Customer Ratings & Reviews

It is a great device. The charger is a bit slow but other than that, it's good

Wish the battery lasted longer. Also repeats notifications unnecessarily when using some apps

Over the years I’ve had several different wearables—a couple of Apple Watches, Garmin fitness bands (with some “smart watch” capabilities, Motorola’s Moto 360, Mobvoi’s TicWatch C2 and Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active 2. My experience with Android Wear watches has generally been the same—they often times are well designed, but almost always fall short in performance. Much of this is because of the manufacturer choosing aged chipsets or insufficient RAM, and almost always the poor performance is aided by a massively underdeveloped software platform in Wear OS. The Fossil Gen 5 LTE Smartwatch that delivers a decent (but still somewhat underwhelming) hardware experience and great design, but is necessarily limited by its operating system. For starters—this watch has a great design. I understand that Fossil was purchased by Google, but this is still a watch branded by a watch company first—and the design is about as classic as it gets. The stainless steel case is coined as black in color, but due to its sheen comes off more as a deep dark gray. There are three buttons along the side, and the crown spins as well. The band has a two-tone finish, matte black on one side and lighter gray on the other, and it would have been a really compelling watch if the band were somehow reversible. The two tone band looks amazing, but you don’t really get to enjoy it while you’re wearing it. The 45 mm display is big and beautiful. It gets sufficiently bright, and offers an always-on mode that shows the time and the Fossil branding. The always on screen doesn’t seem to have adjustable brightness, which is kind of a pain at night time. That said, the watch doesn’t offer any sort of sleep tracking so wearing it at night may not be an issue for you at all. The watch body is noticeably larger than the display, and the display has a small bezel within the body that is more noticeable than I’d like. Fossil equipped the Gen 5 LTE with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor, which at this point is more than two years old. With the 4100 being released in the latter half of 2020, I’m not sure why such an old chip was included in this offering. To offset a less-than-stellar processor, the 1GB RAM definitely helps make this watch perform better than many of the previous Wear OS devices I’ve used. Wear OS has always seemed to lag, and with the Fossil Gen 5 LTE that lag is greatly reduced in many cases, while eliminated entirely in others. It’s not blazing fast, but it gets the job done. This watch also has LTE capabilities, but works totally fine just connected via bluetooth. It’s certainly light enough to exercise with, and the silicone band provides a comfortable and secure fit even if you get a little bit sweaty. It can also be worn while swimming, if that’s your jam. But it isn’t a small watch despite its relatively light weight. The onboard speaker and microphone are sufficient, but not great. Without holding the watch close to your head, the speaker isn’t loud enough unless you’re in a quiet environment. The microphone suffers the same fate, with less-than-stellar audio quality on the receiving end unless the watch is very near to your mouth. Battery performance is pretty awesome, too. I’ve been able to consistently get between 1.5 and 2 days between charges, although I’m not using the device as heavily as some might. It does offer some extended battery life modes that allow you to limit connectivity/capabilities in exchange for a longer battery life. One of these modes, “Time Only” mode, turns your smartwatch into a not-so-smartwatch, which is interesting. It also chargers completely in around an hour, which is good if you find yourself with limited time to ‘top off’ your charge. Between a short charge time and fully customizable battery modes, you shouldn’t have to worry too much about time between charges. I love the design of round smart watches, but in a practical sense I find that they fall a bit short. So much of what we engage with on a regular basis on screens is rectangular, and this shows up over and over during its use. From the PIN unlock screen, to notification text, to your phone’s typical dial pad, nothing is really designed to be used with a circular interface. And while I understand why someone would be drawn to a circular watch face, I also see how the round watch face will always limit the user experience. I’d also argue, though, that Wear OS isn’t really designed for use the way that other smartwatch operating systems are. Relying on “Hey Google” as your interface is almost better in many ways, but because Wear OS continues to be underdeveloped, Wear OS smartwatches will always be watches first, and smart second. This is further demonstrated by the Wear OS app, which offers very limited customization for the Fossil Gen 5 LTE (most of the customization needs to be done on the watch’s frustratingly round screen). Performance is decent. The design is sharp, elegant and timeless. Being able to take a call or get a text on your watch if you are away from your phone is really great. Heck, even having something that you can rely on to relay shorter notifications without touching your phone makes this (and many other) smartwatches make sense for a lot of people. But for $350, and considering it doesn’t offer any sleep tracking, there are certainly more compelling options on the market. It’s a gorgeous watch, don’t get me wrong, but I find it to be a much better watch than it is a smartwatch, all things considered. Not all of this is the fault of Fossil (proper), but the same can’t be said for Google. I’ve said for years that Wear OS is massively underdeveloped, and each new Wear OS watch proves the point even more. It’s for this reason that Samsung’s Tizen OS has any sort of following—and also why even budget friendly manufacturers like Mobvoi are developing their own proprietary operating systems. It is also for this reason that Apple will be at the top of the smartwatch food chain for the foreseeable future. Wear OS just isn’t where it needs to be to make watches like the Fossil Gen 5 LTE a robust offering.

Its an excellent deal brought for my wife.Dial size little big both overall excellent features.

Very good item, nice, good battery, work perfectly

Good buy. The battery does not last long, maybe 5-7 hrs. Rest good

The battery power doesn't last long enough. Everything else seems ok.

