INTRODUCTION

   If you're looking to get a brand new smart watch then you should be aware that there are currently three types in the market, the classic multimedia smart watches (like the THOR PRO and the KW88 PRO), fitness smart watches (several price categories here) and the much more "extreme" adventure (some athletes even call them decathlon) smart watches. Personally, although I do enjoy lifting weights (nothing extreme however) and running on the treadmill I can't say that I’d ever get an adventure/decathlon smart watch (nor will I ever need one) but a good fitness smart watch has always been on my to get list. Mobvoi may not be the most popular smart watch manufacturer in the market today but their TicWatch Pro model has received a large number of awards by media all over the globe (not to mention overwhelmingly positive reviews by consumers) so we decided to take a look at one of their latest models the TicWatch S2 (we will also do our best to try and get our hands on the Pro model).

   Founded in 2012, Mobvoi aims to push the boundaries of next generation human-machine interaction with AI technology. Mobvoi has developed its own Chinese voice technologies in the fields of voice recognition, natural language processing, and vertical search. Through its creation of critically acclaimed consumer products in wearables, audio, automobile and home product categories, Mobvoi’s rich accumulation of experience in the application of AI has in turn driven continued innovation in its core voice-based technologies. To date, Mobvoi has raised 6 rounds of funding, led by firms including SIG, Sequoia Capital, Zhenfund, Google and Volkswagen. In addition, Mobvoi’s close strategic partnership with Google through Wear OS and Google Assistant as well as its joint-venture with Volkswagen Group China place it at the forefront of solving many real world problems and scenarios with voice-based AI.

   Much like most mid-end fitness smart watches the TicWatch S2 is based on the Wear OS by Google but unlike "regular" multimedia smart watches it features a plethora of extra functions designed to help you with your daily training/working out needs. The 12.9mm thick MIL-STD-810G certified rugged polycarbonate enclosure of the TicWatch S2 (currently available in black and white versions) is water-resistant up to 5-ATM (50 meters) and inside of it we find the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset (ARM Cortex A7 quad core CPU up to 1.2 GHz - Bluetooth v4.1 & WiFi 802.11 b/g/n included), 512MB LPDDR3 RAM, 4GB flash storage, 415mAh lithium-ion rechargeable battery, heart rate sensor, accelerometer/gyroscope and a GPS receiver/transmitter (complete with GLONASS and BeiDou support). In terms of screen size, the 1.39-inch AMOLED display with its 400x400p resolution may not be the largest in the market today but it's larger than most "regular" watches (still we wouldn't say no to a larger screen). Two 22mm thick silicone straps complete the package and unlike previous TicWatch versions you can actually replace these on your own (previous versions featured the GPS antenna in the straps).