to charging the battery, the TicWatch Pro 5 uses the same proprietary magnetic pogo Pin connector used on Mobvoi’s other watches. It does the job, but I was hoping for wireless charging to make its way to the newest model. The watch is supposed to get a 65% charge when plugged up for just 30 minutes, and I got close to that in my testing. I went from 5% to full in one hour and eleven minutes, but I did hit 64% in about a half hour. So, while I do wish the TicWatch Pro 5 got a wireless option like its competitors, the included cable gets the job done.
Source: Mobvoi
Another new feature is the rotating crown, which is used to scroll through your app drawer and messages, and if enabled in the settings, scroll sideways through tiles. Previous Pro watches had dual pusher buttons for accessing different parts of the UI and quick-launch apps. Now there’s a more discreet button at the two o’clock location and a rotating crown that also acts as a button at the three o’clock spot. This is similar to the Pixel Watch in terms of both design and functionality, where the button is used to access recent apps and power the watch off and on. Pressing the rotating crown takes you to your apps and takes you back to the home screen.
Continuing with the outside of the watch, the TicWatch Pro 5 uses a durable, US-MIL-STD 810H-rated, 7000-series aluminum and high-strength nylon with a fiberglass combination to ensure it can take a beating. It also has a 5 ATM water resistance rating, which keeps the watch safe up to 50 meters. Covering the displays is Corning Gorilla Glass, although there’s no mention of which version. There is also an onboard speaker and microphone to use voice-to-text, take phone calls, and access your Google Assistant, which, at the time of publication, was not available on my review unit.
On the watch’s backside are the health-monitoring sensors used to track heart rate, SpO2, and skin temperature, and detect when the watch is removed. That last feature is used to both save battery and lock the device if you enable a PIN or pattern to secure your watch — which you absolutely should, especially if you plan on using Google Pay on your watch. The TicWatch Pro 5 also has an accelerometer, gyro sensor, barometer, and compass. For location monitoring, it has multiple methods of tracking using GPS (Beidou, Glonass, Galileo, and QZSS).
In wearing the watch for daily use and workouts, I found that the heart rate and GPS tracking were on par with other smartwatches I’ve used. I went for a run wearing both the TicWatch Pro 5 and Garmin’s new Instinct 2X Solar, and though the Mobvoi watch took a bit longer than the Garmin to latch onto my location, it performed well once it did. There was a bit of a discrepancy in heart rate, though. You can look at the two workout summaries below to see the differences.
Software: Wonderful Wear OS 3
As we’ve mentioned, the TicWatch Pro 5 is running Wear OS 3.5, and it looks much like the operating system does on the Pixel Watch, from the tiles to the Play Store. There are a couple of differences, though. One is the app drawer. At first glance, it looks the same on both watches, but one feature I like on the TicWatch Pro 5 that’s oddly missing on the Pixel Watch is the ability to pin apps to the top of the drawer. Long pressing on an app lets you then tap and move it to the top of the list for quick access whenever you open the app drawer. The other noticeable difference is the UI when customizing watch faces — it’s not a major one, but it’s worth noting nonetheless.
The TicWatch Pro 5 has other unique features that aren’t on other Wear OS watches like options to edit the ultra-low-power secondary display or to enable Essential Mode, which shuts down most smart features to preserve battery. Side note, there is a Smart Essential mode that lets you schedule a time to automatically turn the watch on or off. It’s a wonderful feature to use during the night as it still tracks your sleep but uses even less battery than simply putting the watch into Bedtime mode.
You’ll also get a line of heath apps developed by Mobvoi. While not new, there are 10 apps that serve various functions, like TicSleep, TicBreathe, TicHealth, TicExercise, and more. Most are pretty self-explanatory, but TicBreath and TicZen may not be. Both are to help monitor and reduce stress. When using TicExcercise to track your workouts, you get to make use of the secondary display — which is fantastic when outdoors.
Display: The unique secondary display gains more functionality
As mentioned before, the dual-layer display isn’t new to the TicWatch Pro 5, but there are some new features that make this display system my favorite on any smartwatch.
If you’ve never seen one of the watches in the Pro lineup from Mobvoi, then it might be difficult to understand what is happening with the display, but let me try to describe it quickly. The watch has an OLED display, much like what many of the best smartphones use, that’s full of color. It can show pictures and is easy to read text on. But on top of that is another display that can go completely transparent (you can tap the screen or disable it entirely in the settings). When enabled, the secondary display uses very little power from the watch and visually resembles a classic digital watch face. It doesn’t emit any light, either; instead, it uses ambient light from your environment to enable you to view information on it. The TicWatch Pro 3 introduced a backlight to see the secondary display in the dark, and colors were introduced with the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra.
What’s new for the TicWatch Pro 5 is the ability to use those colors in the backlight as a visual cue of your heart rate range while exercising. So, if you are a person who enjoys working out early in the morning or late in the evening when there isn’t much light out, you can quickly glance at your watch and see an orange light that tells you that you’re in the cardio range, yellow for fat burn, or red for dangerous. In total, there are six different colors to indicate different ranges.
Also new to the secondary display are tiles, much like what you get when using the OLED screen and browsing Wear OS 3. When viewing the low-power display, if you rotate the watch’s crown, you’ll be able to choose five tiles to scroll through, like notifications, heart rate, blood oxygen, calories, and a compass. When using TicExercise, you can scroll through different views to see what metrics of your workout are most important to you. For example, when I go for a run, I like to see my heart rate, distance, and time, and that’s an option.
Should you buy the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5?
You should buy the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 if:
- You want a smartwatch with a long-lasting battery
- You use your smartwatch outdoors a lot
- You want to have the latest processor in your smartwatch for fast performance
You shouldn’t buy the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 if:
- You want a small smartwatch
- You are on a tight budget
- You use Google Assistant a lot on your watch
For as much as I truly enjoy my Amazfit T-Rex Ultra and Google Pixel Watch, the TicWatch Pro 5 offers the best of both worlds from those two devices. You get the latest Wear OS software, which means you have access to the full Google Play Store on your wrist, rich messaging replies, Google Wallet, and more. But at launch, you won’t get Google Assistant, and that’s a bummer. You also get the T-Rex Ultra’s durability, excellent battery life, and outdoor usability.
Something else the TicWatch Pro 5 shares with those other wearables is a high-price tag. At $350, it is not inexpensive, but, it is on par with other high-end smartwatches, and it does a good job of justifying that price. While the style and size won’t work for everyone, those who won’t mind will get a highly-capable smartwatch. It’s packed with the latest hardware, a good set of health and fitness features, excellent battery life, and a set of displays not found on any other smartwatch. The chances that the TicWatch Pro 5 stays on my wrist for the foreseeable future, aside from testing other wearables, is very high, and if you value the things I listed above, it should be on your wrist too.
Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5
Mobvoi’s new TicWatch Pro 5 is the first smartwatch to feature the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 Wearable Platform. Along with improved power, it also lends longer battery life to the king of battery for Wear OS 3 devices. New health features and functions on the secondary display make this a very impressive smartwatch.