New Fossil Gen 5 LTE smartwatch is its first to work away from your phone

Fossil’s most connected smartwatch yet

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The Fossil Gen 5 LTE is one of the latest smartwatches to be unveiled atCES 2021, and it’s the company’s first foray into technology that allows you to receive notifications and phone calls away from your phone.

The Wear OS smartwatch is similar to the previously revealedFossil Gen 5, but this new version comes with LTE technology, allowing you to connect it to a mobile network that is separate to your phone.

Fossil has only so far confirmed the release of its Gen 5 LTE in the US, and we’ve yet to hear if the smartwatch will be available in other markets such as the UK or Australia. TechRadar has asked Fossil for more information on those markets.

Even if you are in the US, you’re limited to a few elements to be able to use this smartwatch. Fossil is releasing this exclusively with Verizon, and it won’t work when connected to an iPhone, so you’ll need a compatible Android phone.

It works with the US carrier’s own Number Share feature that allows you to use 4G connectivity on the smartwatch. This is a similar system to what we’ve seen on other smartwatches from the likes ofAppleandSamsung.

You’ve seen this before

The specs of the Fossil Gen 5 LTE are similar to the original watch, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 3100 chipset inside - that isn’t the latest and therefore fastest from the company - as well as 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, and the latest Wear OS software on board.

We liked the Fossil Gen 5 smartwatch in its original form, praising the smartwatch for decent battery life and an understated design.

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The speaker wasn’t fantastic, but it’s largely a solid smartwatch so the addition of LTE connectivity is sure to be a positive for those who want a next-gen experience.

We don’t yet have a firm release date for the Fossil Gen 5 LTE, but the company says it’ll be launching in the spring, so you should expect it somewhere between March and June in the US.

It will begin at $349 (about £260, AU$450) but expect to pay extra for slightly more premium looking versions of the smartwatch, as that’s often what Fossil does with its technology on other smartwatches.

James is the Editor-in-Chief at Android Police. Previously, he was Senior Phones Editor for TechRadar, and he has covered smartphones and the mobile space for the best part of a decade bringing you news on all the big announcements from top manufacturers making mobile phones and other portable gadgets. James is often testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, virtual reality headsets, fitness trackers and more. He once fell over.

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