Last year Mobvoi released the Ticwatch E and the Ticwatch S as super affordable Wear OS (then called Android Wear) smartwatches and both generally received good reviews. Their strong points was their price, especially the Ticwatch E, and functionality for a full-featured smartwatch. I enjoyed reviewing the Ticwatch E but two things always kept it off my wrist.
One was the battery life. It often struggled to get me through a full 24 hours and I always felt like I couldn’t use it to its’ full potential during the day because I didn’t want to drain the battery by 5pm. The other issue was the build quality. I think it’s a fun watch to wear but I prefer something a little more classy looking because everyone knows I’m a classy gal!
Then came the Ticwatch Pro in the summer of 2018 and battery life is not an issue with it due to the dual screen technology it uses. The Ticwatch Pro tested very well with everything I threw at it. The build quality is very good, the GPS tested great, as did the heart rate sensor. It also functioned well as a smartwatch doing all of those smartwatchy things like answering text messages by voice, using Google Maps, and navigating with my favorite hiking apps. The price isn’t bad either considering everything you’re getting compared to other Wear OS smartwatches.
The only thing that kept the Ticwatch Pro off my wrist as a daily smartwatch was its’ size and weight. I still like taking it out on a bike ride or hike because I can use those great Wear OS apps and see them well on the large screen but as a day-to-day watch it was just too big on my wrist.
It wasn’t so much the diameter that I found too large but the thickness of the watch since I’d sometimes catch it on things because of its’ profile, so I’m glad to see that the C2 is thinner. I still really like the Pro though!
Now we have the Ticwatch C2, which looks to be a design upgrade from the Ticwatch E. Visit this page for a look at the C2. Instead of a plastic body, the C2 features a stainless steel front case. It looks like the back is still some sort of plastic.
The water resistance rating is also higher than the E at IP68 which means that it can handle being splashed and possibly even submerged in shallow water for a few minutes but it’s still not rated for swimming. For that you want to look at a watch with a rating of 5 ATM or better.
The C2 also comes with leather straps and supports Google Pay™.
It is available in three different finishes: rose gold, onyx (black), and platinum (silver), with the rose gold featuring slightly smaller dimensions.
The onyx and platinum versions are (in mm) 42.83 x 42.83 x 13.10 with a 20 mm strap while the rose gold is the same diameter at 42.83 x 42.83 but with a slightly thinner case at 12.80 mm with a 18 mm strap.
In comparison, the Ticwatch Pro’s diameter is 45mm and 14.6 mm in thickness but has the same IP 68 water rating but that better battery life.
In my tests of the Ticwatch E and Ticwatch Pro, the Pro outperformed the E on GPS, heart rate accuracy, and of course battery life so I’m interested to see how the Ticwatch C2 will hold up.
It looks like battery life is advertised as about the same as the Ticwatch E but if it can truly offer a day to a day-and-half of battery life with normal usage then it will be an improvement. The C2 promises 1-2 days.
The Ticwatch C2 looks to be a very good option for those looking for a an affordable Wear OS smartwatch. It’s priced very competitively against the competition, especially if you order it during its pre-release period at $179.99 on Mobvoi’s site. The regular list price on Mobvoi’s site is $199.99.
Obviously, Mobvoi is trying to appeal to a wider crowd with the C2. It has a much more gender neutral design over the Ticwatch Pro. The rose gold version is definitely trying to appeal to women with its thinner design but I would have liked to have seen the thinner profile offered on the onyx version too. I think a lot of women dig black watches just like men do.
There hasn’t been any word on whether the GPS and heart rate sensor has been upgraded over the E. The Ticwatch E has a built-in GPS but I could never get it to work as a standalone GPS watch. It had to be connected to my phone. In contrast, the Ticwatch Pro is a true standalone GPS watch, and as a I previously stated, tested very well against some of the best GPS watches out there.
The heart rate sensor tested decently on the E but not as good as the Pro, so I’m also interested to see how it performs on the C2.
Then of course, there’s battery life. Right now, I’m wearing the Apple Watch Series 4 as my daily watch and the battery life is surprisingly very good but more on that in my review coming very soon…I promise…it’s coming! The Series 4 is the first smartwatch I will give a 5-star rating for (the Ticwatch Pro available on Amazon also gets high marks), so we’ll see how the C2 compares to both.
The Ticwatch C2 already has the Apple Watch Series 4 beaten on price but what about an acceptable battery life, its’ health features and those Wear OS capabilities? We’ll see!
You can pre-order the Ticwatch C2 on Mobvoi and get 10% off until its’ release. It will be available before Christmas.
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