FossilWomen's Charter Hybrid Smartwatch HR with Always-On Readout Display, Heart Rate, Activity Tracking, Smartphone Notifications, Message Previews

I really like the brand Fossil, but normally for quality purses, wallets and such. When coming across these watches out in the world I wasn't much interested in them. I like technology to a certain extent but there just a lot of things out there we don't need. I like my analog watch. It has a timer and a stopwatch and tells the time that's all I really ever want. I have a fitbit flex2 has no screen, would alert me to phone messages and track my activity well enough. The "smart watches" intrigued me but they seem to lose the one reason really why anyone originally had a watch in the first place: to tell time, and look nice and not all of them do. They also don't have great battery life and then I lose the ability to tell the time on my wrist. When I was offered this Fossil Charter HR hybrid smartwatch I was reluctant at first- it sat on my offers list for a while. I did a little research as to what they are and what they could do, read reviews on Amazon and elsewhere and they were mostly positive- but not packed with a lot of info so I thought I'd see if the positivity was well deserved. Happy to say that it was. I'm about to throw a lot of info on you if you'll let me.First of all let me say, the 2 large books you get with this watch tell you pretty much nothing in a lot of different languages. Most of what you will read from me here in this review I learned from using the watch for the last couple of days. Some of these things didn't even come up on Fossil's support page which I found strange. You will probably learn a few things you didn't know if you read this review.I broke it down into categories read it all or scroll for the title that catches what you're looking for.CLOCK FUNTION/COSMETICS: First, lets talk about what's most important to me, the function of the clock and fashion of the watch itself. It's a really nice looking watch the watch face makes me just a little nervous because it's this beautiful glass dome that I'm hoping will be durable. This hybrid pairs with your phone, whatever time your phone says the watch does too. Get on a plane and land in another time zone? As long as your watch is talking to your phone the watch will tell the time, if you lost your phone on said plane let us say (and there's a helpful watch feature if you do- see "other functions"), then your watch will still keep time just for the last time zone that you were in until you pair it up again or find your phone. Though there are no numbers- reading it is very clear- there is a mark for every hour/minute. The dial is large, some people may not like that- it takes up the whole top of my arm but I'm personally used to it because I typically wear sport watches that are already a bit oversized. Has to be fairly snug in order to keep track of your heartrate. The rosegold on mine is both shiny and matte in different places on the case. The very light pink silicone band with a light gray backing is very smooth and soft (not breathable so be aware and don't wear it too tight), the band itself is waterproof of course but the watch is NOT, it is only "splash" resistent. No swimming or showers with it. This is one attractive and functional watch.THE FACE: I wondered about the hands, wouldn't they be in the way while you're reading things or choosing from menus? No, the hands move to the 3 and 9 positions for this or if they're in your way for something else, flick your wrist back and forth really fast and the hands do a lap around the clockface- this will also sync the watch with your phone. Is this a touch screen? NO. And you have no idea how happy that makes me. You use the 3 buttons on the right side of the face to choose, select and change most everything- the middle being the home button but it and the other 2 buttons can be set to the more frequently used functions, mine are from top to bottom, workout mode, alerts/home and stopwatch. You can also do these things from the app. The only thing that remotely resembles touch screen is to turn on a light to read your screen or time- you tap the watchface to get it to come on- super handy and very readable in the dark without being obnoxious. The face where the technology sits: well it's the same kind of technology that a Kindle would use "paperwhite" type technology and this my friends is why the battery life is 2 weeks or more (also depends on what and how many notifications you get). You can pick what you see in the watch dials that you will utilize the most, for me it stayed as it came- I see heartrate, local temps, steps and the date/day. If you wanted something else you customize that in the app- a few things you can pick are 2nd time zones, battery life and chance of rain. Though you pick functions to use or see all the time you can still use the other functions from other screens, it just takes longer to get there. You can also TURN OFF THE DIALS. This is where it got just a bit more interesting to me. That's something that wasn't obvious until I found the menu for it. I found out you don't have to pick from just the few faces that Fossil offers in the app, you can add photos! Turning off the dials is the best way to be able to see the whole of the face if you want to show a picture (Bettie Page was the model for this review) I also took screen shots of mostly black and white patterns and made them into my own custom clock faces and are better than photos when the info dials are turned on. So overall this is a very functional and fashionable watch face.THE TECHNOLOGY: **No you cannot call or text from the watch (there is no mic and you cannot accidentally call people, this to me is a GOOD THING- your phone cannot be more than approx 30ft from you to communicate with the watch.)