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Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS confirmed for next week

By JC Torres/

There have been many smartwatches and smartwatch makers over the years, but only a few have really managed to rise above the rest. In the Wear OS market, Mobvoi is one of the more prominent brands, with its TicWatch offering a fine balance of features and battery life, the latter thanks to its dual-screen strategy. It was also one of the first and still few smartwatch makers that utilizes the latest Snapdragon Wear chipsets, and it might be cementing that position next week when it launches the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS.

The TicWatch Pro 3's claim to fame was its hardware, being the first to take advantage of Qualcomm's most recent wearable platform while most of the Wear OS crowd got stuck on the Snapdragon Wear 3100 or, worse, 2100. When Samsung suddenly started dominating Wear OS news, it was hoped that Mobvoi would be one of if not the first to promise a Wear OS 3 upgrade, or at the very least launch a new model running the latest software version. The latter is apparently happening, but not in the way those people had hoped for.

There have been rumors and sightings of an "Ultra" refresh of the TicWatch Pro 3 GPS, and the company has now confirmed that to be the case. In a tweet promoting its upcoming launch, Mobvoi named the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS that would be landing on or after October 13. Unfortunately, it also doesn't go into detail about what that smartwatch would put on the table.

It did, however, just launch a TicWatch Pro X in China, which seemed like a minor update compared to the current flagship model. There were hopes it would run on a slightly faster Snapdragon Wear 4100+ processor, but that might not be the case. There are also expectations of improved heart monitoring, but we'll have to see how that plays out.

The biggest question is, of course, whether it will run Wear OS 3 out of the box. Given that even the new Fossil Gen 6 didn't, there's a very slim chance it will. Mobvoi could at least follow in Fossil's footsteps and promise a major software upgrade in 2022. Otherwise, this Ultra smartwatch wouldn't really have much to offer until the first Mobvoi Wear OS 3 smartwatch hits the market.

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