How I use my smartwatch
I’ve purchased the TicWatch Pro 5 on Amazon nearly a year ago, in July 2024. I was previously using the Huawei Watch GT2e as my smartwatch for its outstanding week long battery life. It had served me well with basic functionality such as standby time, notifications and outdoor visibility. Yep, those are really the only things I use a smartwatch for. I don’t really use the fitness tracking features on a smartwatch. I only use smartwatches more as a glorified notification tracker than anything else. However, I wanted a more robust notification system on my watch, so I decided to go with an Wear OS offering from Mobvoi. Having read that it has far superior battery life than other Wear OS offerings such as Samsung’s Watch 6 and Google’s Pixel Watch, I decided to take the TicWatch Pro 5 as my daily driver. TicWatch Pro 5 was paired with my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6 and Oppo Find N3 throughout the duration of the review.
Specifications
Hardware: Premium Feel
The TicWatch Pro 5 has great build quality, with its sturdy aluminium casing. It has a more rugged aesthetic over more common options such as Samsung’s and Apple’s watch lineup, which feature more minimalist designs.
Software: It’s standard WearOS
My Ticwatch Pro 5 runs WearOS 4.0 on Android 13, November 2024 Security patch. Not exactly the most up-to-date software version but I’m not too picky about that. Although if you want timely updates, then you should look at other options. There are some Mobvoi fitness and tracking apps preinstalled on the watch. However, you can use alternatives such as Google Fit or Strava if you choose to do so. In my experience, the Mobvoi apps work as intended and I never had any issues with them. Overall watchOS experience has been smooth with little to no stuttering navigating through the interface.
Battery Life: Incredible Battery Performance
While you can use the standard always-on AMOLED display that’s on the watch, I recommend using the low-powered display instead. The low-powered display really does extend the battery life during standby. It can lasts up to 5-7 days easily. I can comfortably use the watch when it’s below 20% just because I know that it can still lasts the whole work day. Not only that it can lasts for that long, it can also fast charge within an hour back to full battery. Fast charging plus the long standby time makes it an incredible watch that doesn’t require charging every night before bed.
Verdict: Get it for what it is now
I can recommend the TicWatch Pro 5 if you can find it at a heavily discounted price. Nowadays you can find it for as much as 40% its RRP on Amazon fairly frequently. I’d say buy it for what it is currently and do not expect much in terms of software support. As others online have mentioned that the lack of software support in the long term is very poor.