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I don’t live a very outdoorsy life. It’s why I’ve never been very interested in devices that are built to be rugged. However, for those who love the euphoria of adrenaline more than I do, their needs are very different. A smartwatch is an important companion but a relatively “dainty” one can’t handle the rigors of hiking, mountain biking, or diving.
If you’re a rugged smartwatch lover, Mobvoi has just introduced its new TicWatch Atlas. Not only will you get a rugged build and everything you might need to complement an outdoor lifestyle, but it competes with big options like the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 while saving you a few hundreds.
The TicWatch Atlas Is Built To Take Whatever You Might Happen To Throw At It
If you have to wear a smartwatch when engaging in extreme activities, it can end up going through a lot of trauma. Think about it: scraping against rocks when climbing, getting covered with mud or dirt during intense mountain biking, or dealing with high water pressure when diving.
That’s why rugged smartwatches exist, and that’s the niche that the TicWatch Atlas sits snugly in. Mobvoi calls this its “most rugged smartwatch yet” and we can see why just from looking at it. It has a relatively bulky build with a chassis made of sand-blasted steel and 7000-series aluminum, along with a tough sapphire crystal display.
Very unsurprisingly, this watch passes MIL-STD-810H testing, making it military standard. It also has water resistance up to 5ATM and dust resistance too. Just from looking at it, you can tell it is built to take more of a beating than the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro.
It Brings The Performance And Features That You’ll Need Outdoors
Rugged smartwatches need power just as much as any other smartwatch out there. Inside is the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chip, which is the best offering from Qualcomm for wearables. You also get 32GB of internal storage, 2GB of RAM, and a 1.43-inch OLED screen.
Thanks to a 628mAh battery—bigger than what you’ll find in the Galaxy Watch Ultra—you get up to 90 hours of battery life with regular use, and up to 45 days of battery life when the watch is put into “Essential Mode”. It also doesn’t hurt that all you need is a 30-minute charge for two days’ worth of regular use. That much battery life is perfect for any adventure.
You get a compass, barometer, altimeter, and GPS (along with four other GNSS systems) to always keep you on the right track. It even has a Heat Map feature that you can switch on when playing basketball, soccer, tennis, and other ball games, to track your most dominant areas and other health metrics. And yes, you get all the fitness features expected of a smartwatch—sleep, heart rate, and blood oxygen can be tracked.
It’s Powered By Google’s Wear OS, Giving You App Compatibility At Its Best
There’s no better smartwatch OS for the Android-focused than Wear OS. The TicWatch Atlas runs on Wear OS 4. This means you get the widest selection of apps available for smartwatches, including first-party takes on all of Google’s services, such as Wallet, Maps, Calendar, YouTube Music, and more. That also means the best support for third-party apps like WhatsApp, Spotify, and more.
The TicWatch Atlas Undercuts Rugged Competitors By A Lot
The TicWatch Atlas is a rugged smartwatch and those usually come at a premium compared to regular smartwatches since they have to be built tougher. However, compared to the competition, the Atlas comes at a competitive price.
The TicWatch Atlas will set you back by $349.99 and is available in black and silver colorways. For clarity, that makes it nearly half the price of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra which costs $649.99. That’s a good deal and one worth thinking about for the active crowd.