Overall, I had mixed feelings about the design.
After using the Fossil Sport on and off for a few weeks, I'm of two minds about the design.
On one hand, the watch is incredibly lightweight, which means it's perfect for working out. I barely noticed it while running, and the silicone strap meant I didn't have to be too precious with it or worry about it getting sweaty. I tried the rose gold version, and the face looked great — the gold is a pretty tone, and the watch feels subtle enough to be worn every day.
Plus, I can't say enough about how incredibly comfortable it is to wear for long stretches of time.
But... the overall look of the Fossil Sport was a little odd to me. While the face does look nice, it's attached to a big hunk of white plastic that cheapens the overall look of the watch. That would be fine, except that this watch costs $255. For that much money, you want your watch to look a bit more high-end.
But there was one small design element that I loved.
At this point, I'm mostly used to smartwatches having one physical button, but the Fossil Sport has three.
The middle button does exactly what you'd expect: it pulls up the app drawer, and you can use it to browse through apps or scroll up and down on the screen.
The other two buttons are remappable, which means you set them up however you like in the watch's settings. I set my buttons up to be shortcuts: the top button is a flashlight, and the bottom button is a "Start workout" button, so I can quickly start a run without fiddling through the watch to much.
I did notice that the Fossil Sport had a tendency to get a little warm.
Over time, I noticed that the Fossil Sport tended to get a bit warm. Not warm in a concerning, my-watch-is-going-to-blow-up sort of way, but certainly in a noticeable way.
I don't think it's cause to be worried, and the warmth went away after a few minutes. But it was an unusual little tic.
The Fossil Sport has every modern feature you're looking for in a smartwatch.
Fossil didn't sacrifice any modern conveniences when building the watch, so you should find everything you're looking for: built-in GPS, a heart-rate sensor, NFC payments with Google Pay, the ability to pair Bluetooth headphones, and a microphone for talking to Google Assistant. Plus, it's swim-proof.
Fossil promised better battery life with the Fossil Sport, and it delivered.
The Fossil Sport is among the first smartwatches to contain the new Snapdragon Wear 3100 chip from Qualcomm.
The new chip was intended to make a major difference in battery life, which has been one of the main issues holding smartwatches back. Fossil says the Sport watch should get 24 hours of battery life, plus an additional two days in battery saver mode, which is a feature of the new chip.
I found that estimate to be pretty accurate. The watch generally got about 24 hours of battery life, and another full day and a half or so in battery saver mode. The new mode is great — the watch will stay on and still be able to tell the time when it's in that mode — but it's worth noting that unlike battery saver mode on something like a smartphone, you can't remove it from that mode and use the watch normally.
Either way, it was nice to not have to charge my smartwatch quite as often as I usually do.
Otherwise, the Fossil Sport works exactly like most other watches running the latest version of Wear OS.
Google unveiled a new version of Wear OS earlier this fall, and while the changes aren't major, they definitely improve the experience.
If you've ever used a Wear OS watch before — which used to be called Android Wear until earlier this year — you're used to a few basic features: a round watch face; apps arranged in a rounded, scrollable list view; and the ability to swipe up and down to get where you need to go.
With the new OS, those things haven't changed, but Google did add a few nice features: a new and improved shortcuts menu when you swipe down on the watch face, better notifications that are easier to read, a new Google Assistant screen when you swipe toward the right (it's actually incredibly helpful), and a redesigned Google Fit app.
All of these changes mean the Fossil Sport feels modern, and it's easy to set up and use.
So, should you buy it?
Well, Fossil does say the Sport watch is currently sold out, so you'll have to wait for a restock or check for resellers on third-party sites.
But when the watch is available, I'd consider it a worthy option for anyone looking for a fitness-focused smartwatch.
The Fossil Sport's design isn't my favorite, but it still looks nice on the wrist, and it's refreshingly lightweight. Fitness watches often tend to be too bulky or masculine, but Fossil's version is more versatile and more suitable for all-day wear.
Plus, the new Wear OS is a pleasure to use, and the battery life is certainly improved.
I think I'd still recommend Fitbit's Versa watch over the Fossil Sport — it's $50 cheaper and has better battery life — but the Fossil sport is an excellent runner-up.
