Fossil Hybrid HR review - Beautifully flawed (Updated) - Android

Design and display

You’d be forgiven for thinking this is an analog-only watch at first glance. The Fossil Hybrid HR certainly has analog watch elements, like the physical watch hands and number markings around the bezel. But the big news here is the display.

Fossil isn’t calling it e-ink (the company prefers “read-out” display), but this is essentially the same tech you’d find in a Kindle or an old Pebble smartwatch. E-ink has its pros and cons, so not everyone will be on board with this type of display. Personally, I love it, though there are some downsides you’ll have to live with.

First, the positives: E-ink doesn’t use much battery, allowing the Hybrid HR to last upwards of two weeks on a single charge. I haven’t had mine for that long so I can’t say for sure, but I have been impressed so far. My unit drained about 7% after going through the setup process, receiving a software update, and tracking a 45-minute treadmill run. On lighter days, the watch only drops a few percentage points. I’d say Fossil’s battery estimates are spot on here.

This type of display also blends in much more nicely with the watch face. It stays in the background for the most part, and you really only notice it when you need to check notifications or do something with the watch. It just makes the watch look much sleeker than something with an AMOLED display.

E-ink displays have very low refresh rates, causing them to hang for a few moments before showing the next screen or updating with the proper information. Pebble got this down to a science in later years, and those smartwatches actually felt speedy. The Hybrid HR lags a bit, though. I’ve found myself deliberately not checking through notifications or pulling up the weather just so I didn’t have to wait for the OS to catch up with my button presses. The display is only half the issue; we’ll talk about software navigation in a little bit.

Fossil Hybrid HR’s backlight

The Hybrid HR’s display isn’t lit up by default, so it’s tough to see in low lighting conditions. Fossil included a backlight for these instances. You can activate it with a double-tap of the watch glass, but make sure you’re tapping hard enough — the backlight doesn’t like to turn on every time.

The physical watch hands didn’t get in the way too often. When they’re covering information like the weather or your step count, a quick flick of the wrist will send both of them spinning in opposite directions to get out of your way. Also, the hands will automatically move to the three and nine positions when scrolling through menus.

Speaking of scrolling through menus, the Fossil Hybrid HR isn’t a touchscreen device, so all navigation will take place via the three pushers on the right side of the case. You can program each of the side buttons to perform a specific action. I have mine programmed to my activity summary (top), notification hub (middle), and weather (bottom). Unfortunately, that middle button that totally looks like a rotatable crown isn’t one.

Brace yourself for Nitpicky Jimmy: Years of using smartwatches tell me that the physical button (or the center physical button in this case) is the back button. Here, it’s the select button in most cases, and it still throws me off. Maybe it’s because I’ve been using the Fossil Gen 5 recently? When you’re in a menu, you don’t press the center button to go home. You navigate to the home icon, then hit the button to select it… but only in certain scenarios.

For instance, clicking on the weather panel, then selecting your location with the physical button pulls up detailed weather info. But to get out of that detailed weather menu, you need to use the middle physical button — what’s normally the select button — to go back! If you’re confused, don’t worry. So am I.

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Small gripes like that aside, I dig the look of the Hybrid HR. It’s classy and professional without looking too much like a smartwatch, and a lot of people will appreciate that. Now if Fossil could just get that button situation figured out.

The dark brown leather straps that came with my Hybrid HR review unit are really nice. They’re made of quality leather, and they have plastic underneath so you don’t sweat all over the leather. It’s a nice touch.