Various companies have introduced smartwatches in the last couple of years, and some of them have become quite popular in the tech community, like Samsung’s Gear S2, Motorola’s Moto 360 series and the Huawei Watch. That being said, we’ve had the chance to play around with various other smartwatches which are not powered by either Android Wear or Tizen, but a third-party operating system or something similar. Mobvoi’s Ticwatch is actually a great example of a smartwatch which is based on Android, but is not powered by Android Wear. We’ve had the chance to play around with the 1st-gen of this smartwatch during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona this year, and back in June, the company had introduced the second-gen product, the Ticwatch 2.
The Ticwatch 2 was introduced in China, though Mobvoi did say that an international variant is coming, even though they did not say when. Well, the company has just introduced the global variant of their new smartwatch. The Ticwatch 2 is made out of metal, just like its predecessor, but the company has managed to refine their products even more. This smartwatch actually sports some unique functions, like the side strip control called ‘Tickle’, for example, which lets you navigate the smartwatch by using its sides (think of it a side-facing touchscreen). This smartwatch will ship with an OLED panel up front, and it will include the always on functionality, though we’re still not sure what will the rest of its specs look like. In addition to ‘Tickle’, the Ticwatch 2 also offers voice activation, gesture control, notification hub, various fitness functions and so on. Mobvoi’s Ticwear 4.0 OS (which is Android based) is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. On top of all this, the Ticwatch 2 also comes with a built-in speaker, which might come in handy for some of you.
“Since our founding, we’ve been committed to defining the next generation of human-machine interaction and from our proprietary voice technologies, gesture algorithm, side strip Tickle to three dimensional Cubic UI, this mission has been core to making us the most interactive smart watch for our users’ lives,” Zhifei Li, Mobvoi’s Founder and CEO. In addition to everything we’ve mentioned, it’s also worth saying that the Mobvoi Ticwatch will come in Charcoal, Snow, Oak and Onyx color variants, and that its standard 20mm watch band will be easily replaceable. You’ll be able to charge up this device wirelessly, and the watch has been designed by a Scandinavian designer called Mika Nenonen. The Ticwatch 2 is currently on Kickstarter with a funding goal of $50,000, and it will begin shipping to backer by late September, says the company.
