Customer Ratings & Reviews

I want to like this watch; really, I do. I have gone to great lengths to give it a fair trial including working with Fossil support to return the first one (which had defective gyro sensors) and testing the new one with multiple phones (I was overdue for a replacement of my ancient Nexus 6p and Google had a sale on the Moto G Stylus). But there are some important issues that need to be addressed. The Fossil 5e is a good looking watch. It is reasonably comfortable to wear and has decent battery life combined with a fast and easy to use charger (which helps offset the battery life issues). But I experienced some major issues with fitness metrics. You can walk around the house for hours and never see your step count change. Then you can be sitting still and all of a sudden, your step count increases substantially. With the first watch, I had step counts of 200+ happen while I was sound asleep or sitting at my desk. This is a serious flaw in a watch that is supposed to work with Google Fit and something I have never experienced with any other fitness watch from my original Moto360 from 2014 to my $39 Xiaomi MiBand 4. I’m not the only user experiencing this either as demonstrated by an article in their own support forums (https://services.fossilgroup.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004341346-My-steps-activity-tracking-data-does-not-seem-accurate-in-the-app-why-) Their heart rate sensor seems prone to the same issues, also documented in the link I gave. I must mention however this problem does not seem to be happening with my SECOND watch, so this could have been related to the defects in the sensors. But the problem exists for some users and it is documented. There is also a problem with step/heart rate data appearing on the watch in some watch faces and not others (I actually had better luck with 3rd party watch faces than I did with the ones that came with the watch) or counts being different between two different faces. And on my nexus 6p, even though Fossil says they are compatible with Android 6.0+, I was never able to get step data from the replacement watch I received to show up in the Fit app on the phone. Sleep data transferred fine though; confusing since both are coming from the same app on the watch. Even more confusing; this DID work on the first watch, though only intermittently - something that I chalked up to the bad gyros. Happily, this too appears to be working on the new watch and phone. But inconsistencies like this seem to be happening to others with this device. I am not sure if this is a quality control issue or a software problem, but it bears mentioning. Unfortunately, Fossil was not able to give me any answers when I contacted them about the issues, and they did not seem to be able to figure out what the problem is according to reports from other users. To me, step count and heart rate monitoring are basic features of a smart watch; even the cheapest fitness watches can do this accurately, so it is disturbing that the issue appears for many users. Like I said, I really want to like this watch and my second watch seems to be working as expected; but even with the second watch it seemed like it took a week or two to start behaving as it should. I think Fossil really needs to look closely at their firmware if they want this watch to be successful in the market. Best Buy has a great selection of smart watches and I would suggest exploring others if you have the same concerns as I did. Maybe I just got a bad device; it certainly happens. But when you are paying a premium price for a brand which has a stellar reputation for analog watches, it is kind of an unexpected disappointment. Fortunately, if you DID experience issues like I did, BB’s great returns policy will enable you to bypass the Fossil support channel and get a quick resolution. Based on my experiences with the replacement watch, I’m a bit more confident about recommending it, but I would suggest doing your homework and considering other smartwatches as well, since BB has a good selection of watches at similar price points.

