Fossil Sport review: Classy look & fantastic performance make it worth the asking price

Price: Rs 17,995
Rating: ****

Specifications: 41/43mm dial, 1.19/1.29-inch amoled round display, 390 x 390 pixels, Qualcomm Snapdragon 3100, 512MB RAM, 4GB storage, activity tracking, heart rate tracking, GPS, Bluetooth 4.2, WiFi, 5 ATM water resistant, Wear OS.


Fossil Sport is the company’s latest smartwatch and as the name hints, it is aimed at fitness enthusiasts. The trouble with most fitness focused smartwatch is that they don’t look like a proper wrist watch: this is where the Fossil Sport comes in to play.

The first thing you notice about Fossil Sport is its classic watch appearance. It has a round metal dial with a rotating crown on the right along with two customizable buttons which add to the overall look. It comes with silicon strap which is comfortable to wear for full day plus ideal for use during exercise as it is not affected by sweat/water. What impressed the most is its light-weight design – Fossil says its their lightest smartwatch at 40 grams approx. Fossil Sport’s round amoled display is gorgeous and adequately bright to view under sunlight. It has a resolution of 390 x 390 pixels which keeps text and icons pin-sharp on the watch. The touchscreen response is also great and combined with the crown and buttons, the navigation/selection of menus is a breeze. Overall, full marks for design and display.

Hardware is what makes the Fossil Sport stand-out from the crowd. It is one of the few smartwatches available today with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 3100 processor. The 3100 has slight visible difference in performance over the Snapdragon 2100 – apps launch and close faster plus menu navigation is also speedier. However, the interface does suffer from random sluggishness and lags for which we have docked half a star.

Performance of the Fossil Sport is fantastic – it delivers almost the same results as a Fitbit in tracking steps, distance as we all heart rate. The watch comes with plethora of preset exercise tracking modes – it almost feels like it is capable of tracking any activity you can think of right from strength training to paragliding. This make a big difference for fitness enthusiasts who want to keep proper track of their exercises. However, there is a fair bit of manual input also required from the user side while tracking exercises to get the best results. Runners would love that the watch has a built-in GPS : you don’t have to carry your phone with you as the watch will map your route. Keep in mind that it might take between 2-3 minutes for the watch to get a GPS lock. As the watch runs Wear OS by Google, it works seamlessly with both iOS and Android devices to show the notifications from your smartphone. Plus, you can also access Google Assistant right on the watch’s screen and interact with it thanks to built-in mic.

Another reason we docked half a star is its battery life. We got a full day’s backup with around 20% to spare with the screen set at Always-on. However, enable background heart rate tracking and the battery will barely manage 9 am to 6 pm. If you throw in 30-minutes of walking/running using GPS, the battery life will go down an additional 10-15%. Yes, there is fast charge support but barely one day of battery life is a bit disappointment in our opinion. If you switch-off the always-on mode, then the watch is able to work for one and half days.

Apart from the battery, the Fossil Sport impresses in every other department. There is no other smartwatch currently available in India with the Snapdragon 3100 so there is virtually no competition for it. If you don’t mind charging the watch on a daily basis, the Fossil Sport is a great smartwatch option at its price.