The TicWatch E3 is the latest smartwatch from the technology company Mobvoi. It is the successor to the TicWatch E2, which we rated four out of five stars in 2019, and a cheaper alternative to the TicWatch Pro 3. Compared to its big brother Pro 3, this is a no-frills smartwatch, but what makes this smartwatch special is that it still has the same Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 chip as the Pro model.
That means its performance is faster and smoother than its predecessors not to mention many of its Wear OS competitors. Mobvoi is following in the footsteps of other brands like Fitbit and Apple by launching a device that includes all the basic workout tracking features you’d expect, as well as a number of health and wellness features in the form of Tic-branded apps. For example, there’s TicOxygen to measure blood oxygen levels, TicBreath for guided breathing, TicPulse for heart rate, TicZen for stress and more.
Thanks to Wear OS, it has many smartwatch features like notifications, Google Assistant and Google Pay. These are easy to use thanks to the 1.3-inch display – it’s just a shame that it’s an LCD and not an OLED display. In terms of design, the E3 is lightweight and comfortable to wear. Its minimal look goes with everything, but you might find it a bit bland.
As for whether the E3 is one of the many Google Wear OS smartwatches that won’t receive the Wear OS 3.0 update expected in late 2021, that hasn’t been officially confirmed yet. However, Wareable reports (opens in new tab) that both the TicWatch Pro 3 and TicWatch E3 will now receive the Wear OS 3.0 update. This is a relief for anyone interested in the E3 without this update, the E3 might have become obsolete very quickly.
The TicWatch E3 is equipped with a 380 mAh cell. With normal use, I managed to get the watch to last about two days, using workout routines, sleep monitoring, and other features like Google Assistant. For smartwatches, that’s not too bad, but there are devices that last much longer. You just have to weigh how fast and feature-rich you want your smartwatch to be.
The battery can drain faster if you receive a lot of notifications and have continuous heart rate/SpO2 monitoring enabled. You can also put the E3 into Essential mode, which increases the life to about seven days, but that limits the watch to basic functions. The TicWatch comes with a magnetic POGO pin charger that can charge the watch from empty to full in a couple of hours.
