We've known for a little while that some new Fossil smartwatches were en route and here's a new pair of fourth-generation watches - the 40mm Q Venture HR and 45mm Fossil Q Explorist HR. 

As you can probably guess from the HR suffix, heart-rate tracking is included on both, while there's also untethered GPS (it doesn't need to be connected to your phone) plus the watches are also swimproof (so not certified for deep water) so you can track your swims accurately and wear the watch in the pool and shower. 

The watches take around an hour to charge and are good for 24 hours of use. As with other smartwatch vendors, Fossil is making a big thing of personalisation, with 36 dials to choose from.

Some of the dials enable you to see heart rate readings, while there are also graphs to show workouts and everything is logged with Google Fit. You can sync music playlists with the watch as you'd expect for phone-free runs. 

You can use Google Pay with the device (the NFC can only be used with Google Pay for now); it's a welcome addition. 

The Q Explorist comes with interchangeable straps; a silver/black bracelet as well as tan leather.

The full spec list:

  • Stainless steel case (Q Venture HR: 40mm / Q Explorist HR: 45mm)
  • Touchscreen digital display
  • 24+ hours battery life (based on usage)
  • Interchangeable straps and bracelets (Q Venture HR: 18mm / Q Explorist HR: 22mm)
  • Bluetooth
  • Wireless syncing + magnetic charging
  • Compatible with iOS 9.3+ and Android 4.4+ (excluding Go edition)
  • Sensors: Heart Rate, NFC, GPS, Altimeter, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Ambient Light, Microphone
  • Google Wear OS
  • Qualcomm 2100 Processor

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