Very good purchase and very good brand and best buy store

Such style and yet classy! This watch came in handy since she couldn't have her phone out at work. Paired wasy with her phone and no issues since!

Seems nice but couldn’t use with iPhone so returned

The Fossil Gen 5 was the best Wear OS smartwatch last year (my opinion). Fossil wanted to build upon that success by adding LTE. Thus, the Fossil Gen 5 LTE was born. In my opinion, they might have undershot it this time. So right off the bat, the LTE is only useful if you are on the Verizon network. It is not compatible with the other networks. I think this eliminates a lot of potential buyers as there are very few LTE Wear OS smartwatches on the market. Also, the Fossil Gen 5 LTE is only compatible with Android devices. Unlike the non-LTE Gen 5 and Gen 5E which had support for iOS (you could make calls!), the Gen 5 LTE does not. While I know this may seem backwards, to be completely fair, the other OS smartwatches do not work with Android devices so I think this may be a double standard. Fossil is really catering to the Android market. With this information out of the way, on to the smartwatch itself! The top of the box was transparent so you can see the watch when you get it. It comes with the watch itself, the charger, and the papers. The charger is a magnetic connector that is quite strong so you don’t have to worry about it disconnecting through the night. The watch band that comes with the watch is a silicone band. I personally prefer these as they are more durable, can work out in them, etc. If you do want a leather band, they are sold separately. The design is very streamlined. While very similar to the Gen 5, the Gen 5 LTE has much more subtle and less protruding buttons and dial which makes it seem more sleek and aesthetically pleasing. I loved wearing it. It looked good and felt good. The weight of the watch also makes it seem sturdy with good build quality. The 1.28 inch AMOLED display is more than large enough, crisp, and bright. I had no problem seeing it in sunlight. In terms of the experience, Wear OS definitely lags behind its competitor unfortunately. However, this is not Fossil’s fault. The Gen 5 LTE still runs the latest version of the OS. Google Assistant is great. Fossil has a HUGE number of watch faces that you can choose from. Honestly, I didn’t even go through all of them. I found one I liked and stuck with it. In terms of the health features, I really enjoyed the heart rate monitoring and fitness tracking. It has all of the basic features that we have come to expect from smartwatches. Battery life is good. There are different battery modes. Daily, which is the most draining, keeps everything on. Extended turns off everything except Bluetooth. Custom, the most versatile, lets you choose which features are on/off. Time Only, which the watch reverts to when low on battery, just shows time. I used custom feature mostly because why not? Things like NFC and location were unnecessary most of the time. With custom, I was getting through 2 days without charging. This is definitely decent. Now the main feature that differentiates it from its predecessor: the LTE. In order to use the LTE, you use Verizon’s Number Share service. You pay the activation fee and then a monthly charge. The watch actually gets its own number but phone calls/texts to your phone are forwarded to the watch. With this, you are able to receive calls and texts without being near your phone. This really does make a difference. Being untethered to your phone just is more convenient. The biggest case being workouts. You can listen to music and use GPS to track runs without holding a phone. So it really can function for a short bit as a substitute. Now, the watch speaker quality is a bit tinny but definitely passable. In terms of call quality, I wouldn’t say that they are the best but it’s a watch. Receivers did say that my voice sounded like I was speaking from far away but was still audible. I did notice that some calls would get dropped or even not go through at times so it isn’t 100% reliable. Texts are more reliable even if you don’t get them instantaneously. You can pair Bluetooth hearphones/earbuds to the watch so it looks less awkward talking to your wrist. LTE does drain the battery way faster, but I still could make it through the day. The specs are where I feel Fossil kind of missed the mark. It is the exact same hardware as the previous Gen 5 (save for the LTE modem). The processor is the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 with 1GB RAM and 8GB storage. While I understand that this is literally supposed to be the same watch with just LTE added, it is almost 2 years after the original was released. This also does not bode well for future-proofing. The performance is still good with the old chips. The UI was smooth for the most part but did stutter occasionally. All in all, the Fossil Gen 5 LTE is a good watch. It has the great features of the Gen 5 and adds LTE on top of that. However, it’s been two years and to make only the addition of LTE, which is network restricted, may be a deterrent for a lot of people. While it is still a good watch, people may want to wait for the next generation devices. Pros: LTE! Untethering really is freeing GPS so you can track runs without your phone Design is sleek with good build quality Good bright display Battery life is decent (but LTE does drain fast) Google Assistant Cons: Limited to Verizon network Old hardware other than LTE modem Wear OS lags behind competition (can be buggy, less apps)

The watch battery does not last long at all, I charge it to 100 percent, and by the end of my 12 hr shift it is dead, this without using the blue tooth connection. I also feel it is not user friendly. Very disappointed.

Good product , standard material and we are like it

Can't connect to Verizon network due to software error. No help from Verizon after multiple calls and chats. Only works while Bluetooth connected to my phone.

Great product but overall part of Verizon network. The battery needs to be recharched on a daily basis.

Love the smart watch. Light on the wrist and pretty. Can access all of your daily information too.

This product is a pretty neat gadget to own. It was a gift and the person absolutely loved it,

Works great, no problems yet. My only complaint would be the battery life, but not a big deal.

My husband loved my watch so much, he got his own.

I like this Gen 5 smart watche is beautiful and very good