Fossil's Gen 5E Is an Affordable Version of Last Year's Popular Gen 5 Smartwatch

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Fossil has been making elegant watches for more than four decades, and its been utilizing this expertise to craft eye-grabbing smartwatches for around half a decade. Now, Fossil is launching the Gen 5E — an affordable version of last year’s popular Gen 5 smartwatch.

Shop Gen 5E Smartwatch at Fossil

The Gen 5E smartwatch features a vivid AMOLED screen, a speaker and microphone for taking calls, a robust suite of sensors to monitor your heart rate and steps, and multiple battery modes to keep it running for over a week before needing to recharge—all for comfortable $249. Take a look at a few of the features that help it stand out from the pack.

Fossil Gen 5E Specifications

Fossil is offering the Gen 5E in two different sizes — 44mm or 42mm — both of which come in a variety of styles and are compatible with iOS and Android devices. Regardless of size and style, the Gen 5E offers the following features:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 Platform (Powered with Wear OS by Google)
• 1.19-inch full round AMOLED face (328 pixels per inch)
• Android 6.0+ and iOS 12.0+
• 4GB Storage
• 1GB RAM
• Heart Rate Sensor
• NFC Payments
• Tethered GPS
• Wireless Syncing
• Rapid Magnetic Charging (80% full in 50 minutes)
• 300mAH battery capacity
• Bluetooth + Wi-Fi connectivity
• Microphone
• Water Resistant (up to 3ATM)
• Accelerometer
• Gyroscope
• LED flashlight
• Music control/storage
• Calendar alerts
• Customizable watch face
• Spotify, Noonlight, Cardiogram, and Weather apps

Credit: Fossil

Smart Battery Modes to Last All Week

If you’re coming to a smartwatch from a quartz or mechanical watch, one of the biggest adjustments is remembering to charge it every night. While traditional watches can last for years on a tiny battery, smartwatches typically need to refuel on a daily basis.
Fossil has come up with an elegant solution to this problem by offering custom battery modes. Using this feature, you can quickly save and load profiles that fit what you’re doing throughout the day. This maximizes your battery life by turning any unneeded features off. Alternatively,  you can also choose from one of three default modes:

• Daily Mode: Use most features daily, recharge at night.
• Extended Mode: Use essential features daily, recharge every few days.
• Time Only Mode: Turn your watch into a clock that lasts over a week before needing a recharge.

No matter how you plan to use it, Fossil’s Gen 5E has the battery life to keep up with you day and night. And with the ability to hit 80% battery capacity with 50 minutes of charging, you won’t need to wait long before strapping it back on your wrist.

Credit: Fossil

Health and Wellness All Day Long

The Gen 5E makes it easy to keep a daily log of your health and fitness goals. Optimized to work with Google Fit, you can monitor your daily activity and even get recommendations from the American Heart Association and World Health Organization to help keep you on-track. The Fossil Gen 5E smartwatch is also swimproof, meaning you won’t have to take it off while going for a few laps in the pool.
You’ll also be able to make contactless payments with your Gen 5E using Google Pay — an important feature in today’s increasingly contactless world. Skip the cash or card reader, just tap a few buttons on your watch face and you’re ready to make a payment at stores across the country.

Credit: Fossil

Wear OS Tech for Daily Tasks

There’s no doubt Fossil has packed the Gen 5E with a suite of impressive features — the whole product feels focused on making your day-to-day tasks easier. To that end, you’re able to control your music directly on the watch without needing to take out your phone. This includes changing the volume, skipping a bad track and more with the stored playlists functionality.
Thanks to the Gen 5E’s built-in speaker and microphone, you can even answer calls without reaching for your phone. If you’re not in a talkative mode, just reply with a text message through a quick tap of the watch face.

A Variety of Styles, Sizes and Watch Faces

Fossil’s expert ability to craft traditional watches shines through in the variety of models available for the Gen 5E. Watch faces come in numerous colors and styles which can be further augmented by interchangeable watch straps. You can also pick up the Gen 5E in 44mm or 42mm varieties — something that wasn’t offered on last year’s 44mm-only Gen 5 lineup.
Most of the straps can be purchased for less than $40, giving you the look of a completely new watch for a fraction of the price. There are over 20 different styles of watches available for purchase on Fossil’s website, including:

• Gen 5E Smartwatch Black Silicon – $249.00
• Gen 5E Smartwatch Blush Silicon – $249.00
• Gen 5E Smartwatch Black Stainless Steel – $249.00
• Gen 5E Smartwatch Rose Gold-Tone Stainless Steel Mesh – $249.00
• Gen 5E Smartwatch Brown Leather – $249.00

We’re particularly fond of the 42mm design. Fossil was able to keep the display the same size as its 44mm cousin by just making its bezels smaller. Head on over to the Gen 5E official website to get a look at all the options.

Credit: Fossil

Form, Function, and Affordability

One of the most impressive aspects of the Gen 5E is its reasonable price tag. Clocking in at $249 for both the 44mm and 42mm varieties, there’s not another smartwatch on the market that packs this much of a punch at this price. You’re getting stylish Fossil designs merged with contemporary conveniences like health tracking, contactless payments and adjustable watch faces.
Changing out watch bands or updating your watch face are perfect ways to change up your style without needing to buy a new product. Thousands of watch faces are available that can take advantage of the 5E’s always-on display, transforming its appearance at the tap of a button. Its sleek form is married to incredible function — including features exclusive to Toyota owners and those with smart home devices — that you typically don’t see in products that cost under $250.
The Fossil Gen 5E went on sale on October 21st, with Fossil hoping to get products shipped out by November 3rd. If you’re in the market for a sleek, affordable and functional smartwatch, be sure to check out what Fossil’s doing with its new Gen 5E.