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Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5
Our top pickThe TicWatch Pro 5 is one of the most appealing Wear OS smartwatches on the market today. It packs the latest Snapdragon chipset, the latest version of the OS, a new rotating crown control and massive battery life.
Pros- Even better battery life
- Digital crown
- The latest Snapdragon processor
Cons- Higher price
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Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3
Still worth considering$199.99 $299.99 Save $100The TicWatch Pro 3 has been out for a while now, but it's still a strong performer. It still packs in every fitness tracking sensor you could ask for and has amazing battery life. Now the prices have begun to come down, it's an amazing deal.
Pros- Great battery life
- Very similar functionality
- Significantly lower price
Cons- Still stuck on Wear OS 2
The TicWatch Pro 5 has been a long time coming, but it seems like it could be worth the wait. The new model is the first smartwatch to utilise Qualcomm's Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 platform, and it's the first time we've seen Wear OS 3 on a TicWatch, too.
You might be wondering what happened to the TicWatch Pro 4, don't worry, you've not missed anything. Chinese companies often skip the number 4 as it's considered bad luck. So, instead, Mobvoi has jumped from 3 to 5.
So, whether you're considering upgrading from the TicWatch Pro 3, or investing in a TicWatch for the first time, you'll no doubt be wondering what the differences are. We've been lucky enough to spend some time with both of the watches, and we've dug deep into the specs to see where they differ.
Specs, availability and pricing
The TicWatch Pro 5 launched on May 24 2023 and is available to purchase now at a price of $349.99.
The TicWatch Pro 3 was released in September 2020 with an MSRP of $299.99 and it has been available to purchase ever since. It's worth noting that it's now frequently on sale for well under MSRP.
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Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Battery Life 80 hours 72 hours Customizable Strap Yes Yes SIM Support No No Display 1.43 inch OLED dual-layer display 1.4 inch OLED dual-layer display CPU Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 Snapdragon 4100 RAM 2GB 1GB Storage 32GB 8GB Battery 628 mAh 577 mAh Durability 5ATM & MIL-STD-810H IP68 & MIL-STD-810G Software Wear OS 3 Wear OS 2 Health sensors Heart rate, blood oxygen, respiratory rate, stress level Heart rate, blood oxygen, respiratory rate, stress level Dimensions 50.15x48x12.2 mm 47x48x12.2 mm Weight 44.35g 41.9g Mobile payments Yes Yes
Design and displays
Both models share similar dimensions, but the TicWatch Pro 5 is both slightly heavier and thicker than its predecessor. The TicWatch Pro 3 has two buttons on the right-hand side, which look like crowns, but can only be used as buttons.
The TicWatch Pro 5, on the other hand, has a singular large crown, with a low-profile button next to it. The big difference here is that the TicWatch Pro 5's crown can be used to scroll through menus, just like an Apple Watch, as well as click in to be used as a button.
In either case, you get a fairly subdued and inoffensive design in a black finish. We wouldn't say there's a huge amount of personality to either of the models, but both have swappable straps, as well as customisable watch faces - so you can easily modify them to suit your personal style.
The TicWatch Pro 3 carries an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, whereas the TicWatch Pro 5 is rated as water-resistant up to 5ATM. So, if you're keen on using your smartwatch in wet conditions, the newer model is a safer bet.
The display tech is similar across both models. Both offer colour OLED touchscreen displays of around 1.4 inches in size with a pixel density of 326ppi. The TicWatch Pro 5 offers a slight resolution increase, though, at 466x466 compared to 454x454 on the Pro 3.
Both watches benefit from a dual-layer display, with what Mobvoi calls a ULP (ultra-low power) always-on display layered on top of the OLED panel. This means that you can check things like the time, date, step count and heart rate without needing to fire up the battery-hungry main display - giving you much better battery life.
Software & Performance
When it comes to performance, the biggest differentiator between the two models is the fact that the TicWatch Pro 5 features the latest and greatest Snapdragon W5+ Gen1 processor, while the TicWatch Pro 3 uses the older 4100 chip. The RAM has also been doubled to 2GB on the new model, and the storage has been boosted from 8GB to 32GB.
The TicWatch Pro 5 also comes with Wear OS 3 installed, but no update has been made available for the TicWatch Pro 3. This is a bit of a disappointment for owners of the Pro 3, as the Wear OS 3 update has been promised for a long time, and there's still no sign of it.
The TicWatch Pro 5 offers a much more fluid experience when navigating the Wear OS interface, with everything feeling more snappy and responsive. It's not yet clear how much of this is down to the new processor, and how much comes from the software upgrade. But either way, you'll get the best experience on the newer model.
Of course, since both watches run Wear OS, you'll have access to a huge variety of applications that can run on your watch. Mobvoi's app selection is largely the same across the two models and allows you to track all the important health metrics including heart rate, blood oxygen level, stress levels and sleep monitoring.
There's no option to add a SIM card to either device, but both have built-in GPS connectivity and both support Google Pay payments as well.
Battery life
The superb battery life is one of the biggest selling points for the TicWatch lineup. Wear OS is notorious for its high-battery usage, to the point where flagship devices like the Google Pixel Watch can only manage a single day of use on a charge.
That's not the case with either of these watches, the TicWatch Pro 5 claims up to 80 hours in smart mode, while the TicWatch Pro 3 claim up to 72 hours. If you switch to the barebones essential mode, you can manage up to 45 days per charge.
We're still testing the TicWatch Pro 5, but in the standard settings, with automatic essential mode kicking in at nighttime and constant heart rate monitoring turned on, we've still got battery life to spare after three days of fairly heavy usage.
Conclusion
If you want the best of the best, the TicWatch Pro 5 is the way to go. It offers even longer battery life, a more up-to-date Wear OS experience, snappier performance and it's easier to navigate thanks to the rotating crown control.
There are other advantages, too, like the fact that it has increased water resistance and much more internal storage for your apps and music.
However, this doesn't mean that the TicWatch Pro 3 is suddenly irrelevant. It can still do almost everything that the Pro 5 can do, and it still offers exceptional battery life for a Wear OS smartwatch.
Now that it's frequently available for well under its original MSRP, the TicWatch Pro 3 is more appealing than ever. If and when the promised update to Wear OS 3 arrives, it'll be an even better deal.