Fossil Gen 4 VS Gen 5: Full Comparison

Last Update On December 15, 2020

Smartwatches are becoming an essential item that each member of the family should have. While they show the time like mechanical and conventional ones, smartwatches also display the weather, receive notifications, have workout exercises for you to follow, incorporate a heart rate monitor, and much more!

If you don’t want to sacrifice the elegant classic look of mechanical watches but still want to have smartwatches’ features, Fossil is your best option. Fossil offers Fossil Gen 4 and Fossil Gen 5, which share many similarities, but still have a lot of differences.

For this reason, people might become confused, trying to choose one of them. And this is when we come to the rescue. In this article, you’ll find a comprehensive comparison between the two, putting an end to the Fossil Gen 4 vs. Fossil Gen 5 debate.

Fossil Gen 4 vs Fossil Gen 5: Specs Comparison

Specs

Fossil Gen 4

Fossil Gen 5

Heart rate tracking

Yes

Battery Life

24 hours

Water Resistance

Yes

Battery Modes

Yes

Fossil Gen 4 vs Fossil Gen 5: Full Comparison

Display and Design

If you love the look of traditional mechanical watches, Fossil Gen 4 is for you, owing to its flat glass front, crown buttons, and notched bezel. The primary and only thing that distinguishes its look from that of mechanical watches is the excellent 454 x 454, 1.4’’ display.

This smartwatch comes with an always-on display, which allows you to check any information on the screen without having to wake the watch up, which is another common point between it and the mechanical watches.

Since the smartwatch has a small Fossil logo on its strap buckle, the company decided to design various customizable watch faces that display a bigger logo. This would be nice for people who love to show that they are wearing a Fossil smartwatch. Moreover, it comes in many colors, including gunmetal, black, blue, rose gold, smoke grey, and smooth black. Each one of these colors comes with various straps made of different materials.

To make things easier for users, Fossil Gen 4 comes with a small rotating crown on the sides, so users can scroll the menu without using their fingers on the little screen. However, the crown is a bit complicated to use if you wear the watch on the right arm.

Further, while the smartwatch is only 5 ounces, which is pretty lightweight, the parts where the straps attach have sharp edges and might make you feel a bit uncomfortable.

On the other hand, Fossil Gen 5 comes with many design options, so you can choose the one you like the most. You can also choose a design that goes with casual wear, and another that is suitable for wearing on formal or fancy occasions.

Besides, the watch looks good on men’s and women’s wrists, and it’s very lightweight as it only weighs 3.49 ounces, so you will forget that you’re wearing anything on your wrist in the first place.

You’ll easily see the information on its 1.28-inch AMOLED display with a nice resolution of 416 x 416. Similar to Fossil Gen 4, it features an always-on display, so you don’t need to wake it up. However, checking any information under direct sunlight feels a bit tricky.

Winner

Fossil Gen 5

Fitness and Activity Tracking

You don’t need to buy a fitness tracker to keep track of your activities and workouts. With Fossil Gen 4 and 5, you can do all of this. Fossil Gen 4 has a built-in GPS, so you can track your runs and never get lost.

Besides, it features heart-rate monitor tracking so that you can keep an eye on your heart condition before, while, and after runs, for example. You can even track your heart rate while swimming as it is water-resistant up to 50m. This also means that you can wear it while showering without worrying about destroying it.

Fossil Gen 5 is a lot similar to its predecessor in this area. It, too, comes with a heart rate monitor to keep track of your heart rate. You can easily activate this option via Google Fit. However, if you suffer from any heart condition, it’s better not to rely on this smartwatch entirely and getting a cheap chest strap would be a better alternative.

It’s also worthy to note that it doesn’t feature an ECG feature that detects accurate heart readings. Yet, it can still be used to detect undiagnosed diabetes, atrial fibrillation, sleep apnea, and hypertension.

Users can keep track of their fitness using Google Fit, which is compatible with Android and iOS. Plus, thanks to Move Minutes and Heart Points, it does a great job giving users general feedback since not all people love knowing the very technical details. Yet, if you need to know all the technicalities, you can download a third-party app.

Moreover, it features a built-in GPS so that you can track your bike rides, runs, walks, and enjoy not getting lost every so often. And it is water-resistant up to 50 meters, which means that it won’t be a problem if you forget to take it off before showering. It’s also an ideal feature for swimmers as they can use it to track their heart rate while in the pool.

