TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro review: a great smartwatch (with a catch)

The TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro is slimmer than the TicWatch Pro 5, a true statement of fact that can be backed up by the spec sheet, except the difference is just 0.25mm. Unless you’re that princess who complained of a pea under her mattress, there’s no way you’ll notice the difference between the 12.2mm-thick TicWatch Pro 5 and the “new” 11.95mm-thick TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro. It’s impossible to see visually and equally as impossible to feel.

Otherwise, the case size remains the same at 48mm wide, and it’s the only option available. If you don’t want a big smartwatch on your wrist, then the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro isn’t for you. There’s a similarly negligible difference in case weight, but the thicker, more substantial redesigned 24mm fluoro rubber strap takes the total weight to 75 grams, which is more than that of the TicWatch 5 Pro. What Mobvoi gives with one hand, it takes away with the other.

The major update here is the addition of sapphire crystal over the 1.43 OLED screen. It joins the MIL-STD-810H toughness certification and 5ATM water resistance rating to increase durability, but I haven’t noticed much of the sheen you usually get with sapphire. It does resist smudges nicely, and the scratch resistance should keep it looking good for longer, making it a very welcome addition. but it doesn’t dramatically change the smartwatch’s style.

The case is made from aluminum with a fiberglass case back, and Mobvoi only makes the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro in a single color (Obsidian). The bezel has a gear-like design on the edge, and the crown has been made a tiny bit larger and with a different grip pattern compared to the TicWatch Pro 5. To call the design “new” is a stretch, but it is different. Unfortunately, I personally prefer the older model’s look. Mobvoi got it right with the TicWatch Pro 5, which is modern, classy, and understated. The Enduro version doesn’t look quite as good, mostly because of the bezel design, and as the addition of sapphire elevates durability rather than design, it’s a bit of a sideways step.

TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro: screens and watch faces

One of my favorite features on Mobvoi’s TicWatch Pro series is the second, ultra-low-power LCD screen. It takes care of the ambient display and turns off the full-color OLED when not in use, dramatically improving the battery life. It shows the time, date, heart rate, step count, and battery level. Plus, when you rotate the crown, it shows individual screens for instant heart rate, blood oxygen, body temperature, and calorie burn data.

When you track an exercise, the LCD shows information based on your stats, plus the backlight dynamically changes color to indicate your heart rate zone, which is a helpful at-a-glance way to understand how hard you’re working. Unfortunately, the LCD can also frustrate. The backlight is slow to activate when I raise my wrist, and it often needs dramatic movement, too. It’s a pain because seeing the LCD in sunlight is a challenge, and you want it to work quickly. Worse, the tap-to-wake feature only wakes up the OLED, and I can’t see a way to configure it only to wake the LCD and to use the crown to wake the OLED.

Apart from this, the two-screen setup is superb and has a positive impact on battery life, but the other important aspect of a smartwatch screen is the watch face it shows. Mobvoi’s basic selection is uninspiring, and to find more, it prompts you to download an app called Time Show, which is operated by Mobvoi.

Unfortunately, while the choice is considerable, if you want to put one on your watch, you’ll have to pay for it. I don’t like how the store has many faces “inspired by” Rolex, Vacheron Constantin, Casio, and many other watch brand faces either, as they shamelessly even use the brand name on the dial. Worse, the app is terrible for sending spammy notifications once it’s on your phone.

A poor selection of standard watch faces is nothing new in Wear OS world. While there are apps like Time Show and Facer to find alternatives, most of the time, I just want to stick with one attractive, functional, and free watch face without downloading a separate app. It’s a shame few manufacturers outside of Apple manage to offer such a thing.

TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro: performance and software

The TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 platform and has 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, making it one of the most powerful Wear OS smartwatches you can buy. It has Google’s Wear OS 3.5 software installed and pairs with the Mobvoi Health app on your phone. I have been using it connected to the Samsung Galaxy A35, and it has been mostly reliable, apart from one time.

I found the Ticwatch Pro 5 Enduro suddenly became unresponsive after functioning normally for a morning. It did not respond to button presses or the touchscreen, and putting it back on the charger didn’t make a difference. It eventually restarted after I held down both the crown and action button for quite a period of time. Since then, it has returned to normal, so I won’t judge it harshly. However, this was a concern at the time, and I do wonder if it’ll happen again.

Otherwise, the smartwatch has been great. The screen is very responsive, the software is very fast, and the rotating crown makes it easy to navigate. There are a lot of apps and options, though, so it’s worth taking time to set up the Tiles, which simplifies viewing and use; scrolling through the long, packed menu — mostly filled with Mobvoi’s own apps, such as a privacy app, a treadmill exercise app, a compass, a meditation app, and a lot more — can become irritating. The amount of interaction you can have with a notification depends on the app. For example, replying to an Outlook email opens the app on your phone, while you can reply to an SMS on the watch using a tiny keyboard, voice, or set quick responses.

Wear OS is the best it has ever been, but unfortunately, there’s no sign of a public release of Wear OS 4 for the TicWatch Pro 5 or Enduro. When asked about the situation, Mobvoi told Digital Trends it’s working on an invitation-only beta program for the software, but does not have any further information to share. This means the smartwatch lags behind the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, along with the Google Pixel Watch 2.

TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro: health and activity tracking

There are some very simple changes to the TicExercise software on the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro, including a new set of workouts added (mostly niche additions such as cross-country skiing and crunches), but otherwise, it seems to be identical to the TicWatch Pro 5. The list of available activities is long, but you can reorder and prioritize your favorites, and it only takes a few taps to start a workout, so it doesn’t frustrate.

