Review on 🕶️ Fossil Explorist Stainless Leather Smartwatch: Trendy and Versatile Wearable Tech by Kevin Baker

FINALLY! I have a smart watch that I can use. Actually, this is my third* attempt at making a smart watch. (*Fourth, when you turn on the rare old Timex Internet Messenger watch from 2001, a men's Timex Internet Messenger sports watch that could communicate with satellites via Skytell and send messages and text messages to your watch). The first was the Sony Smartwatch SW2 (second generation). I liked the look of the watch and the metal bracelet. However, it uses a Sony-specific operating system, and when I installed the necessary apps on my phone to use the watch, it kept crashing. And when they didn't fall, they discharge my phone like there's no tomorrow. A few days later, Sony went into a drawer. The second was the Samsung S2 smartwatch. I liked the look of the watch itself, although I hate the uncomfortable rubber strap that comes with it. I replaced that (a problem since it uses proprietary hinges) and then I had a cool and comfortable watch. Unfortunately, like Sony, it uses a proprietary operating system (courtesy of Samsung this time), and before long Samsung stopped supporting that operating system on many phones, including some of mine. So if I don't want to select my phone based on Samsung watch compatibility, the watch only shows the time. So this watch also disappeared in the drawer. Now comes the Fossil Q Explorist. And this smartwatch avoids the problem of the first two smartwatches by using Google's proprietary Android Wear operating system. As a result, it's fully supported on almost any Android phone running Android 4.3 or later (that's pretty much any Android phone anyone would want to use right now). It is probably also supported in Apple iOS 8.2 (but I haven't tested it). And the integration between the watch and the app is almost imperceptible. After switching it on, follow the instructions and prompts on the watch face and you'll be up and running in minutes. After the shit I've experienced at Sony and Samsung, it was like taking a deep breath. Since the clock was set, it has worked flawlessly. It comes with a limited number of apps installed to display watch faces and alerts from your phone (which honestly covers 95% of what I can expect from my smartwatch). You can also easily install additional supported applications. For example, I installed Google Hangouts so I can see (and reply to, if I want) SMS notifications from that app from my watch. I did the same with Google Play Music and now I can interact with this app from the clock. The same applies to Google Maps. The clock has a built-in speaker and Wi-Fi, so you can work with the clock pretty well when your phone isn't around. Otherwise, it communicates with your watch via Bluetooth. The Bluetooth connection seems to work very well and doesn't start the phone up like my Samsung so you can talk to the watch and say Android Auto to the phone at the same time. The watch comes with a choice of watch faces ranging from classy to cute. I'd say this is by far the best set of built-in watch faces I've seen built into a phone's operating system. Speaking of ergonomics. This clock is BIG. It doesn't look fun, but it certainly doesn't look modest. They are definitely made for men, both because of the size of the display and the very good quality of the brown leather strap. In fact, I find the size of the watch to be slightly larger than I would choose (I prefer the smaller size from both Sony and Samsung) - IMHO, it's a bit too fancy for button-down - but not so much, that you don't wear it for everyday purposes. Think the size of a Rolex more than an Apple Smartwatch. Oh, and if you get tired of the leather strap, you can swap it out for any standard 22mm watch strap. Luckily there is no bullshit with proprietary attachments. There are two buttons that can be programmed to activate different functions of your choosing. Squeezing the stick takes you back to the main screen, and rotating the stick lets you quickly cycle through the options on each screen. If you swipe down the screen from the top, you will see different options. If you swipe from below, you can view the latest alerts. You can change the watch face by dragging the sides. As I mentioned, the watch has a pretty good built-in speaker, which means you can set an alarm and the watch will wake you up in the morning (or warn you to move). car or something else) - even if your phone isn't on or nearby. Another thing I liked compared to some other smartwatches is that when you dim the screen, you initially see a simplified greyscale representation of the watch face - it doesn't go completely black. So when you look at your watch, you don't have to shake your hand like crazy just to see the time. Battery life is ok. I found that after about 12 hours of wearing the watch on a full charge, I still had about 40% battery life. This suggests that it will be good for a full day, no matter how many hours your full day typically is (if you're not sleeping). But the watch will NOT last two days without charging. So charging every night is pretty much a requirement. Charging is via a wireless charging disc (included) that connects to a USB charger (not included) and attaches to the back of the watch with a weak magnet. The watch uses standard Qi wireless charging and I've found that it can also be charged using the wireless charger that came with the Samsung S2. Overall I am very happy with this smartwatch. It worked right out of the box with no installation issues and has been working fine ever since. It does what I need most from a smartwatch (shows the time, provides notifications from my phone and offers a basic functional interface) fairly well with no issues. Aside from being bigger than I'd like, it's pretty much what I was looking for in a smartwatch. i am sold