FEATURES:
- Lightweight and compact watch
- Wear OS makes this watch very versatile
- NFC for Google Pay
- Integrated GPS, water resistant for swimming
The Ticwatch C2 is the smallest among Mobvoi’s range of smartwatches.
Unlike the Pro, S2 and E2, this watch doesn’t feel like a sports watch or a professional watch. In fact, it’s probably the most casual watch among Mobvoi’s line of smartwatches.
Ticwatch C2’s website is pretty telling of who this watch is targeted at: city slickers who work in studios, people who practise yoga and artists.
This watch comes with a fully leather strap which is unlike other smartwatches from Mobvoi, which at least have a little bit of silicone.
In fact, Mobvoi does note that you should swap the strap out for something waterproof before exposing the watch to water.
But it’s probably the most comfortable and least cumbersome smartwatch among Mobvoi’s range and closely competing with it is the Fossil Sport Smartwatch.
FYI, thanks to AI imagery software, we’re able to create very specific fashion and hairstyle examples to illustrate the points being made. In some cases, imagery is exaggerated to hammer home the point.
Comfort
The Ticwatch C2 is a light watch and that really makes it more comfortable because you won’t have to really tighten the strap to keep the watch in place.
However, the leather strap that it comes with is really uncomfortable. It feels very hard, sticky and stiff. I don’t like it.
The strap has a quick release, but it does not use the more typical 22mm strap which most smartwatches use. Rather, it uses 18mm/20mm straps. That’s a bummer because I have a whole bunch of 22mm straps but none in those sizes.
If I owned this watch, I’d change the strap out immediately, and everything would be better. You can definitely get a watch that’s more comfortable in this size — the Apple Watch Series 5 and the Fossil Sport Smartwatch prove this.
Wear OS
The Ticwatch C2 comes with Google’s Wear OS which is a great general-purpose smartwatch operating system.
There are many functionalities available in the Wear OS that really lead the way as compared to the Ticwatch C2’s competitors that use other operating systems such as Fitbit or Samsung smartwatches.
When I first started using Wear OS watches, it was horribly slow and laggy.
Today, I have a renewed appreciation for it. It’s quite smooth and responsive. Plus, it has a range of excellent productivity tools that really enhances the number of things you can do on your wrist.
Google Assistant
One of the best things that come with Wear OS watches is Google Assistant. The voice assistant can help you do many tasks including starting a timer, navigating to places (with the help of Google Maps), or finding information regarding a topic.
Google Assistant really shines because it has a great speech-to-text transcription service as well as its dynamism in helping you accomplish tasks. This is especially true when compared to Fitbit’s Alexa and Samsung’s Bixby. Bixby has a limited scope of functionality and a poor speech-to-text system while Alexa is better in its dynamism but it isn’t as good as Google Assistant. Only the Apple Watch’s Siri can compete for this closely, although the Apple Watch is a premium watch.
Emails and Text
With a great speech-to-text system comes further conveniences for a person looking to reply to messages and emails.
Whether you are paired to an iOS or an Android, a Wear OS watch will be able to receive notifications when emails or texts arrive on your phone.
If paired to an Android, you will also be able to reply. Just like on an Android 10 phone, Google gives you pre-composed replies based on the context of your messages, but if you need a more customized message, then you could use one of its many input methods.
The most convenient is the speech-to-text method. You say what you want and Google puts it into text. The accuracy is good and while sometimes it isn’t perfect, most of the time, it will be able to fulfill your needs.
If you are in a quiet environment and can’t use that, you can also reply using the 26-alphabet keyboard or handwrite letters. Both are slower, but in a pinch, you can reply with a simple message.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to read past messages on the Ticwatch C2, unlike on better-integrated platforms such as Apple Watches with Apple iPhones or Samsung smartphones with Samsung watches. That said, not having this feature has not been a dealbreaker for me because I have always found that I would use my phone if I wanted to see an older message.
Apps
The Wear OS has one of the biggest app stores and it’s honestly very handy to have access to all these apps.
What I liked about the Wear OS is access to Google apps such as Google Maps, Keep and Translate. You can also download other apps to enhance the functionality of the Ticwatch C2 including installing sports apps like Strava and golf apps, games, Spotify, calculators, and grocery list apps.
There are also many watches faces you can download if you don’t like Mobvoi’s pre-loaded designs. I have always found Mobvoi’s watch faces to be not as attractive as Fossil’s, and even worse, they’re usually not very customizable. So it’s a good thing you can go find third-party watch faces.
Hardware
The Ticwatch C2 comes with the typical hardware configuration you’d expect from an entry-level Wear OS smartwatch.
