Mobvoi will use the new Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 processor in a forthcoming smartwatch. It’s one of just a few brands to officially announce it will adopt Qualcomm’s new chip, which was itself only announced on July 19, but Movoi has stopped short of providing masses of details on the device it will be housed within.
What do we know? Only what Mobvoi has told us at this stage, which is the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chip will be used in a new TicWatch model, and that it will make it the most powerful smartwatch Mobvoi has released yet. The teaser image above shows a circular smartwatch with a ridged bezel, but gives nothing about the hardware away. The company’s CEO, Robert Zhang, had this to say:
“The differentiated features in the new Snapdragon W5+ platform offer the strongest processing power to date, which we’re excited to bring to our next-generation smartwatch. Our flagship TicWatch smartwatches are one of our most popular product offerings, so we have high hopes for the upcoming release later this year.”
The Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 is one of two new smartwatch chipsets announced by Qualcomm this month, joining the W5 Gen 1 chipset, which is designed for more niche wearable devices including smartwatches made for children and seniors. The W5+ Gen 1 chip is destined for mainstream smartwatches, so it’s perfect for Mobvoi’s TicWatch series. Mobvoi hasn’t released any new smartwatches in 2022, with the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra arriving in late 2021 after the TicWatch E3. Both these used Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 4100 platform, which has been replaced by the W5 series.
What Mobvoi hasn’t said at this stage is anything about the software on its W5+ Gen 1-powered smartwatch, but we’re hopeful it’ll be Google’s WearOS 3. So far, despite being revealed by Google in 2021, only the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 range uses WearOS 3, although Montblanc’s Summit 3 will join them very soon.
Mobvoi says it will release more details about its future, unnamed W5+ Gen 1 smartwatch, “in the coming months,” which suggests it won’t be publicly revealed until after the summer. At this time it will face competition from the Google Pixel Watch, another anticipated smartwatch release, but it’s expected to use a Samsung-made Exynos processor and not a Qualcomm chip.
We will bring you all the news on Mobvoi’s new smartwatch as it’s revealed.
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