Not impressed. Limited features will be returning watch

I've had a few days to get used to this Fossil Gen 5e Smartwatch, and in all honesty I have to say I love this watch. First of all, the watch is a great looking design. I truly appreciate a man's watch that looks like a man's watch! It's bold, stylish, and modern. I have the black 44mm version with the black silicone watch band. I would be just as comfortable wearing this out with friends as I would wearing it to a dinner party. I truly appreciate the many different watch faces that are available. There are enough to satisfy anyone's unique taste and preference. I prefer a more simple face that displays the time in an easy to see format, and there were dozens like this to choose from. The setup of the watch was a bit cumbersome. Fossil utilizes the Wear OS by Google, so there is the tedious process of having to sign in to what seems like a hundred different Google apps to finally get the setup completed. There is no autonomous setup available (as far as I know) so you are forced to sync the watch with your phone. I do understand the whys, but meh.... Using the watch is simple and straightforward, which is a trait I dearly appreciate. With just a few swipes after getting it all set up, you pretty well know how to access all the functions available. As far as apps go, there doesn't seem to be many outside the realm of music or fitness, but that is pretty common with all smart watches. I was really a bit disappointed that there is no GPS standalone available, but this was due to the streamlining of the price point I would guess. The watch has a built-in speaker, and this is one of the things I love most about the watch. The speaker is crisp, clear, and distortion free. You don't have to hold the watch up to your face in order to carry on a conversation on the phone. It's pretty terrific. ALSO!! This watch has a great depth of range from my phone. I can go almost anywhere at work and still have connectivity. The same with being at my house, and outside. I am super impressed! The watch wears comfortably. I was a bit concerned the watch band would cause sweating, but I haven't experienced anything unusual. The watch band is adjustable, and you don't suffer with the hair pulling that so many watch bands put you through. When it is all said and done, I really like this watch. I've had several comments and compliments on it already. It feels good on the wrist, the battery seems to last as long as most of the competitors. The literature says its safe to get wet, but as with all my smart watches, I am not going to test that claim out. When it is all said and done, I would sincerely and highly recommend this watch to anyone who is looking for an excellent all-around stylish smart watch. The Pros: Insanely quick charging time! Seriously, almost a full charge from almost zero in LESS than an hour!!!! Great looking watch Feels great on the wrist, and the band doesn't pull and tug at your arm hair. Extremely customizable Above average battery life Awesome speaker GREAT RANGE FROM SMARTPHONE! The Cons: Brightness of the watch face is lacking. Outdoors with full sun it is almost impossible to see the display. I also have an Apple watch and its display is much brighter and easier to see. This was even after I set the brightness of the Fossil to its maximum. Lack of apps. The vast majority of apps are either fitness-related or music-related. BUT, this is common for ALL smartwatches...after all, who wants to photoshop or write a blog from their smart watch!! No GPS and no compass The Michael Kors thing... I got the Fossil watch because it was a Fossil...the MK theme is completely unnecessary and unwanted in my book. All in all this is a great watch. If not for the dimness of the display, I could have easily given this a 5-star rating. But even with that, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND this watch to anyone in the market for a great all-around (and very stylish) smart watch that doesn't cost a fortune!

Bought this watch for my wife for Christmas. It worked for a week then went into a looping reboot. Had the tech plan, took it to Geek Squad and they were unable to do anything with it since it wasn't an Apple watch they had no way to diagnose the issue. Do not buy this piece of garbage watch and if you do, don't bother with the tech plan as it will do you no good since it's not an Apple product. I do want to say that the return process was fairly simple, thankfully since I was still under the holiday return plan. The tech I worked with was nice enough, but if you're going to sell the tech plan, please be able to troubleshoot these products.

Wrist bands really need to be bigger or at least have more of a variety of wrist bands that come with the device. I have decent sized wrists and I can't even wear the watch without it being too tight or way too loose. But in all fairness it is a really nice watch.

I personally think Fossil makes the best looking WearOS watches and this watch is no exception to that. I unboxed and charged it up. Using the WearOS app on my android phone I had it setup and connected to my phone in no time. Just follow the onscreen instructions. So what makes this 5e different from the existing Fossil gen5 watches you say? Few things. No built in GPS (uses phone GPS instead), 4gb of internal storage vs 8gb, no light sensor, one none-rotating button instead of three buttons, and a bit smaller display. With that said it also easier on the wallet. I'm a big fan of one button touch screen watches so I appreciate that Fossil gave us a smart watch with one button again. The Fossil 5e is in a metal casing with a OLED display that looks great. The band it comes with seems high quality. Its a bit thicker than I thought it would be especially compared to the Fossil sport band. But if you don't like it you can always switch it out with a different one. It has a speaker in it which is a big change for me coming from older smart watches. You can use it to answer and make phone calls. It actually doesn't sound that bad either. Very usable. Comes with the standard white Fossil magnetic charger that they have been using for a few years now so no change there. It doesn't come with a power brick so you will have to plug into a existing one or into something that has USB charging. Battery seems on par with any typical smart watch. I have always on display enabled with tilt to wake turned on. By the end of the day with normal use I'm usually around 50% battery so I throw it on the charger every night. You will have no problem getting through a day with this thing. Fossil provides a bunch of really nice and customizable watch faces. If you don't like any of them you can also go grab one off the google play store or create your own using one of the watch face creator apps, so really your options are unlimited. For me my watch face must provide time, date, weather, and phone notifications so the built in ones work just fine. Unlike other WearOS watches I've owned this one is a lot smoother to use. I didn't notice any real lag. Everything seems to respond quickly so spec-wise the ram and processor in this seem sufficient. This is by far the fastest WearOS smart watch I have ever owned. For me personally the only thing that could make this watch any better would be to make it a bit thinner and have the screen use up more of the bezel. The bezel seems like some wasted space. Overall this is a fantastic watch. I don't see this as a fitness specific watch. There are probably better watches out there for that purpose but this would make a great every day watch. For anyone who wants a great looking premium latest gen smart watch but doesn't need built in GPS and the extra 2 buttons then the 5e is the way to go. If you want those extra options then get the gen 5. Either way get one because they are awesome!

