Fossil might soon launch its first LTE Wear OS smartwatch

Fossil Gen 5 Carlyle HR
The Fossil Gen 5 Carlyle HR (Image credit: TechRadar)

Fossil has launched a whole lot of Wear OS smartwatches, including the likes of the Fossil Sport and the Fossil Gen 5, but so far none of them include LTE – meaning that if you don’t have them tethered to your phone or a Wi-Fi network, they lose a lot of functionality. Finally though, it looks like an LTE one could be on the way.

That’s because Android Authority has spotted a Fossil smartwatch listed by the FCC (Federal Communications Communication), which includes LTE.

The listing doesn’t include much else, there’s mention of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, and a circular screen, but that’s all expected.

What could it be?

Android Authority theorizes that this could be an LTE version of the Fossil Gen 5, but as far as we can see it could just as well be the Fossil Gen 6, or some other spin-off device.

The C1N model number shown on the FCC listing doesn’t match either the Gen 5 or previous Gen 6 leaks for what it’s worth, so this being something different altogether is looking most likely.

Whatever it is, its presence on the FCC suggests it could land soon, so perhaps we’ll see this mystery Fossil wearable in early 2021.

However, beyond the presence of LTE it might not be that exciting, as back in July, 9to5Google found Bluetooth SIG Certifications for the same wearable, and the data suggested that it uses the increasingly dated Snapdragon Wear 3100 chipset, rather than the newer Wear 4100. For some reason Fossil has seemed reluctant to adopt the newer silicon.

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.