Mobvoi, a Chinese startup, released their next generation of Ticwatch series – Ticwatch S&E. It is available in two variants – Sports (Ticwatch S) and Express (Ticwatch E). I backed the Kickstarter project on 12th July 2017 (backer #3606) for a pair of Ticwatch E at US$245. It was slated for delivery in October 2017 but it was only delivered to me on 25th November 2017 after some delay.

Ticwatch S is available in three colors – Glacier, Knight and Aurora. (img src: Mobvoi)

Ticwatch E is available in three colors – Lemon, Shadow and Ice. (img src: Mobvoi)

I chose the Ticwatch E as I felt that it is more appropriate for office wear and it’s watch straps can be changed. Whereas the Ticwatch S’s watch straps are fixed.

The Ticwatch E is my third smart watch. The first being the Pebble watch (first generation) and followed by the Moto 360. I always found the Apple watch to be sleek but, unfortunately, I cannot use it due to my choice of phone (OnePlus 3). The next best choice? Stick to Android Wear.

Difference between the Ticwatch S and Ticwatch E

Other than the differences in size of the watch and weight, the Ticwatch S has got the GPS antenna integrated into the watchband that (supposedly) allows it better location accuracy. The Ticwatch S also comes with a fixed outer bezel that cannot be used for navigating Android Wear.

	Ticwatch Sport	Ticwatch Express
Size	45mm x 13mm	44mm x 13.55mm
Weight	45.5g	41.5g
GPS	Integrated in watchband	In the watch case
OS	Android Wear 2.6
Chipset	MTK MT2601, Dual-core 1.2GHz
RAM/ROM	512MB / 4GB
Glass	Anti-scratch
Display	Capacitive Multi-touch 1.4-inch OLED, 400 x 400, 287 dpi
Connectivity	Bluetooth 4.1 Wireless 802.11 b/g/n
GPS	Glonass, GPS, Beidou, A-GPS Supported
Sensor	Heart-rate, Proximity, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, e-Compass
Mic/ Speaker	Yes
Battery	300mAh
Waterproof	IP67

Taking a closer look at the Ticwatch E

Unboxing the Ticwatch E

Both Ticwatch Es arrived in their individual metal box. On the top right hand corner of the box is a sticker with the text “Good Design Award”. I guess it refers to the watch itself?

The Ticwatch E (shadow). The proprietary charging cable and user manual are underneath the watch.

Removing the top lid reveals the Ticwatch E housed within. I got one in Shadow and the other Ice. The half unstuck screen protector caught my eye. Won’t it be great if it came a pre-installed screen protector?

The contents of the Ticwatch E package. You will find the Ticwatch E (color of your choice), USB charging cable and user manual.

Within the box, you will find the following:

Ticwatch E (in the color of your choice);
Proprietary charging cable; and
User manual.

The Ticwatch E itself

Upgrading Ticwatch E’s software. The screen looks pretty OK compared to my past smart watches.

The Ticwatch E feels pretty light at 41.5g. The Ticwatch E (Shadow) has a smooth matte finishing for the watch case while the Ice is encased in clear glossy plastic.

Watch	Display	DPI
Ticwatch E	OLED	287
Samsung Gear S3 (Frontier)	Super AMOLED	278
Apple Watch (Series 2)	AMOLED	303

It sports a brilliant 1.4-inch OLED display with 287 dpi. The Samsung Gear S3 (Frontier) has a 278 dpi super AMOLED display while the Apple Watch Series 2 has a 303 dpi AMOLED display.

The heart rate sensor at the back of the Ticwatch E. On the right of it is the charging and data port. Ticwatch E is IP67 rated. It comes with easy release watch straps.

At the back of the Ticwatch E, you will find the heart rate sensor and charging+data port. The included watch straps have easy release catch so you don’t need tools to remove them. The Ticwatch E uses 20mm watch straps and not the usual 22mm used by watches like Pebble, Motorola 360 and Samsung Gear S3.

For those with active lifestyle or simply living in places where rains are sudden (i.e. Singapore), you will be pleased that the Ticwatch E is IP67 rated. It means that it is dust tight and waterproof (when immersed in water up to 1 meter depth). In layman terms, it can tolerate water splashes from hand washing, bathing and rain from your daily activities.

The proprietary charging cable attaches magnetically to the watch. It snaps on well without the need to adjust for charging to start.

Side profile of the Ticwatch E. The button is on the left of the watch body.

The watch case is thick at 13.55mm. On its own, it looks thick compared to regular mechanical watches. However, it looks OK when worn as the back of the watch sinks into the skin (or flesh), making it looks thinner. Wearing it snug fit also makes the heart rate measurements more consistent. Previously with the Motorola 360, I had to deliberately tighten the straps or press the watch case against the wrist whenever I measure my heart rate.

Using the Ticwatch E

Battery life

The Ticwatch E’s battery seems to be holding up to my office routine. Unplugged the charger at 7am and have 42% battery left at 7pm.

I have been using the Ticwatch E for the past 2 days and the battery lasts me through my day in office despite having always-on screen and leaving display brightness at level 3. I am using watch faces from WatchMaker and enabled Google Fit on the Ticwatch E. Other Ticwatch S&E users have highlighted short battery life but they also experienced battery life improvements after a few charge cycles.

Comfort

The Ticwatch E is comfortable to wear. Not sure if it is the (slightly stretchy) silicon watch strap as the watch fits snugly – neither too tight nor loose. Hence, the watch doesn’t rides up or knock against your wrist like a bangle.

Display

My colleague commended the sharp and vibrant OLED display. He fumbled when navigating the watch user interface as he thought the watch case is touch sensitive. He was swiping along the watch case and expecting things to happen until I told him to press on the watch’s crown (or button) and swiping the screen instead.

My current watch face on the Ticwatch E.

I was able to see the screen clearly under the noon sun despite leaving the display brightness at level 3. It is probably my choice of watch face. I am using the orange simple watch face.

Heart rate sensor

I always find the heart rate sensor interesting. Keeping the max heart rate in check while exercising or simply keeping myself amused to see how nervous I am before and during some business presentations.

I didn’t encounter any failures in heart rate measurement that I used to encounter when using the Motorola 360. The measurement is pretty close to the readings I got off my Polar Heart Rate Monitor and my usual resting heart rate.

Alerts – Vibration

The watch will vibrate when you receive notifications on the phone. So far, I felt most if not all the vibrations. Not sure if it is phone (on Android Oreo) or the Ticwatch but sometimes the watch’s vibrations are delayed. That is, I hear the phone’s vibrations a couple of seconds before the watch’s.

Speaker

Honestly, I don’t have any use for this. It sounded soft as well. Calling through the watch? Well, you have a phone for that.

Conclusion

Ticwatch E’s battery life has been great compared to my experience with the Motorola 360. Even with the always-on screen, it last through my entire day effortlessly with battery juice to spare.

Made a charging dock for the Ticwatch E with spare LEGO plates and bricks.

The OLED display makes watch faces looks crisp and vibrant. Unlike my old smart watch, I don’t really notice the individual pixels.

I would say the Ticwatch S&E is pretty worthwhile for its price point. The features are what you will usually find in smart watches. However, it lacks NFC chip for payments (i.e. Android Pay, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay) so you can’t do those cool action of tapping your watch for payments.

All in all, the Ticwatch S&E are great smart watches at its price point.