I’ve tracked some general workouts, walks, and sleep with the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro and compared it to both the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Oura Ring smart ring. For workouts, it generally agrees with the Apple Watch on duration, heart rate, and zones, but usually reports a much higher calorie burn, often up to 200 kilocalories more than the Apple Watch. The app pairs with Strava, Apple Health, and Google Health Connect.

The Enduro is light and comfortable enough to wear overnight, helped by the lovely new strap that doesn’t make you sweaty at all. Compared to the Oura Ring, it reports a higher resting heart rate and respiratory rate, but mostly aligns with sleep stages. It recognizes fewer waking times though, and the amount of sleep it states includes these periods, while the Oura Ring splits time asleep and time in bed into two categories. The TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro does not show heart rate variability (HRV) data and does not have enhanced health features like an electrocardiogram, fall detection, or emergency alerts.

Mobvoi Health’s main page is neatly laid out, with large tiles showing key information, but the top of the page is dominated by a weekly goal section where the aim is to surpass 150 minutes of high-intensity exercise. Unfortunately, it can’t be removed or moved to a different section and may not be motivational for newcomers. Elsewhere, the app shows some device and account settings, but it’s rather messy, so it’s hard to find what you want or to remember where it was the next time you try and find it.

The Health app is more data-packed than Apple Fitness, with information ranging from V02 max to step length available, but less focused than Garmin’s or Polar’s platforms. The app compares favorably with Samsung Health and Xiaomi’s exercise app, but is less minimalist in design than Fitbit with the Pixel Watch. As a casual exerciser, the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro and Mobvoi Health work well for me — I just don’t expect much feedback or motivation outside of move alerts. More hardcore fitness fans will probably get more from Garmin’s wealth of data and impressive platform.

Currently, the Mobvoi Health platform is free to use with no optional subscription package. However, Mobvoi has previously announced a premium version with more sleep data, but the app does not prompt you to subscribe to see more. This may change in the future, though.

TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro: battery life and charging

When you first set the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro up, you have to dig into the settings to activate blood oxygen and stress monitoring, which are disabled out of the box. Why? It has to be about battery life, and it’s frustrating. Why offer these features if they’re only going to be switched off? It’s even more annoying because the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro still has great battery life even when they are active!

When you track sleep and about two hours of workouts, the 628mAh battery lasts for four days, but this does decrease slightly when you add in GPS tracking. A single one-hour workout takes about 6% of the battery without GPS. When you track sleep, it switches on Essential Mode to further conserve battery life. This setting severely minimizes functionality, and if you leave it on, Mobvoi states the battery will last for 45 days on a single charge.

The smartwatch is recharged using the same tiny magnetic puck that came with the TicWatch Pro 5. The puck attaches to a set of pins on the back of the smartwatch. It’s not pretty, and it will easily disconnect if it gets knocked. After 30 minutes of charging, the battery reaches about 60%, and a full charge takes about an hour and 10 minutes.

Battery life is excellent, and the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro easily surpasses what you can expect from the Galaxy Watch 6, Apple Watch Series 9, and the Pixel Watch 2. It even manages to surpass the innovative OnePlus Watch 2. It’s a genuine reason to buy, but performance remains the same as the TicWatch Pro 5 despite the Enduro name, which suggests Mobvoi had squeezed something more out of it.

TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro: price and availability

The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro costs $350, which is the same price as the TicWatch Pro 5. This makes it $50 more expensive than the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and the OnePlus Watch 2, the same price as the Google Pixel Watch 2, and $50 less than the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. It’s a reasonable price for the hardware, features, and design, but where the Enduro really stands out is with battery life, which is substantially longer than that of the competition.

Which one is the best to buy? Outside of battery life and design, they are all highly accomplished and have similar levels of performance, making the choice difficult. The good news is they’re all great purchases, but if forced to pick, I’d go for one of the Samsung smartwatches. You get a choice of case size and color, there are more health and wellness features on board, and the design of the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is fantastic.

Although you can receive calls on the smartwatch, there is no cellular option. Mobvoi confirmed to Digital Trends that the TicWatch Pro 5 will be sold alongside the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro, so you’ll get a choice of styles. The company had no information to share on whether the small TicExercise updates in the Enduro would also come to the older version in the future.

TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro: verdict

Now we come to the point where I have to answer the question of whether this is actually a new smartwatch. It’s right on the edge of the definition, as while there are some small changes, the vast majority of the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro is exactly the same as the TicWatch Pro 5 — right down to it having the same Wear OS version, the same Mobvoi apps preinstalled, and the same processor, screens, and battery capacity. It seems to operate in exactly the same way too.

Am I mad about it? It’s hard to be that upset at Mobvoi because the Enduro holds its own against the newly launched smartwatches that make up its competition. It is the sad state of Wear OS watches that’s to blame when basically the same TicWatch model can be relaunched a year later and legitimately be directly compared to — and sometimes still beat — other models. We’ve seen something similar with the Galaxy Watch 5 versus Galaxy Watch 6, and even though the Pixel Watch 2 was a vast improvement over the first model, it didn’t push smartwatches forward in any way. If only Fossil still made smartwatches, because maybe it would work its old magic on the industry.

While it has made me sad about the state of Wear OS, I’ve otherwise been pleased with the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro — especially the battery life — but I felt the same way about the TicWatch 5 Pro. This should also tell you whether anyone with a TicWatch Pro 5 should upgrade or not (to be clear, no, you shouldn’t). For everyone else, the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro is an excellent smartwatch with long battery life, two good screens, and the fastest chip you can get. Just don’t think of it as anything more than a lightly redesigned TicWatch Pro 5, and certainly not a TicWatch Pro 6.

Editors’ Recommendations