Fossil has its own Android Wear-powered Q Founder, not to mention the Q Grant, Q Pilot, and so on, available, but some consumers would rather not wear a smartwatch. To that end, Fossil, who's now acquired Misfit (known for the Misfit Ray), is back with a wrist wearable that has a unique feature with smart fitness bands that we know has and will be implemented by other companies.
The device in question, called the Fossil Q Motion, is a metal activity tracker that resembles the Fitbit Alta, which, as you know, will revolutionize the premium fitness band market. Its battery lasts 6 months on a single charge, and, though this is good, it isn't as good as the 8-month battery life of the Withings Activite Pop.
The one feature of the Fossil Q Motion that stands out is "Smart Tap," a feature that lets users make "one tap" with the device to do things like take selfies with your smartphone camera, change music tracks, and so on. This works like NFC tags to some extent, but cameras have been on smartwatches before (such as the 2013 Galaxy Gear from Samsung). While Fossil provides this as a way to let users change music tracks (among other things), smartwatches often feature in-built controls that change music tracks. We don't know much else outside of this right now, though we're sure Fossil may very well increase Smart Tap's functionality post-market arrival. The Fossil Q Motion, like most wrist wearables, has some water-resistance, but in this case, you'll be protected from water up to 50 meters (164 feet).
As always, consumers want to know the price, and we're happy to oblige in this regard. You can expect the Fossil Q Motion to arrive in the US this summer, carrying a suggested retail price (or SRP) of $95, which places it in the same category as the Misfit Ray. We presume that Fossil is now taking advantage of the company's acquisition of the Ray manufacturer, with the Q Motion being the result.
What do you think? Do you think that former Misfit faithful would be content with buying new smart wearables from the new parent company, Fossil? Is the price in the right range for you?