It comes with the four-year-old Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100, 512MB of RAM, and a 1.3” AMOLED screen. One major difference between this watch and the Ticwatch E2 and S2 is that the C2 has NFC for Google Pay. Perfect for contactless payments that have risen in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has an IP68 waterproof rating, which is the same rating that the Ticwatch Pro has, but curiously, the Ticwatch C2’s copy says “Supports swimming in shallow waters”. The Ticwatch Pro 2020’s webpage offers no mention of such capability despite having the same rating. So, bravo to the Ticwatch C2.
The Ticwatch C2 has two buttons instead of just one on the Ticwatch E2 and S2. One button functions as the “home” button on iPhones, bringing you back to the main screen. The other is a customizable button that allows you to launch apps.
It’s a pity that the C2 doesn’t have a rotating crown that makes navigating menus easier. That would be really useful.
The Ticwatch C2 does not have a speaker and therefore Google Assistant can’t read off its result to you nor will you be able to make phone calls from this watch.
Being able to make phone calls on your smartwatch is a feature that I thoroughly love. It’s very convenient to be able to pick up a call on your wrist when your phone is nowhere to be found (usually hidden under something).
Battery Life
Smaller smartwatches generally have poorer battery life. The worst battery life I have ever encountered is from the Fossil Sport Smartwatch and the best is the Apple Watch Series 5.
None of them would last over two days. In fact, I’d expect to charge them daily if I wanted to avoid dipping into battery saving mode.
The Ticwatch C2 is not dissimilar. But luckily, it had a battery life closer to that of the Apple Watch Series 5, rather than being on the opposite side of the spectrum.
You can confidently use the watch for one full day as long as you avoid using battery-intensive activities such as workout tracking.
In fourteen hours of just receiving notifications, phone calls, and time telling, my battery life dipped to 46%, which is quite a healthy buffer.
Using the internal GPS is probably the biggest power drain. My battery percentage went from 70 to 30% after 90 minutes.
Sports
Upon starting up the Ticwatch C2, it proudly exclaims that you can go swimming with the watch. This is great because even Mobvoi’s flagship Ticwatch Pro can’t.
It also has an internal GPS which is fantastic because you can track your workouts without bringing your smartphone with you. But the internal GPS really reminded me of my first smartphone in 2011 because it takes about five minutes before it gets your location data.
All Mobvoi products come with two suites of health and workout apps. By default, all Wear OS watches come with Google Fit which includes Fit Breathe, Fit Goals, Fit Heart rate, and Fit Workout. This suite of apps helps you time your breathing, sets goals for your steps and intensity of the workout, measure your heart rate, and track your workouts.
Mobvoi also includes its own suite of health and lifestyle apps. They’re called TicExercise for the workout tracker, TicHealth for step count, activity trackers, and TicPulse for heart rate tracking.
Having two suites with overlapping functionality can be rather difficult for people to choose. Especially since with the updates, Google Fit has received, it has become my preferred workout tracker and lifestyle app.
In the past, TicHealth had a daily step counter but Google Fit did not, but with the latest update, that isn’t true anymore. And the advantage of Google Fit is that it’s on every Wear OS watch, whereas Mobvoi’s software isn’t.
Nonetheless, TicExercise offers a Pool Swim mode to track your underwater activities whereas Google Fit doesn’t. TicHealth also reminds you when it detects you have been inactive and haven’t been keeping up with your step goals.
Google Fit offers a breathing timer app which is not offered by the Ticwatch C2’s own suite of apps.
Google Fit and Mobvoi offer a smartphone app that acts as a companion to their respective smartwatch apps. Google Fit’s smartphone app looks a lot better than Mobvoi’s app in the presentation of information.
Another advantage of Google Fit is that it can detect workouts with your smartphone which is good if you forget to wear your watch. For example, if you go out for a quick walk without your Ticwatch C2 but you brought your phone along, you will get all that data recorded.
Verdict
The Ticwatch C2 is a fantastic entry-level smartwatch.
For Android users, you can’t go wrong with the Wear OS given that it integrates well across all Android smartphone makers.
Wear OS also offers you a great variety of apps including some of Google’s best offerings. Compared to similar entry-level alternatives, the Wear OS really offers great bang for the buck.
One advantage that this watch has over its closest competitor, the Fossil Sport Smartwatch, is its good battery life. I expect that smartwatches should last for at least one full day, and the Ticwatch C2 manages to do that. That’s great.
I really dislike the strap that the Ticwatch C2 comes with. This is one thing I’d change. The leather strap does give it a bit of class but is one of the more uncomfortable straps I’ve used, especially on a watch that’s this light.
Overall, you can’t go wrong with the Ticwatch C2, but neither can you go wrong with the Ticwatch E2 or S2. So it really is down to a question of what kind of a watch you want. If you want a smaller watch with NFC capabilities, then the C2 is for you. Otherwise, E2 and S2 are also great alternatives to research.