TicWatch 3 Pro brings blood oxygen tracking to a premium Wear OS-running watch

TicWatch 3 Pro
(Image credit: Future)

The TicWatch 3 Pro is a premium smartwatch that’s sleek, fast, and - thanks to a huge battery - lasts up to three days before needing to recharge. But most special of all: it’s the first watch featuring the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4100 chipset.

The TicWatch 3 Pro is a successor to the 2018 TicWatch Pro (and its minimal upgrade released earlier in 2020), and is available on September 24 for $299 / £279 / AU$449. In addition to the Snapdragon 4100, the watch packs 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage.

While the new smartwatch is only 0.4mm thinner than its predecessor, it looks a lot slimmer thanks to a trimmed-down matte black case.

There’s less bezel on the glossy black dial around the 1.4-inch OLED display, and between the touchscreen and two buttons on the right side (the top brings up apps, the bottom is customizable). There’s also ECG and SpO2 sensors on the bottom for heart rate and blood oxygen detection, respectively.

Looks aside, the watch runs a pretty standard version of Wear OS, though TicWatch does add its signature Tic-branded apps (TicExercise, TicBreathe, TicSleep, and so on) for all its fitness, breath meditation, sleep tracking, and other features. But if that’s not enough, there’s always the Google Fit suite of apps.

TicWatch 3 Pro

(Image credit: Future)

TicWatch 3 Pro is a premium watch at a high price – but not the highest

TicWatch’s lineup is mostly budget-friendly wearables, and the TicWatch 3 Pro is the highest-priced smartwatch the company has put out – but it’s notably cheaper than the competition. While it doesn’t pack all the bells and whistles, it’s a premium-looking smartwatch with enough must-have features for a smartwatch released in 2020. 

In comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 isn't quite as thick, runs Samsung’s custom Tizen operating system, and has its signature rotating dial to navigate in addition to the touchscreen. But for all that, you’ll pay $399 / £399 / AU$649.

The brand new Apple Watch 6, on the other hand, runs Apple’s much more dynamic watchOS operating system with a more robust selection of apps than Wear OS. It has an impressive 32GB of onboard storage and a more detailed always-on display than the TicWatch 3 Pro, but its battery barely lasts a full day – and the watch starts at $399 / £399 / AU$649.

David Lumb

David is now a mobile reporter at Cnet. Formerly Mobile Editor, US for TechRadar, he covered phones, tablets, and wearables. He still thinks the iPhone 4 is the best-looking smartphone ever made. He's most interested in technology, gaming and culture – and where they overlap and change our lives. His current beat explores how our on-the-go existence is affected by new gadgets, carrier coverage expansions, and corporate strategy shifts.