Mobvoi TicWatch Atlas review: Globe trotter

Price When Reviewed

$349

Best Prices Today: Mobvoi TicWatch Atlas

The TicWatch Atlas sees Mobvoi roll out another Wear OS smartwatch and this time it’s built for lovers of the great outdoors.

Like the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro, which was announced early in 2024, the Atlas promises to wrap Google’s latest smartwatch OS in a rugged exterior to make it better suited for some serious rough and tumble.

Tougher design aside, there are some new software features here that haven’t appeared on the TicWatch Pro 5 and Pro 5 Enduro, like fall detection and emergency modes with a fun heat map mode for lovers of team sports like football, tennis and basketball.

It does, of course, embrace Mobvoi’s dual-layer display technology, which helps to push battery further than rival Wear OS smartwatches to keep you tracking for longer than the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and the Google Pixel Watch 3. 

I was pretty underwhelmed by the light update Mobvoi rolled out with the TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro, so is there more to get excited about with the Atlas? I strapped it on to find out.

Design & Build

• Large 52mm case
• Heavier than Pro 5 Enduro
• Waterproof up to 50 metres

The Pro 5 Enduro doesn’t stray too far away from what we got with the Pro 5 Enduro in terms of overall look.

The big differences lie with the case size and the colour options available. There’s your pick of black (pictured) or silver looks and the case has grown from a 50mm one to a slightly larger 52mm case.

Mike Sawh

In reality, that jump in size doesn’t dramatically change what it’s like to live with the Atlas compared to the Pro 5 Enduro and Pro 5, but if you were hoping for something small then you’re out of luck.

It’s jumped a little in weight on the Pro 5 series yet doesn’t feel as hulking as some other outdoor-centric smartwatches. It tries to strike a balance between offering a durable design while retaining a more refined, streamlined look of the Pro 5 series to make it one that doesn’t scream outdoors.

You’re still getting a watch case with a rotating and non-rotating crown buttons and a case made from stainless steel and aluminium. It’s also been tested to MIL-STD-810H military standards to handle being operated in high and low temperatures and conditions like rain and wind.

The Atlas gets the same level of waterproofing as the Pro 5 and Enduro, making it safe to take for swims up to 50 metres depth and it survived my time in the water with it. Keeping that tough case on your wrist is a pretty standard-looking 24mm-sized flurorubber strap that can be removed and uses a pretty straightforward pin mechanism to do that. 

Is it the most gorgeous, jaw-dropping smartwatch to look at? Not really. If you like the idea of a smartwatch that has a more rugged quality to it without adding serious heft to your wrist, then the Atlas will have appeal.

I think it would benefit from adding another physical button to make interacting with Wear OS more intuitive. If you’re hoping for something distinctly different from the Pro 5 and Pro 5 Enduro, that’s definitely not the case.

Screen & Audio 

• Same 1.43-inch AMOLED display and ultra-low power display
• Sapphire Crystal screen protection
• Microphone and speaker included

Despite giving the Atlas a larger case Mobvoi sticks to using the same 1.43-inch, 466 by 466 resolution AMOLED display used on the Pro 5 and Enduro.

That’s combined with an ultra-low power display where some smart features of the watch can be offloaded and can help to push battery life further. Sapphire crystal protects the screen from scratches and is the type of screen protection typically found on more expensive outdoor-centric smartwatches.

Mike Sawh

The dual display remains a highlight feature for Mobvoi TicWatches compared to rival smartwatches. It means in AMOLED mode you get a high-quality screen with good sharpness, brightness and overall vibrancy to show off both Mobvoi and Google’s software.

You can use the ultra-low power mode during workouts, set it up to turn on at night and you’re able to glance at information like step counts, heart rate and of course the time. Using the watch crown also allows you to view some of that data in an expanded view, which improves the usefulness of this mode.

Mobvoi includes both a microphone and a speaker so the Atlas is able to handle calls over Bluetooth as there’s no LTE connectivity here. I found the microphone performance absolutely fine in general without being standout from other smartwatches with similar functionality.

If you want to take calls from your wrist, the Atlas offers good volume and clarity.

