Qualcomm continues to regularly update their offerings for mobile phones, and makes good chips and chipsets for them. And Android is a solid OS core. So all the manufacturers build good phones around those two things.
Watches are a different story. The clear best watch chip is made by Apple, and the margin is large. Their OS uses it well too. Samsung makes their own OS, Tizen, and it seems that works better than Wear OS, which Google has let lag a bit. The 2100 series chip was over two years old before it was updated; the 3100 is now close to two years old in turn, and wasnât that big an upgrade. Qualcomm isnât taking this market seriously.
Combining a 2nd tier infrequently upgraded chip with a 3rd tier OS doesnât strike me as a great market opportunity. And it is a hard space to support well. I hope they prove me wrong and come out with something best in class if they decide to jump in though.
[Concept] Soundcore Portal - A great Portable Audio/Music Player
Apple only looks to have released 5 chips in going on 6 years. Qualcomm 3300 is due out soon here, and between the 2100 and 3100 was a 2500 (almost 4 chips in 4 years incidentally). The thing about chips in general is usage and optimization. You dont really blame qualcomm for underwhelming chips when its really those doing the âwrappingâ have not taken to it like apple has. One last point, qualcomm builds a chip many can use while apple is really just apple, really easy to build an industry leading chip when its for 1 single model. Anker could push into this and get a nice market share if they build a good priced, stylish and reliable watch.
The 2500 appears to be a custom chip aimed at watches for children. It came out after the 3100, and was not a performance upgrade or replacement. The 3300 apparently hit the rumor mill last October, isnât officially announced that I can find, and even the rumors suggest it wonât be available until later this year. So still a chip every two years.
The worst part is that the articles discussing it point out that the 3300 is supposed to be a real upgrade this time, as opposed to the 3100 being built at the same clock speed on the same 28nm process as the 2100. For comparison, their latest cell phone chipset is on a 7nm process. Highlighting how little progress has been made on this front in four years, and Qualcomm is completely to blame.
When I saw the first moto 360 announced five+ years ago, I was excited that we were only a year or two away from something android compatible with decent performance and good battery life. Still waiting for that. In the meantime, Apple watch users have seen dramatic improvements almost every year. Appleâs decision to leave Qualcomm and design their own chips really paid off here.
I dunno, seems apple does everything the same as qualcomm, not sure I can give ya any concession other than agreeing apple watch is more popular. They both really make major chipset upgrades every 2 years (others in between are more like âflavorsâ or rebrandings like the s4 and s5 chipset). Nobody has really tried to take over the android watch market except samsung and their designs arent the most eye appealing or reliable. Apple only holds around 1/3rd the market, it just looks more because they are 1 company versus a whole different OS.
Iâve legitimately never heard anyone argue that Apple doesnât make the best smart watches. It this point itâs more of a fact then an opinion
As much as I dislike apple and itâs products, even I have to agree.
The Android market for smartwatches is just abysmal. Although my Amazfit GTR does itâs job nicely and has crazy battery life (can last 10-30 days without a charge depending on usage) and is also pretty cheap, so thatâs good enough for me.
Best integration, best chip, most consistent in rolling out new features and having them work.
I can talk my dad around on everything else about my android vs his iphone. But he wanted a smart watch, so that ends the discussion immediately. His previous gen Watch 4 works better by far than the latest and greatest from anyone else.
I wish they still made those.