Anticipated by dozens and dozens of rumors, which also demonstrate the great expectation from users, and by many delays in the official presentation, TicWatch Pro 5 arrives like a bolt from the blue and has all the credentials to become the definitive smartwatch of this 2023. It has Qualcomm's new wearable platform, it is the first to be animated by WearOS 3.5, and continues to bring with it THE characteristic which made me fall in love with the brand: two displays, one of which is very low power, on which you can see the time together with other essential information, and which in fact replaces the always on, reducing consumption to a minimum.
The writer has been a fan of this lineup since the first prototype presented on Kickstarter in 2017, and all those features that make the Ticwatch "Pro" line unique. In short, is it the smartwatch to buy? At the official sale price, yes, provided you don't have a particularly small wrist. Because if there is a limit that the brand has brought back over the years (and which we also find in the new TicWatch Pro 5) is just that of size.
Too bad, then, that despite being one of the first to be animated by WearOS 3.5, the TicWatch Pro 5 both arrived two weeks after the presentation of WearOS 4. But that's another story.
Index
TicWatch Pro 5 review: the best smartwatch for Android?
Design and materials
Let's start off on a negative note. As we have seen with the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, the TicWatch Pro 5 Comes equipped with a silicone strap. Until a few years ago, the brand had accustomed us quite well with its excellent leatherette straps but, apparently (and perhaps also to reduce costs a bit), it continues to follow the "path" of silicone straps. Sin.
From a design point of view, I would define the TicWatch Pro 5 like an elegantly anonymous smartwatch. In short, it is one of those typical products that are very well made down to the smallest detail, but that no one will look at more than a couple of times when they notice someone wearing it. In short, I would have liked to see it personalized with a few more touches of colour, perhaps in the only physical button positioned in the upper part of the case.
And I say that because when looked closely, the TicWatch Pro 5 it's really well built. The case is obviously circular and also includes a very comfortable crown that can be rotated and which is of the active type: it allows you to scroll through the WearOS menus with extreme ease and is accompanied by a truly excellent quality haptic feedback, even if not excessively marked.
Overall then, it is a smartphone with a purely masculine design, and it is not even suitable for all types of wrists: with its 50mm case it is a very large smartwatch. It looks just fine on my wrist, and then I love more "massive" watches, but a woman or man with a small wrist might consider it poco comfortable. Also because it has a thickness of 12.2 mm and weighs about 44 grams.
The case is made of 7000 aluminum, ultra resistant, of a rather dark gray color and the back is made of glass-reinforced nylon which is an improvement over the last generation. Maintains dust and water resistance with IP68 certification and in addition the new military certification is also added MIL-STD-810G, dedicated to products that pass the most arduous "mistreatment" tests.
It then integrates a speaker and a microphone, to answer phone calls, interact with digital assistants and dictate responses to messages.
Display
One of the most intriguing aspects of the TicWatch Pro 5 is the presence of a "double display" from 1.4 ", 454 x 454 pixels; ok, those who know these smartwatches will know that it's nothing new, but the new smarwatch has been enriched with several new features. But let's go in order.
TicWatch Pro 5 it has a monochrome FSTN panel and a display AMOLED in color as a "surface" layer; the FSTN screen it is practically activated when the smartwatch is almost discharged, or at night when the "real" color display is not needed, as long as you have activated it in the settings.
The first novelty that is found in this display is in the backlight. You can use colors as visual heart rate cues during your workout, and believe me, especially if you train early in the morning or in the evening it's very convenient and increases safety, or you can choose to change the color of the backlight in your settings.
Furthermore, the secondary display has been enriched by a whole series of panels: when the FSTN screen is active, turning the crown it will be possible to scroll between five display modes. You can see for example heart rate, blood oxygen, calories burned and even a compass. When using the "TicExercise" functions, then, you will be able to check the metrics of your workouts without activating the more energy-intensive display.
Of course, the quality of the images is not in the least comparable to those of the main OLED screen, which reproduces images of excellent quality, with deep blacks, well saturated and with perfect brightness even in direct light conditions, but I have adored this solution for a long time TicWatch.
Hardware and Performance
TicWatch Pro 5 then it is the first smartwatch to be animated by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1, which is supported by 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory. A hybrid architecture SoC that should guarantee reduced consumption by as much as 50% compared to the previous generation and clearly superior performance. Now, to be honest, I was unable to determine how much the new SoC actually positively affects energy consumption (we'll talk about this shortly), but one thing I can say: the TicWatch Pro 5 it's one of the fastest WearOS smartwatches out there.
GALLERY
Whatever application you use, everything flows very quickly, and the launch of the various features is just as fast. To be honest, however, I have the feeling that Mobvoi has "braked" the new SoC slightly, because we are talking about a smartwatch that makes autonomy one of its strong points, but there is no doubt that despite this detail, performance will never be a problem with this device.
Software and health monitoring
One of the contradictions of the TicWatch Pro 5 is that despite being one of the first smartwatches to be animated by WearOS 3.5, in reality (also due to all the launch delays) it arrives poco after the presentation of WearOS 4.
In any case, as we are now used to, the smartwatch is full of Mobvoi apps, specifically there are the options for managing the secondary display, TicSleep for sleep tracking, TicPulse for the heartbeat, TicOxygen for blood oxygen saturation, but also TicBreathe, Tic Hearing, Tic Care, and TicExercise: Mobvoi has practically provided an application for each value to be monitored, whether it is the heartbeat or the breath this TicWatch Pro 5 he can do it, without difficulty. Tracking via GPS is also on a par with other even more expensive smartwatches. Good job.
Activity tracking is accurate; the sensors used by Mobvoi are once again confirmed as reliable and accurate in the measurements, the only measurement that has not inspired me absolutely trust is that relating to pressure. A "universal" measurement method has also been integrated with which, in a single tap, heart rate, blood oxygenation, respiratory rate and blood pressure can be checked.
As the smartwatch is gifted also of NFC payments can also be made via Google Pay, if your bank is compatible and the presence of WearOS opens the door to installing third-party apps from the Google Play Store. The management of notifications is also good, which is complete as well as in every WearOS.
Battery life
The large case of the smartwatch is also due to the 628 mAh battery which, bluntly, is exceptional. Even if the brand guarantees 80 hours of use on a single charge, I can tell you that in my tests I managed to get about 4 days of autonomy, with all the biometric detections active and without worrying too much about optimizing energy consumption.
Charging is also great. It's kind of fast, and in my tests, it managed to charge the smartwatch 64% in 30 minutes.
Price and considerations
The official selling price of the TicWatch Pro 5 is 359,99 euros on Amazon or on the official Mobvoi store. And yes, compared to the 299 euros needed to buy the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra at the time of its presentation, the figure has increased. And as much as I like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro (here the review) or the new Huawei Watch, it's like the TicWatch Pro 5 take the best of these two devices and make a sort of "fusion" of them. It is equipped with the latest hardware, has excellent biometric sensors, two displays and outstanding battery life.
Its only real limitation is the design and dimensions, which make it poco suitable for women or people with slimmer wrists.
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