Software & Features 

• Runs on Wear OS 4
• Works with Android smartphones only
• Powered by Snapdragon W5 + Gen 1 chip

The good news on the software front is that the Atlas runs Wear OS 4.0 out of the box, as Mobvoi finally started rolling out this version of Google’s smartwatch operating system to its Pro watches in September last year.

Mike Sawh

That means you get access to the best Google has to offer, though it’s not the most recent version which is Wear OS 5. Still, you have the ability to back up and restore your data making it easier to transfer your watch to a new phone without doing a factory reset.

In essence, you’re getting new Wear with the presence of tiles (widgets) and notifications to swipe through, access to Google apps like Google Calendar, Google Maps and Wallet and YouTube Music.

That’s also mixed in with Mobvoi’s own software, including its Essential mode to make the best use of the ultra-power display. There are also health-focused ones like TicBreathe, TicBarometer while its TimeShow app indulges fans of changing watch faces on a regular basis.

Mike Sawh

Performance is handled by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5 + Gen 1 chip along with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Again, the same components that feature inside of the TicWatch Pro 5 and Pro 5 Enduro.

The experience of using Wear OS feels identical to using it on Mobvoi’s Pro watches. It’s great to see Google’s apps are well integrated and third-party app support doesn’t feel disjointed or clunky.

I think the mix of Mobvoi and Google’s apps can feel like a fight to be the most dominant on the software front. Both offer useful apps and modes, but it might need a bit of refining still to make the software package feel like a more unified one.

Fitness & Tracking 

• New Emergency and SOS modes
• Heat maps for team sports
• Enhanced TicMotion support 

Whether you opt for Mobvoi’s own health and fitness tracking smarts or choose to head to the Google Play Store to get something more to your liking, the Atlas gives you a comprehensive level of tracking support.

Mike Sawh

There are optical sensors to track heart rate, SpO2 levels and skin temperature. There are also the typical motion sensors to track exercise both manually and automatically as well as enable sleep monitoring, with additional outdoor sensors in the form of a built-in compass and barometer to better measure elevation.

Most of that data is viewable on the watch, with everything else stored in the Mobvoi Health Android smartphone app. It’s an app that provides a dashboard of your stats alongside device settings and turning on data sharing for Strava and Google Fit.

As a sports watch, it covers over 100 sports modes, but lacks the latest dual-frequency GPS support we are starting to see crop up on other smartwatches including ones that come in cheaper than the Atlas.

You’re getting an enhanced version of Mobvioi’s TicMotion automatic tracking recognition that works for walking, running and cycling only. The enhanced part refers to being able to see richer real-time fitness data on the low-power display, which I found quite challenging at times to soak in on the move.

Mike Sawh

On outdoor runs, I found the GPS sluggish to pick up a signal and tended to overreport distance against a more accurate dual-frequency GPS-packing watch. It wasn’t a bad showing for GPS tracking, but you can find dedicated sports watches for less that will perform better.

Maximum heart rate data compared to a heart rate monitor was at times more than 10 bpm higher in my tests. For pool swims, it didn’t fare too badly tracking distance and laps, though did suggest a quicker average pace compared to the reliable swim tracking on an Apple Watch Ultra 2 and the Form Smart Swim 2 Goggles. I liked that the heart rate zone backlights make it easier to understand your workout effort levels without closely looking at the watch, though how reliable that heart rate data was is another matter.

There are some additional training metrics at your disposal like VO2 Max estimates, advanced running metrics and recommended recovery time suggestions. The recovery time suggestions particularly felt off, even off the back of some pretty light workouts.

The big new software addition is the new heat maps mode, which is a fun way for anyone who dabbles in team sports to see where they spent most time on the field, court or pitch with the ability to quickly share heat maps.

In terms of other features unique to the Atlas, there are fall detection and emergency SOS modes, so when the watch detects a fall using its onboard sensors it will fire a message to emergency contacts. This is reliant on you having your phone nearby to make it all work.

What’s a little surprising for a watch that’s geared towards adventurers is that it doesn’t include any form of offline maps built for activities like hikes. You do have Google Maps of course and the ability to download an app from the Play Store to add it into the mix, but it would have been a nice touch to add some native mapping support to make this feel more like a watch you’d want to go exploring with.

