Fitbit Sense vs Fossil Gen 6

Fitbit Sense has established itself as an efficient health tracking watch. Especially, the addition of Fitbit Premium subscription services has made a substantial difference. Advanced health and heart tracking features are a part of Fitbit Sense. Fossil Gen 6 is a smartwatch that is based on the Wear OS made by Google. We look at the key differences between the Fitbit Sense and Fossil Gen 6 smartwatches below.

Android support

Fitbit Sense is based on the Fitbit OS. It is an operating system that is proprietary to the Fitbit ecosystem. Fitbit Sense works well with the Android mobile operating system. Fitbit Sense integrates with an Android phone through the Fitbit app. Fitbit app is compatible with the Android version 10 or higher. So, all mobile handsets that support Android OS version 8 or higher are compatible with the Fitbit Sense smartwatch. As of now, the current Android version is 12. We are expecting Android version 13 to roll out soon.

Fossil Gen 6 is based on Google’s Wear OS. Fossil Gen 6 supports Wear OS 2.3 version. Wear OS 2.3 works with Android version 6 or higher. So, Fossil Gen 6 can work well with older Android mobile phones as well, the ones that can support at least the Android version 6. Wear OS 3 is out now. Fossil Gen 6 should be able to upgrade to Wear OS 3 version.

iPhone compatibility

Fitbit Sense is based on the Fitbit OS operating system. Fitbit app becomes an integration point between the Fitbit Sense smartwatch and the underlying operating system of the watch. Fitbit app is compatible with iOS version 13.4 or higher. So, all iPhone models starting from iPhone 6S should work well with a Fitbit Sense. We are, currently, on iOS 15. So, that is a fair number of Apple iPhone versions that are supported by the Fitbit Sense smartwatch.

Fossil Gen 6 is based on Google’s Wear OS 2.3. It is compatible with iOS devices running iOS version 13 or higher. So, effectively, we are looking at Fossil Gen 6 to work seamlessly with iPhone 6S and higher models. The current iOS version is 15. So, from iPhone 6S to the current generation iPhone 13 will be supported by the Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch.

ECG

Fitbit Sense can take on-demand ECG in supported countries. As of now, ECG app of Fitbit Sense is supported in 22 countries. ECG app is becoming a norm across most smartwatch offerings. Apple Watch 4 and later have ECG feature. Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 also rolled out the ECG feature on its smartwatch. Fitbit Sense has integrated an ECG app to detect issues in heart rhythm or help in detecting AFib. For people who are concerned about heart health monitoring, the ECG rollout on the Fitbit Sense makes for a compelling advancement for an under $200 smartwatch.

Fossil Gen 6 is limited to the features supported by Wear OS 2.3. As of now, the ECG feature is not available on the Fossil Gen 6 smartwatches.

Display Specifications

There are a few subtle differences between the Fitbit Sense and Fossil Gen 6 smartwatches.

Fitbit Sense is a 40 mm smartwatch of 1.58″ size. You can use a small or large sized band to put on your Fitbit Sense as it comes in two band options. Fossil Gen 6 comes in 42 mm and 44 mm sizes. Screen size on Fossil Gen 6 is 1.28″ across both models. The difference in 42 mm and 44 mm Fossil Gen 6 is on account of the size of the bezel and size of the watch band.
Fitbit Sense has a pixel density of 301 ppi while the Fossil Gen 6 has a pixel density of 356 ppi or 326 ppi, depending on the 44 mm or 42 mm watch. Pixel density is a useful indicator to predict color clarity and color depth on a smartwatch screen.
Fitbit Sense and Fossil Gen 6 have AMOLED display screens.
Always on display is available on Fitbit Sense and Fossil Gen 6 smartwatches.
Fitbit Sense has a display resolution of 336 x 336 pixels while the Fossil Gen 6 has a display resolution of 416 x 416 pixels. In part, that is made possible by the difference in screen size of Fitbit Sense and Fossil Gen 6 smartwatches.

Watch Case and Band

In terms of smartwatch case and band, Fossil Gen 6 has a better offering over Fitbit Sense.

Fossil Gen 6 has a stainless steel body; Fitbit Sense has an aluminum case.
Fossil Gen 6 comes in watch bands made of stainless steel, silicon, or leather. It, basically, rolls out the traditional watch bands to all the Fossil Gen 6 models. There are no incremental charges for the band. Fitbit Sense comes with silicon bands. Silicon bands are standard across most smartwatch offerings in the world. However, leather and stainless steel bands add to the premium feel of the watch.

Battery Life

Fitbit Sense has a much better battery life than a Fossil Gen 6. The battery can last for 6 days on a Fitbit Sense. With fast charging, you can be back in business in less than an hour. Fitbit Sense can be charged up to 80 percent in 40 minutes. 12 minutes of charging adds a day to Fitbit Sense’s battery life.

A Fossil Gen 6 can last for 1-2 days on a full battery. Fast charging allows you to top up 80 percent battery in around 30 minutes. While fast charging is a good feature on the Fossil Gen 6, you need to accept the fact that Fossil Gen 6 will require daily charging. It is much like an Apple Watch 7. You need to charge it daily.

