Fossil unveils new heart rate-tracking Gen 4 smartwatch range

Fashion brand Fossil has revealed the latest in its line of smart wearables: The Fossil Q Venture HR and the Fossil Q Explorist HR.

If you think you’ve heard those names before, it’s probably because they’re the same names given to the third generation of Fossil smartwatches, only with HR tagged on the end. The HR, of course, stands for heart rate, which should give you an idea of the first feature out of the blocks: an optical heart rate sensor for keeping track of your ticker.

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Other than that, the pair do pretty much everything you could want from a smartwatch. As was the case last time around, both have GPS built in, letting you track your runs accurately without having to drag your phone along for the ride.

They both have 3ATM waterproofing too, so you can even take them both for a swim if you like – but at the very least, you won’t have to take either off to shower.

NFC also features on both smartwatches. As they both run Wear OS, that means you can make contactless payments with Google Pay straight from your wrist. Both watches are powered by the Qualcomm 2100 processor – which is the same as the last generation. 

The difference between the watches purely comes down to their relative sizes. The Q Explorist HR is the larger of the two, coming in at 45mm with 22mm straps. The Q Venture HR is 5mm smaller and supports 18mm straps. These straps will be changeable, should you not like the one you buy it with.

Both the Fossil Q Venture HR and the Fossil Q Explorist HR are available for pre-order on the Fossil website, priced at either $255 (~£197) or $275 (~£212), depending on the kind of strap you want in the box.

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