I used it with my newer model android phone, replacing my older fitness tracking watch. The set up was simple and paired easily with my phone via Bluetooth. I really like the look on my wrist. The size was just right, not overpowering and only a little heavier than my previous fitness watch. I downloaded the WearOS app from Googleplay and followed the app instructions. I really like that are are lots of watch faces. One of my favorite features is the “always on” like a true watch. The app has its own fitness features such as heart rate, step counter and sleep tracker. There are exercise routines you can setup and it will track your heart rate and breathing, up to five different activities. The best thing is how easy my notifications for email, texts and calls are to get, plus news alerts.I have a hearing issue (so I’m told) and now I hear those calls and texts I’ve been missing, because the speaker works much better. I can even respond to them directly from my watch. I can answer and make calls and my contact list is right on the watch. There are several different battery modes, but in my experience on all of them, it has to be charged every 24 hours. My previous fitness tracker watch would last up to three days. But, this one has so many more features. I’m really enjoying the upgrade!

battery is terrible on this watch DO NOT BUY IT!!!

Battery drains fast. Had a full charge went out for about 3 hours was already down to 60%.

Get Apple or Samsung in my opinion, but it's up to you.

This is my experience owning a smart watch. I've had fit bits in the past but never a smart watch. The first thing I noticed was the weight. It feels very similar to my citizens eco drive. Set up is easy, pairing to my phone was simple and quick. I like getting notications for texts as this helps with not being tethered to your phone. Pandora is really nice on here as I can control my ear buds from the watch as well. My only complaint is the battery life. I've had to charge it each day so far. I'd expect the battery to last longer on this product.

Bought this last December as a Christmas gift for our son but now he said it's not working anymore. He seldom used it.

This watch is not user friendly. I brought this for my husband who has a Samsung phone. It is just not as user friendly as my Apple Watch.

The watch arrived charged and ready to setup. The setup did not go as planned. To start the setup just tap the watch and select your language. You are then told to download Wear OS ( in my case for Android) from Google Play store. That went OK. Pairing however was a challenge. The first time through it failed to connect after the codes were sent and permission granted. I restarted the watch but it failed at same point. Watch says connected but phone still not moving past this setup screen. I turned on location services for this APP in the phone and removed ( forgot ) another connected Bluetooth device that was connected. I did a factory restart on watch and the pairing worked quickly. I also allowed contact sharing. My Google account was then transferred to the watch. Once connected it has stayed connected without issue. This is my first smart watch as I own several other watches from beaters to high end and I have to say I am enjoying this watch more than I would have thought. Its not too big, I like that it is a round face and the band is comfortable for all day wear. Battery life on normal setting is lasting 24 hours with 30 percent charge remaining so charging it once a day is working well for me. Amazingly it only takes less than 45 minutes to fully charge. There are other battery modes to extend battery life and even a custom mode where you can really fine tune battery usage based on what features you would like available like system sounds, gestures brightness of screen etc. It is highly configurable. There is a tiny speaker/mic built in for notifications and phone calls. Yes, you can make and receive calls and actually have have a conversation via the watch. Your contacts and recent call history is available on the watch as is any photo associated with your contacts. I will avoid any Dick Tracy references here:) A feature I like is to be able to use Google assistant right from the watch and not having to reach for my phone when I need a quick answer for something. I hit the ICON and just speak my question. The activity tracking on this watch is wonderful. It will keep track of heart-rate,steps,sleep and more as it works with Google Fit. Lots of data available to keep you on track with workouts and goals. There are different workout scenarios with videos on how to do them properly and it keeps track of them all with heartbeat data. This may keep me motivated to do better. It acts as a coach. There is of course the Google Play Store right on the phone and you can download many APPS. There are also many choices for dial faces. The more I use the watch the more features I am finding. There is much to like on this watch and I'm sure you will be happy using it every day.