Music

Fossil Gen 6 has an internal storage of 8 GB. This can be used to store personal music content on the watch storage as well. Or, you could easily use a music streaming app like Spotify to listen to your favorite music. It has a speaker to play music right off the watch.

Fitbit Sense has severe limitations when it comes to music ability. You will need a Fitbit Premium subscription ($9.99 a month or $79.99 annual commitment) and a valid subscription to Pandora or Deezer to play music on Fitbit Sense. The way it works is that the Deezer or Pandora playlists will get downloaded onto the Fitbit Sense. For the content to be made available from Deezer or Pandora on Fitbit Sense, you will need to avail the music subscription service. You can use a Fitbit Sense and to control music on the paired smartphone. For music, using the smartphone with Fitbit Sense is the more preferable option and the one that will not cost any incremental money.

Clearly, if music is your calling, Fossil Gen 6 is way better than a Fitbit Sense.

Water resistance and water rating

Fitbit Sense is a 5 ATM watch that is swimproof. A 5 ATM watch means that the watch can take a depth pressure of 50 m below water level. That comes to 165 feet depth pressure under water. For indoor swimming, there are no concerns in wearing a Fitbit Sense. Seawater swimming is, generally speaking, not good for any smartwatch. So, we suggest avoid wearing a smartwatch while swimming in seawater.

Deep sea diving and snorkeling are not at all suggested for Fitbit Sense.

Fossil Gen 6 has a 3 ATM water resistance rating. It means that the Fossil Gen 6 is able to take a depth pressure at 30 m under water level. That is around 100 feet below water level. The watch is fine for swimming in indoor pools. Seawater swimming, deep sea diving and snorkeling are not suitable for a Fossil Gen 6.

However, if you are concerned about swimming, Fitbit Sense is preferable over the Fossil Gen 6.

Health Monitoring

Fitbit Sense 6 outscores a Fossil Gen as far as health monitoring is concerned. If you were to choose Fitbit Premium, the health monitoring on Fitbit Sense gets augmented to a great extent. We lay out the capabilities of Fitbit Sense and Fossil Gen 6 below.

Fitbit Sense can do all the following:

Fitbit ECG app can take on-demand ECG.
Fitbit Sense can track and monitor the blood oxygenation levels.
It can track body temperature through skin-based temperature sensor.
It can send high and low heart rate alerts.
EDA scan app can measure and track stress through wrist based sensor.
Sleep tracking is top class, and sleep quality and score gives you a fairly accurate data. Sleep metrics are available for analysis through the Fitbit app.
PurePulse 2.0 helps in measuring heart rate perpetually through multi-path heart rate sensors.
Deep and REM sleep data is available on the Fitbit app.
Fitbit Sense can monitor breathing rate while you are sleeping. It can help detect any issues while you are sleeping.
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) measures the variation of time between each heartbeat to detect potential heart conditions, stress and fatigue.

6 months of Fitbit Premium is offered when you buy Fitbit Sense. If you subscribe to Fitbit Premium, you can improve health tracking further. Fitbit Premium offers the following incremental features:

Daily Readiness Score to track fatigue and stress.
Stress Management Score breakdown to track activities resulting in stress.
Wellness report is a summary report that is a PDF file. It captures sleep data, heart data weight and menstrual health over a period of past month. An annual report summary is also sent as part of the wellness report.
Over 200 health workouts.
Over 200 mindful meditation sesssions.
Sleep score breakdown in terms of time spent sleeping, deep sleep and REM sleep.

A Fossil Gen 6 can do the following:

It can measure heart rate data on a perpetual basis.
It can monitor blood oxygenation levels.

There is not much that you can do for health monitoring with a Fossil Gen 6. If health is your focus, Fitbit Sense is one of the best smartwatches around. Choose Fitbit Premium for better coverage of health monitoring.

Call Handling

Fitbit Sense and Fossil Gen 6 have microphone and speaker inbuilt on the watch. Both watches can make outbound calls through the watch. And, you can answer calls through both smartwatches.

GPS

Fitbit Sense has an inbuilt GPS sensor to connect with the GPS satellite systems. Fitbit Sense can also support the GLONASS satellite system. It is recommended to use GPS + GLONASS on Fitbit Sense for better GPS accuracy.

Compared to the Fitbit Sense, Fossil Gen 6 has an inbuilt GPS sensor to connect with the US Government’s GPS satellite systems.

Operating temperature range

One of the things you ought to be aware of is the operating temperature range of a Fitbit Sense.

Fitbit Sense can operate between -10 to 45 degree Celsius. The higher temperature limit could be tight for countries with hot weather.

Fitbit Sense can work up to 28,000 foot elevation.

Summary

Fitbit Sense is good for its health monitoring and better GPS coverage. The Fitbit operating system gets updated by Fitbit regularly. Fossil Gen 6 has a stainless steel body and more options for the band. But, it has a lot of catching up to do as far as health monitoring is concerned. Overall, Fitbit Sense fits the bill on every count.

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Helen Kurt

Helen Kurt is a geeky nerd who loves to cover the wearables space. She has over 5 years of experience in the smartwatch domain. You can reach her on email at [email protected].