Mike Sawh

When you turn to the Atlas to track your health, all the typical sensors are in play though you’re not getting an ECG sensor or blood pressure functionality, which you will find on rival Wear OS smartwatches.

Heart rate monitoring throughout the day didn’t feel all that reliable. My resting heart rate always felt suspiciously high compared to other devices and just knowing in general what my ranges typically are day-to-day. My SpO2 data didn’t deviate outside 98-100%, which would indicate that it was in the healthy range. An included one-tap measurement lets you capture multiple metrics from a 90-second reading. For me, it took a bit longer than that though.

Sleep tracking captured similar sleep duration as the sleep tracking from Samsung and Oura smart rings. Sleep quality scores and sleep stages did seem to vary across devices, however. When sleep is bad, the Health app will tell you that and offer some pretty basic insights on why that’s not a good thing for your health. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but useful for beginners nonetheless.

While Mobvoi does offer a good range of its own tracking apps, as far as being a fully fledged health and fitness watch, it does a good enough job of it.

Battery Life & Charging

• Up to 90 hours battery life
• Up to 45 days battery life in Essential mode
• Can schedule Essential mode

Mobvoi uses the same capacity 628mAh battery on the Atlas as you’ll find inside of the Pro 5 and Pro 5 Enduro. What you enjoy in terms of battery life entirely depends on how you treat the dual-layer display mentioned earlier.

Mobvoi states you should enjoy up to 90 hours or just shy of four days when mainly making use of its AMOLED display. It really relies on that less power-hungry display to make sure it can push through. So much so that on the first day of testing I hadn’t realised that the watch had been set to default to switch display modes at night to get that longer battery life.

I found 3-4 days representative of my time testing the Atlas, so no real improvement on those Pro 5 watches. Getting to 4 days requires switching to the essential display mode. If you’re using the screen in always-on mode, that will invariably see the battery drop below those times.

I found the daily battery drop was anywhere from 25-30% per day in heavier use and around 20% in lighter use. For over an hour’s use of GPS, the battery drop was 20%, which would work out to about 4-5 hours of GPS tracking battery life. 

When you do get low on power, there is a fast charge mode that will give you 2 days of battery life from a 30-minute charge in that daily usage scenario, so not when the screen is set to always-on. It still means it’s up there with the OnePlus Watch 2 as Wear OS smartwatches that go beyond the norm of what we’ve had to deal with on Wear OS smartwatches and battery life for a long time.

Price & Availability

The TicWatch Atlas was officially announced in October 2024 and went on sale for £329/$349. It’s since dropped below that launch price as typically seems to be the case with Mobvoi as it doesn’t wait long to discount its watches.

You can buy one from Mobvoi or Amazon.

The TicWatch Pro 5 and Pro 5 Enduro launched at the same price and like the Atlas, are already on offer below £300/$300 or even below £200/$200 for some versions.

When put up against other Wear OS smartwatches, the Google Pixel Watch 3 is pricier at £399/$399, while Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 pricing starts at £289/$299. There’s also the likes of the WearOS-packing OnePlus Watch 2 and Watch 2R, which costs from £249/$299. 

The Atlas is more rugged and cheaper than options such as the Galaxy Watch Ultra which is £599/$649.99.

Check out our list of the best smartwatches to see our top recommendations.

Should you buy the TicWatch Atlas?

If you’ve already got a TicWatch Pro 5 or Pro 5 Enduro, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot to swap that watch for the Atlas. Barring a few software extras and a larger case, you can expect a similar performance across the board.

While the Atlas offers a pretty affordable route to Wear OS, the competition is getting cheaper and there’s an argument to say that rival watches like the OnePlus Watch 2R and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 give you better value for money if you don’t need such a rugged design.

Samsung offers more on the health and tracking front, while the Watch 2R edges the Atlas for battery in full smartwatch mode. The Atlas is a solid-enough performer that doesn’t do quite enough differently from other TicWatches and other rivals that sit in and around its price.

The main reason to buy it is the rugged design which is cheaper than the likes of the Galaxy Watch Ultra.

Specs