I needed anew smartwatch since my last one died. This was right up my alley to what I was looking for . However, there were somethings that I wish it did and didn't do. Likes: Lightweight and solidly built. Comfortable strap and clasp Good size face and controls Speaker for phone calls or audio (like google and music) Minimal interface (not a menu maze) with simple 4 way swipe Power adaptor magnetically connects to back of watch. Easy to read text as it has variable viewing sizes. Strap does not cause me to sweat up a storm with silicone as material. DIslikes: Power cable is only for watch and does not use any common connectors. (so you lose it or forget it, you are out of luck) Does not always push emails, texts, etc from phone. So many times I have missed important notes only to look later at my phone and see them there. Unable to move menu items around, so the ones I use the most might not be at the top, so I have to search for them. Battery is good, but extended and custom mode is pretty much useless since you can can't configure them the way you like. Limited watch faces (unless you download a separate program to watch and phone) that do not really look different or are hard to read time with all the added icons. Always wants to know your location, even if the item does not need to know. Unable to turn off fitness features to save battery, or to not have the light blinding you when you pick it up or take it off your wrist. Unable to add any additional programs or features with WearOS being a joke compared to other watch OS's. So for the price I am content for the moment until I find something more robust and feature packed that I can customize. I would recommend this to someone that wanted a smartwatch without all the bells and whistles, or the hugh menu system. But had I known it was limited as it is, I would not have bought it in the first place.

This was a great smartwatch! Love the sleek and snug fit and it gives off the look of a regular watch. Easy to clean and comfortable to wear!

Full disclosure- I received this device in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This is the 1st Smartwatch that I've had. I used to wear watches all the time in the pre smart phone era, but stopped once I got one. Not only is it a time piece (obviously), the intergration with my Samsung Galaxy s10 is pretty good. I've used it at the gym a few times to keep track of my cardio. It does fairly well at recognizing my distance, as well as my heart rate. I loveeeee being able to get quick news updates and my text messages all in one small device.

I have enjoyed using the Fossil 5E. It does everything I want from a smartwatch, it gives me notifications when I'm not near my phone, can track my heart rate, workouts, and sleep. I can reply to text and even answer phone calls as it has speakers and a mics. I would go with a different band as it feels like a band-aid to me, but the watch itself feels fine to wear all day and to sleep. Battery life has been great, it'll last me two days of use and it charges pretty quickly. The price at $250 is reasonable, but I'd look for sales because it is a Fossil Gen 5 Lite.

The watch dosent stay charged bought a new charger and that didn't work

A smartwatch without the bulk! While this is still as thick as a large wristwatch, it is much slimmer than any other smartwatch I have tried. I can comfortably wear the Fossil without it getting caught or smashing into things. The bezel surrounding the screen acts as a guard in the event you do hit it one something. The band is very sturdy and comfortable, but if it's not to your style it is easily swapped out. Having a minimal always on screen is useful for quick glances at the time. When the screen is fully on it is bright and easy to read and has good touch sensitivity. The heart rate and sleep monitoring functions work well and can be useful tools. The battery easily last through the day and charges quickly but without using the battery saver mode I wouldn't expect multiple days on a charge. All in all a great watch!