And Would I Still Recommend It?

I’ve been using the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra as my main smartwatch for just under 6 months, so I think it’s fair to say that I’ve had time to get to know the watch properly.

Throughout the last couple of months, I haven’t given the watch an easy life, I’ve worn it during heavy activities such as office moves, swimming, and even outdoor sports.

For those of you who are new here, back in March 2022, I’ve made a video on my YouTube channel featuring a short-term review of the watch and I really liked it. I thought that the watch was definitely worth the price considering the features it has.

You can view the review here:

Am I still impressed with the watch?

We’ll discuss this in more detail throughout the article, but to summarise, I certainly still like the watch and use it daily.

On paper, the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra undoubtedly looks like a decent smartwatch that is packed with several useful features such as the dual display and the sensors that it has built in. Making it an ideal choice for people who like outdoor sports.

If you’re like me and prefer the look of a traditional watch, you certainly won’t be disappointed here. The look and feel of this watch remind me of the Casio G-Shock watch.

Let’s talk about the pros and cons

Traditionally, we can’t start a product review without the pros and cons of the product.

In the case of the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, I can easily say that there are more pros than there are cons. Mobvoi has really done a good job designing this product.

✅ What I like about the watch

• Good battery life
• Rugged design
• Comfortable to wear
• Snappy performance
• Dual Display
• Various Sensors
• Good keyboard
• Sleep Tracking

❌ What I don’t like about the watch

• Mobvoi app could be better
• Still on WearOS 2.37
• Menu design could be better
• Confusion about water resistance
• Unable to change the notification tone

How does the watch perform in everyday life?

One thing I find that many product reviews miss out or talk little about is how the product performs in everyday life, they discuss the features of the product and how they work in detail instead. I know that I’m definitely guilty of doing this!

Nevertheless, I think that the watch performs incredibly well in everyday life, and I often forget that I’m wearing it.

To give you the best possible idea of how the watch performs in my day-to-day life, I wanted to take you on a day of my life with the watch…

Sleep tracking

Let’s start with the night before, where I make sure the watch is charged at least 25% to enable effective sleep tracking, which this watch does quite well!

To enable sleep tracking, I wear the watch to bed with me. As the watch is comfortable to wear on my small arm, I typically forget that it’s there.

The TicSleep app is where you can access your sleep records using the watch. I like the TicSleep app, not only is it clear to read and understand, but it’s also straight to the point.

I like that it shows me tips about my sleep and tells me off if I go to sleep later than I should have.

How does my day with the watch look?

Depending on the battery level when I wake up, I usually charge the watch during my morning routine and this is where my first complaint is.

Charging the watch

The complaint isn’t about the watch itself, but rather the design of the charging connector. The awkward way it’s been designed means that it’s easy to knock the watch off the charger and not notice.

Activities

Depending on the weather and the availability of rental scooters in my area, I sometimes like to take a walk down to the train station. As the walk is longer than usual, I like to start a walking activity on the watch to keep track of my fitness.

When it comes to any form of outdoor activity, the watch performs very well, and I like that it shows a mini-map of where you’ve been during the activity.

As a bonus, the built-in activity app syncs with Strava, not that it’s needed as you can just download the Strava app onto the watch. Personally, I prefer using the built-in apps first because they seem to provide more details throughout the workout.

Standard usage

Throughout the day, I use my watch to reply to messages where I can and even answer phone calls. I find it useful as a tool to view notifications from my phone without thanking it out of my pocket.

The keyboard is very well-designed and easy to type on without inputting the incorrect letters. It also has an option to use voice to type, which is fairly accurate. The keyboard is an area where many smartwatches fail, with it either being difficult to use or unusable. But Mobvoi has done an impressive job perfecting the keyboard on the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra.

Overall performance

As a whole, the watch performs incredibly well, and it’s easy for me to say that it’s the best-performing non-Apple smartwatch I ever used, and I’ve had many over the years. There is no lag or stuttering to be seen, even when under heavier loads.

How does the battery perform?

Another important aspect to think about is the battery life. I use the watch in dual-display mode, which means that the battery life is extended. It’s also worth mentioning that my overall usage page is light.

The reason I’m mentioning the above is to give you a better idea of what the battery life is like. I can easily say that the battery lasts around 3 days with my usage, which is actually quite good.

However, the overall battery life is dependent on several circumstances, mainly how the device is used. For example, when doing activities which uses sensors and GPS, the battery tends to drain much faster.

Swimming with the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra

I have read many confusing opinions on whether the Pro 3 Ultra is capable of using in the water. Some forums state that the watch shouldn’t be used in water, some state that it can be, and the Mobvoi specs states that it’s suitable for pool swimming.

To confuse things even more, some state that the device should be kept away from Chlorine, which is used in swimming pools.

After reading more reviews and opinions about swimming with the watch, I found that some users started experiencing issues after submerging it in water, to such an extent that the watch did completely.

I decided to bite the bullet and test it myself. I decided to keep it on when I visited the Széchenyi Thermal Baths in Budapest, and I submerged it and swam with it in their pool. The watch survived and continues to work until this day. It may be because I used the water draining feature every time I got out of the pool.

I think that it likely depends on how you submerge the watch and whether you use it in fast water or not. I once made the mistake of killing a watch in fast-running water. Therefore, I’m very reserved in how I use the watch in the water. When I was testing the watch, I tried to be careful to keep it away from fast-moving water and drained it whenever I could.

Therefore, my overall recommendation is not to use it in water and if you do decide to use it, use it at your own risk and keep it away from fast-running water and salt if swimming in the sea.

Would I still recommend the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS?

I’ve had a while with the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra-now, and I definitely think that. The watch is of good value for money. Therefore, I absolutely still recommend the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra.

Here are some of the reasons I still recommend this watch…

Style

Starting with style, I was and still am a huge fan of the Apple Watch, I’ve had 3 of them and thought that they were all brilliant. However, the one thing I missed is the round bezel, which made the watch feel like an actual watch.

Mobvoi has designed this watch really well because not only does it look like a traditional watch, but it also looks like a premium traditional watch.

My one and only complaint about the design is that you can’t rotate the bezel like you can on the Samsung Galaxy Watch. But I guess there isn’t much Mobvoi can do here as without copying Samsung too much.

Robustness

The watch is very robust in fact, the watch meets the 810G military spec which means that it can handle harsh outdoor activities.

From my personal experience, as an outdoor person, I think that this is possibly one of the best watches I’ve had in a while when it comes to robustness. Not only did it survive some harsh conditions, but its performance of it also hasn’t been impacted whatsoever.

I’ve read so many stories about watches which manufacturers claim to be robust just dying in conditions that I wouldn’t even call harsh, but this watch has survived. I used it whilst swimming, I used it on ultra-long hikes where the sun is shining on it all day, I used it in cold conditions, I used it whilst cycling in the heavy rain and the watch has survived.

On a separate note, I just wanted to add a side note here because every device and circumstance is different. Whilst my watch survived these conditions, it doesn’t mean that yours will, so please take care of it and try to keep it as dry as possible.

The Verdict

I think that the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra is definitely worth the purchase. However, if I were to go out and purchase this watch today, the one thing that would put me off is that the watch doesn’t currently have WearOS 3. However, it’s important to remember that there aren’t many WearOS watches besides Samsung that do at present.

http://x75.a4c.myftpupload.com/blog/my-rant-about-wearos/

Speaking of which, the rumoured TicWatch Pro 4 is likely to ship with WearOS 3 in the first place, but at this stage, as the watch is rumoured I cannot say anything else as I just don’t have any confirmed information.

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