Please Don’t Buy the Fossil Gen 6 Smartwatch, Even at $80

Fossil’s newest hearth sale, which appears to have offered out since 9to5Google reported on it, is one more rendition of a deal that’s too good to be true. It seems like a very good time to remind you that except you’re buying an previous smartwatch for archival functions, a deal just like the $80 Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch isn’t value it, even for the laughs.

The corporate has been making an attempt to rid its inventory of this smartwatch for some time. It began a number of months in the past after Fossil introduced in January 2024 that it was shuttering its wearable software program division, 9 years after it had been one of many first style manufacturers to announce a collaboration with Android’s wearable working system. The corporate promised updates to its units regardless of the closure.

The Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch is an previous watch. It initially launched again in 2021 for $300 to mediocre evaluations. It was marred by its sluggish software program, poor battery life, and a scarcity of thrilling well being options that will have helped Android’s wearable platform stand out from the competitors. Fossil additionally had poor timing: it launched the Gen 6 after Google’s announcement that it was overhauling the watch working system and giving it a glam up.

There’s lengthy been a joke about how Fossil smartwatches normally have higher gross sales numbers when discounted. However you’ll additionally see loads of Reddit threads the place individuals say that this Fossil Gen 6, specifically, is a “lifeless product” and never definitely worth the engaging pricing.

If you wish to don a smartwatch that’s good for notifications and shuffling by way of music, there are cheaper choices, particularly when you don’t thoughts used {hardware}. I’ve seen the first-generation Pixel Watch from wherever between $60 to $140 used on eBay, and it’s a significantly better illustration of what Put on OS can do.

If you wish to gather a chunk of Android historical past, you are able to do higher than this Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch. I’d begin by discovering an LG Watch, a relic from when Android thought it might be a sq. smartwatch platform or a round one.