*** Let's start with the social stuff. You can set up alerts with this watch be them from apps, text/calls from all or from people in your contact list. Not wanting to get messages and calls from just anyone on my watch- I had to go through my hundred contacts or so and just pick out those who can call and text me and I'd get an alert on my watch. The watch will vibrate when you receive a message or a call as long as you are within 30ft or so from your phone. You can do the same with your apps. You can turn them all on or off, or you can pick and choose. I've gotten calls, texts and alerts from apps since owning this watch and you can read, in entirety, the message/alert and choose to delete it as well (but only from the watch, it stays on your phone) or read old notifications not yet deleted. It took a little time to learn how to navigate it, as you have to select the message and scroll with the buttons but it was easy to figure out and I had no book to tell me.Fitness tech: It will do your typical stuff, track steps and heartrate. It will also track deep and light sleep. If you go into workout mode you can pick: workout (probably like a class or dvd that has a variety of moves), treadmill, elliptical, run, and to my delight: weights. You start the workout timer and you stop it when you're done, my weights work out last night showed that I worked out for 26 mins 38 seconds, burned 130 active calories, averaged 123 BPM and hit a max BPM of 149 the workout also added 810 steps to my day. That was pretty cool. Wellness dashboard will show what you slept last night, steps, active minutes, calorie burn, it will take your current heartrate and show you your min/max of the day. You also have a typical move alert and you can set it for the start and stop times and how long between alerts if you haven't moved. This isn't exactly like the fitbit, it won't let you set a goal step number for hours of the day, but at least the move reminder is there.Other functions: You can RING YOUR PHONE! This isn't mentioned anywhere I saw. When you are in the face screen if you press down on the middle button it brings you to a menu that among other things will ring your phone if you've misplaced it and it's still within range of the watch. That was a pleasant surprise to find. You can also from that menu, turn on do not disturb, turn on/off the tech dials on the face, turn on/off notifications (which I'm guessing will alow the move alerts and alarm to continue but haven't tested that yet), control your music (remains untested for me and probably seldom used), get to your wellness dashboard, start a workout, start a stopwatch or start a timer or find the serial and version of your watch.The last 3 things this watch tech can monitor besides what is mentioned above is Battery life, Weather: two options, degrees or celsius to where you are (which so far has been accurate) and/or chance of rain which will display a percentage. Other Time: meaning 2nd time zone and/or date and day.THE APP: The app was easy to download and pair the watch and phone with. Your home page will show you via a graph how far you are to steps, active minutes, calorie burn, and sleep goals, below the graph you tap the icons that will show you more graphs about your active times or the ups and downs of your heartbeats, the restfulness of your sleep. Scroll below that and you see the days before and can choose those as well for a view. The next tab is customization, where you pick what your watch face looks like and what each dial and button does for a function, you can have several presets and have one for travel or fitness, just make them up and then apply them to your watch when you want them, that includes changing the pattern/picture on the watch face. Then you have an alerts category where you set up alarms (that can repeat or not), notifications from calls and messages, apps and move alerts. The last tab is your profile page where you've put in your name, height/weight, displays your record days shows the active watch (where you can have more than one and pick the one you're wearing) it's name, battery percentage, and last sync time and where you can calibrate the watch from if needed. It also has options to set goals, change passwords, pick your preferred units (like feet instead of centimeters) , turn on connected apps (in this case only two options as I type this, under armour record and google fit), an opt in selection, help section for email and chat options as well as call. Lastly an about app section with terms of use, privacy etc. Just like any app you can log out if you want as well.I'm enthusiastic about this watch, it has been very useful and does far more things and is far more functional and fashionable than I expected it to be. I would definitely recommend it.