Tie

Fossil Gen 4

Tie

Fossil Gen 5

Smartwatch Features

As much as fitness tracking is a crucial feature to have on your smartwatch, there are other essential features that are not fitness-related. For example, Fossil Gen 4 allows you to use the built-in Google Assistant, which is always ready to answer any of your queries.

Also, suppose you don’t like moving or running around with cash; in that case, you will enjoy contactless payments via Google Pay. The lovely thing is that it doesn’t need an internet connection, so you can pick whatever you need from the supermarket even if you don’t have your phone.

Fossil Gen 4 receives texts and notifications from your smartphone, which means that you can read your messages right from your wrist without needing to grab your phone. This might sound like a kind of a luxury, but it would prove to be very handy when your hands are full, and you can’t pick up your phone.

Plus, you can answer phone calls, manage your calendar, set timers, control your music, set the alarm, check the weather, and much more without needing to grab your phone.

Further, you can answer calls using the smartwatch. However, when you choose to answer, you’ll have to use your phone to complete the call. If this sounds like a problem for you, you can keep a Bluetooth headset with you and complete the call with it instead of the phone.

Note, though, that Fossil Gen 4 has a 3G (Cell Phone) option, which means that you can’t use it without having your phone around. So, even if it’s connected to your phone, you won’t receive any notifications unless your phone is nearby.

Yet, if you want to enjoy listening to music while working out, you can download some songs on it and use your Bluetooth headset to enjoy some quality time without being troubled with any notifications.

Fossil Gen 5 is as great as its predecessor since it also features NFC for Google Pay, so you can use it to pay for whatever you buy without needing to have any cash on you. Plus, if you want to ask about anything, use Google Assistant.

You can also download music and use the smartwatch to set timers, alarms, receive texts, and notifications. Moreover, you can reply to texts without using your phone, which is a great and handy feature for busy people. Yet, this feature is available for Android users only.

Fossil Gen 5 takes the crown in this field because it allows you to answer phone calls right from it without needing your smartphone to complete the call! This is because it has a microphone and a speaker. Yet, make sure that it’s connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth, or else this won’t work. You can also answer the call using a paired set of Bluetooth headphones.

Winner

Fossil Gen 5

Battery Life

Checking the smartwatch’s battery life before buying it is highly important because it would be awful to buy a smartwatch only to find out that its battery is not enough for your usage.

The battery of Fossil Gen 4 lasts for 24 hours only, which might be okay for people who have no problem charging the watch overnight. However, some users find this irritating because they might want to wear it while sleeping for a reason or another.

While the battery of Fossil Gen 5 lasts for 24 hours only as well, it is better than that of Fossil Gen 4 as it comes with four modes. In other words, there are Daily, Custom, Time, and Extended modes. So, for example, if the battery is low or if you don’t want it to lose its juice, you can turn off Wi-Fi, location, and tilt-to-wake. Moreover, it charges up to 80% in less than an hour.

Winner

Fossil Gen 5

Pros and Cons

Fossil Gen 4

Pros:

Lightweight
Always-on display
Contactless payment
Comes in various colors
Built-in GPS
Features Google Assistant
Heart rate tracking
Affordable

Cons:

Not very comfortable
No sleep tracking
Lacks ECG feature
No ECG feature
Short battery life
Doesn’t allow you to complete a call without your phone

Fossil Gen 5

Pros:

Comfortable to wear
Lightweight
Always-on display
Offers many design options
Built-in GPS
Tracks heart rate
Features four battery modes
Contactless payment
Allows you to answer phone calls
Receives notifications
Sends replies to texts

Cons:

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, you’re not confused anymore. Yet, if you’re still unsure which smartwatch to buy, allow me to highlight some points for you.

Fossil Gen 5

Better Battery Life & More Comfortable to wear

Fossil Gen 5 has a better battery life than Fossil Gen 4, which is a huge selling point. There’s also the fact that you can use Fossil Gen 5 to answer and complete calls without needing to grab your phone at all.

Fossil Gen 4

More Affordable

Yet, if you are okay with having a 24-hour battery and don’t need to complete the call from your smartwatch, go for the more affordable option, which is Fossil Gen 4.