Fossil Q Marshal: Is it still worth it?

Fossil wasn't shy from technology and bought us a varied range of smartwatches from their brand. The Fossil Q Marshal was their second generation smartwatch launched almost 2 years ago. Since then there have been a number of Fossil smartwatches including the recently launched Explorist HR and Venture HR.

However, being almost two years old makes the Fossil Q Marshal more accessible to everyone with the price cut it has got. So it the Fossil Q Marshal still worth it.

Design

Fossil Q Marshal is certainly not on the slim and thin side. The smartwatch sport has a massive 45mm watch case and 14mm of thickness that makes it look and feel like a thick rugged watch.

There is a ridged bezel around the watch case which makes it feel like it can be rotated to control the watch, however, it is just for decorative purposes. The ridged edge on the crown is also just for decoration. The crown serves for the purposes of the look and as a power button.

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The watch has a traditional black casing with black silicon straps. If you wanted to go a little more traditional it also comes in a silver casing with metal straps or blue casing with leather straps. The straps are detachable, so you can swap in a new one it old ones fail or you wanna change the look a bit.

The Q Marshal is IP68 rated so it will remain protected in the rain. The watch doesn't sport a heart rate sensor, but it does sport a G-sensor and a gyroscope to help you track your activity.

Overall the looks of the watch are nothing fancy and more on the rugged side. It looks like Fossil put this smartwatch out just to give users more option from their brand.

Display

One of the most disappointing aspects of the Q Marshal is its screen. It sports a resolution of 340 x 290 and it can be seen in daily usage. Considering you will not use the smartwatch display for media consumption, it is a compromise you could live it. Talking about compromises you might not be able to live with is the bad viewing angles.

It has an always-on display that provides a low battery monochrome face that makes it look like a real watch, cheap watch but its there none the less.

The display is not completely circular, the display has a flat edge the bottom. Also, the emission of the light sensor is a big compromise as the watch doesn't adjust brightness based on the environment.

Performance

The Fossil Q Marshal sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100 processor. It is not one of the most powerful ones, but it runs the Android Wear without much lag. Swiping within the menus and using apps doesn't lag at all, the button functionality has a small lag though. 

There are basic step and exercise counting is provided by Google Fit, and made possible by G-sensor and a gyroscope. However, the battery life with all the features working as expected is around 24 hours which is quite less.

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The battery life depends on how you use the watch. With the lowest brightness and Wifi off and Location off you can stretch the battery life to a day and a half. Anyway, you will end up charging it at overnight. 

Conclusion

The Fossil Q Marshal is available right now for around Rs 7000. At that price point it is a mix mag. For a smartwatch with the feel of a real watch the price is justified. So if you are looking specifically for a smartwatch, then the Q Marshal is a good option, however if you are looking for a fancy wrist wear, pass this one.