This is the most beautiful and most amazing watch I’ve ever owned. It feels like top quality craftsmanship yet sells for a few dollars more than my piece of crap silicone and plastic Fitbit Versa that irreparably broke after 13 months. I love the sleek, dressed up design and it tells me basically everything I need to know - my sleep habits, my heart rate, my steps, the weather, etc. Also love that it has a stopwatch - something I use frequently at the gym. The app is pretty basic but seems to work well and syncs easily. If you’re trying to be a serious runner or need a serious fitness tracker, this is probably not the watch for you. However, if you want to track the basics and look good while doing it - pick up this baby! If my opinion happens to change I’ll be sure to update my review but for now I’m totally in love with this watch!

I researched this product and several others before I made my decision. What I wanted was a classic looking watch that didn’t scream “smart watch” but also was a smart watch. This product fit the bill perfectly. I love that I can customize the face with pictures and which application I want to view. It’s very similar to the paper white technology so it is easy to read and back lit once you tap it. My notifications come up easily and through the fossil app on my phone I can control what I see and what I don’t. The side buttons are nice and tight, and programmable for quick access to timer, notifications, health and more. The hands do glow in the dark and make it easy to read without having to back lite. The black one I purchased came with a very nice leather band and I purchased a stainless band to use daily so as not to ruin the leather one. The process was easy and painless, all tools included. Battery life depends on how much you allow the watch to do. When I have more notifications and alarms set my battery lasts about a week to a week in a half. When I cut it back to just my text messages, I have been able to get almost 2 weeks easy out of it. It charges rather quickly. I’ve had my watch about a month and for the most part it has been within range on steps and heart rate however if I’m doing something with my hands (like knitting) my step count can sometimes get a little out of range. All and all I recommend this product for those that do not need your watch to be an extension of your phone with apps but want a good watch that does just a little bit more than just tell time.

Yet to test watch fully , but right now I see only negativesStep count is horrondus, miles away from accuracy, my huawei fitness band worth 2.5k is very accurate.Can you believe power adapter is not included in watch worth 15k , when called customer care (which rarely works) they say I should use only desktop or laptop to charge this watch, NOT mobile phone power adapter.Strap size mentioned in product information as 22mm , I ordered spare strap of 22mm size , which won't fit this watch, I checked the original strap size using precision vernier caliper, got the measurements as 20mm .After severel attempt when I contacted customer care to understand actual size of strap, they have no clue , I was asked to visit nearest service center.

• This a a good looking watch. I am very pleased with its appearance. I love to be able to upload pictures or messages on a dial screen. These looks superbly, not too sharp, natual - which is exactly what I wanted.• With heavier usage the battery lasts at least 8 days. I would hate to have to charge the battery every day, this is one of the main reasons why I did not get a full on smart watch.• This watch does not have too many features, however I did not want to have another phone on my wrist. I mainly wanted to be notified a.s.a.p. when some important notifications arrives on my phone. However I found that the watch frequently disconnects from my phone if I dont keep a close distance and does not reconnect automatically. Which is a major lwt down. I hope there will be an upgraded soon to sort this issue out.• The step count is not acurate, I wake up with at least 50 steps every morning 😂Overall I am not sure if this watch is worth almost £200. I had a gift card and used towards it, which made the price more acceptable to me. Would I buy it again? Probably yes, I love the appearance and all the extra features, even if they are quiet basic.

The buttons of the Watch are not working and when I called customer care that I want to return this item and I will order another one they resist.I always order from Amazon and I always trust them but this time they broke my trust and lost their customer I will never order from Amazon again 💔 😔

First I bought this because I wanted a watch that would track my steps, heart rate, and sleep etc..but looked more like an analog watch face, I don't like the look of sport watches with the big digital readout.My initial impression was how big the watch face is, it really is huge, I thought I might get used to this but I really never did and I honestly find the size of the watch face takes away from the design.I do like the step tracking and heart rate, also like that it notifies me of messages with a simple vibration that I feel but do not hear. This is honestly a huge plus as I don't like my phone being on the ring (disturbing colleagues/meetings etc. But having it on silent means I often don't see a message until an hour or two later.The weather display on the watch sucks, 80% of the time it doesn't display any information, and only when I actually open the weather app on my phone does the watch then decide to display it, making this feature redundant.Music function takes some getting used to, but its not bad once you learn it.The phone app is a little useless, you need to open the app to sync it with your watch, it won't sync automatically. Also, it doesn't really display any detailed information, just basic overviews of how much sleep you got or how many steps...pretty useless.Battery life is roughly a week before needing a charge.Overall I will keep it as I get some use out of it, but feel that it is overpriced, and not exactly what I was looking for. If I was considering buying a watch again it would NOT be this one.

I bought the men's Collider HR and love the watch. It functions and looks great! After a few months it would start to get a small fog spot inside that would go away after a few hours. I then bought my wife the Charter HR in the newer water resistant version thinking that this wouldn't be an issue.After getting hers my entire screen fogged up and it wouldn't go away. I sent it in to Fossil and they would fix it for almost the cost of a new one and no solution to the issue so it would probably just happen again so I declined and bought a different watch. Now my wife's watch has done the same thing. She has contacted Fossil twice and has not received any reply.Neither of us wear the watches in the water, the closest we would get would be washing our hands. Mine first started while working outside in the summer. My wife's would get the fog spot working out, cleaning, being outside in below freezing weather (with it covered by a jacket), and even just sleeping!Like I said, the watch is very nice, but it is a waste if you can't use the smart features. I'll add some photos when I can.