Fossil Q Founder review: Style over substance

Smartwatches have undergone a slow but steady transformation over the past two years. From geek chic to fully fledged fashion accessory, it’s now as acceptable to have a mobile computer strapped to your wrist as it is to tote a 5.5in smartphone, and this is why we’re beginning to see fashion brands and traditional watchmakers enter the market. The Fossil Q Founder is among the first in this brave new wave of wearables, but it will by no means be the last.

And, although it may sound odd to say, technically speaking there’s absolutely no reason why a manufacturer such as Fossil can’t make a good go of making a smartwatch. There are relatively few things to go wrong compared to, say, a smartphone, laptop or 2-in-1 tablet because the choice of components is so slim, and there’s very little tinkering the developers can do with the software.

You either go with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor inside or one of the new Intel ones, pick an IPS, transflective or OLED screen, install Android Wear and ensure it runs smoothly, and once you’ve done that it all boils down to the design. And it’s here that fashion-first brands such as Fossil and Tag Heuer can – and do – make their mark.

Fossil Q Founder review: Design and look

Next to the Tag Heuer Connected, the Q Founder is the best-looking smartwatch I’ve yet had the pleasure to clasp around my wrist. Sure, it’s big and, yes, it is very heavy. The casing measures 47mm across, it’s 12.8mm thick, and even with several links extracted from the steel wristband, it weighs an imposing 148g.

The thing is that it all looks in proportion. The strap lugs provide a natural transition between the watch casing and the 22mm steel link bracelet. Despite its size, it isn’t overbearing, even on my skinny wrist. Its sheer bulk means it won’t be for everyone, but it doesn’t look daft – and the weight very quickly becomes a non-issue.

I also like the more traditional look that the crown on the right side of the watch’s casing imparts. The crown doesn’t rotate, as it does on the Apple Watch, but pressing it does unlock a handful of useful shortcuts: a single press wakes the watch from sleep, a long press brings up the apps screen, while a double press puts the watch into Android Wear’s “do not disturb” Cinema mode.

The one thing that Fossil gets wrong, and it isn’t the plain black plastic rear (maybe the designers thought it would be just too heavy with a stainless steel rear panel), is the flat-tyre watch face. Look at the front and you’ll see a small black segment cutting into the base of the otherwise perfectly circular screen.

It’s used to house the Q Founder’s light sensor, which allows the Fossil to adjust the brightness of its display depending on the ambient conditions. There is an upside, then, but it isn’t attractive at all.

I’m also none too keen on the white inductive charging station. This strange contraption cleverly forms part of the watch’s original packaging, but otherwise it isn’t brilliantly designed.

It’s bulkier than it needs to be, meaning it’s not the easiest thing to stow in a small compartment in your bag. Moreover, because the plastic charging plate is on an angle, the watch is prone to becoming dislodged at the slightest of nudges. And its red and blue indicator LEDs are simply too bright. I usually charge my smartwatch on the bedside table overnight, but I had to cover the Fossil Q Founder with a pillowcase to prevent it lighting up the room and interrupting my sleep.

It’s just as well the watch supports the Qi charging standard – a nice touch – but the steel bracelet means you’ll need to find one that it wraps around rather than sitting on top.

Fossil Q Founder review: Features, specifications, and performance

It’s a shame about that flat-tyre display because the display of the Fossil Q Founder is a good one. It’s an LCD screen, meaning it doesn’t quite glow with the same neon vivacity as the screen on the Apple Watch or the Huawei Watch, but its 1.5in size and 360 x 326 resolution delivers a sharp, clear image that’s pleasing to the eye.

It’s bright enough to be readable in most conditions, too. In fact, for the most part, I switched off the auto-brightness and set the screen to its minimum setting. In this setting, it didn’t look dim at all.

In terms of features, that’s basically it for the Fossil Q Founder. Most significantly, it has no heart-rate monitor, which comes as a surprise to me. Although this is principally a fashion-led device, with so few opportunities for Android Wear smartwatch manufacturers to differentiate their products from the competition, I’d have thought even Fossil would want to include as many features as possible.

Still, at least the performance is good. The Q Founder is powered by the same Intel Atom Z34XX processor as the Tag Heuer Connected, and I’ve found that, in general, this is less prone to hesitance and swipe-lag than most Qualcomm-powered smartwatches. Put simply, the Fossil Q Founder feels like a smartwatch ought to feel: fluid, smooth and futuristic.

This is most definitely a good thing. Battery life, on the other hand, is not. I found that the Q Founder would last me around 24 hours on a typical day with the screen set to Always-on. Sometimes it would last a little longer – up to a day-and-a-half on occasion – and sometimes it would last less time, but I always needed to charge it overnight.

Fossil Q Founder review: Software

The Fossil Q Founder is an Android Wear device, with all the strengths and weaknesses that platform entails. Fossil includes a handful of watch faces of its own, which look nice enough and are customisable, but with so many third-party faces available on Google Play and through apps such as Facer and Watchmaker, that’s no particular reason to buy it.

In short, Android Wear is reasonably good at delivering notifications and contextually helpful titbits of information through Google Now. The voice recognition features work well, too, but I still feel that, in many areas, Android Wear needs work, specifically the consistency with which various apps deliver alerts and notifications.

And while it’s nice that the watch is compatible with both iOS and Android smartphones, the former still feels like it’s a bit of a token gesture, with a limited number of apps and many of Android Wear’s features restricted in some way.

Fossil Q Founder review: Verdict

I do like Android Wear as a platform, though, and the style of the Fossil Q Founder appeals more than most. The watch also works smoothly, with little of the juddering I’ve experienced on other, non-Intel-powered smartwatches.

But it is flawed, both in terms of that flat-tyre watch face, the features it provides and how long its battery lasts. And the price, at £279, is a little high as well.

If what you desperately want is a stylish, chunky watch that also happens to run Android Wear, by all means splash out. This is among the most attractive smartwatches on the market. However, the large Motorola Moto 360 2 offers more features in a similarly stylish package, and it costs a touch less as well.

Further reading: The best smartwatches of 2016 – our favourite wearables