Is the Mobvoi TicWatch era over? It appears so, and the Wear OS landscape might be feeling the loss. Mobvoi, a brand that once championed innovative and value-driven smartwatches, seems to be stepping away from the Wear OS scene. Let's dive into what this means for the future of smartwatches.
Mobvoi entered the smartwatch market nearly a decade ago, launching the TicWatch 2 in 2017 in the US. This initial release ran on its own Android-based platform. The company quickly embraced Android Wear, later fully committing to Wear OS. The 2018 TicWatch Pro truly put Mobvoi on the map, thanks to its unique dual-layer display, extending battery life—a feature that became a hallmark of the brand.
Over the past seven years, Mobvoi has released over a dozen TicWatch devices powered by Wear OS. They gained a reputation for offering great value and innovative hardware.
But here's where it gets controversial... This reputation was often overshadowed by slow software updates. It took about a year for Wear OS 3 to arrive on TicWatch devices, and the silence around Wear OS 5 and 6 has frustrated many customers.
The last TicWatch release, the TicWatch Atlas, was over a year ago. While it was a respectable upgrade with the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1, it didn't escape the slow update cycle.
Now, the signs are clear: Mobvoi seems to be shifting away from Wear OS. All TicWatch models have disappeared from Amazon, and listings are marked as 'currently unavailable'. Even more telling, Mobvoi has significantly reduced the TicWatch presence on its website. The 'Products' menu now only features treadmills and the TicNote AI recorder. The TicWatch Atlas and TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro are featured on the homepage but are listed as 'not available'.
We reached out to Mobvoi for more information. However, the lack of new TicWatch product announcements over the past 12 months, coupled with the removal of website and Amazon listings, strongly suggests that Mobvoi's time in the Wear OS space is ending.
In response, Mobvoi stated they have 'no new information to announce about the TicWatch lineup' but that 'existing devices will continue to receive essential support.' While the door isn't entirely closed, the writing is on the wall.
This departure leaves Wear OS with one less major player, a platform that was bolstered by Mobvoi for years, before the 2021 reboot that introduced the Pixel Watch and Galaxy Watch 4. Fossil, another key player, exited the smartwatch market entirely in 2024. Tag Heuer also abandoned Wear OS earlier this year, developing its own OS for the sake of iOS compatibility.
Remaining Wear OS brands include Google Pixel, Samsung, OnePlus, and, in some regions, Xiaomi and Oppo.
What do you think about Mobvoi's apparent exit from the Wear OS market? Do you think it's a sign of the platform's decline, or just a strategic shift by Mobvoi? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
