Puma smartwatch initial review: Sporty, retro design meets WearOS

Fossil offers numerous brands under its smartwatch umbrella from Michael Kors to Diesel and the latest to join the portfolio is Puma.

The Puma smartwatch promises a lightweight design, Google's WearOS platform and everything that comes with that, as well as swim proofing and built-in GPS. Here are our first impressions.

Design and display

• 44mm case, 11m thickness
• 1.19-inch AMOLED screen, 328ppi
• 28g
• Three colours

The Puma smartwatch has a nylon case with a sandblasted top ring and it is surprisingly lightweight in the hand, weighing in at just 28g. Hold it alongside the new Michael Kors Bradshaw 2 and you can notice a real difference.

On top of the Puma's 44m case - which is a good size for the watch - is a 1.19-inch fully round AMOLED screen with a pixel density of 328ppi. The screen offers punchy colours and deep blacks, as you would expect from an OLED panel, and the touchscreen is responsive too.

The 11mm case thickness fits nicely on the wrist, while the 16mm silicone strap makes the smartwatch great for sports - as you would expect. It's fastened with a single prong strap buckle too, making for a secure fit.

Underneath the case is a heart rate monitor - slightly domed to allow the Puma smartwatch to fit neatly onto its charging cable. There's a single rotating crown to the right of the Puma smartwatch's casing, while a Puma logo is present on the buckle and the custom faces.

There are three colour options including a pretty bright yellow with matching top ring, a black model with a dark grey top ring and a white mode with a rose gold top ring. If we had to choose, we'd pick the yellow purely for its point of difference and its retro appeal. 

Features

• Built-in GPS
• Waterproof to 3ATM
• Google Assistant

The Puma smartwatch is swim proof up to 3ATM and it also offers built-in GPS, activity tracking through Google Fit and custom goal tracking.

As you would expect, there are smartphone notifications and the Puma smartwatch will work with both iOS and Android devices thanks to WearOS compatibility with both platforms, though the Android experience will be a little more seamless. 

There is no speaker on board like the Michael Kors Bradshaw 2 and Lexington 2, but there is a microphone, allowing for Google Assistant control. The Puma smartwatch also has Spotify and Noonlight apps auto-installed.

Hardware and performance

• Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor
• 4GB storage
• 512MB RAM
• Google Pay

The Puma smartwatch offers many of the same hardware and specifications as the other new smartwatches with the Fossil portfolio. It runs on the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 chipset, coupled with 4GB of storage and 512MB of RAM.

As mentioned, there is an integrated heart rate sensor, coupled with NFC for Google Pay, an altimeter for measuring elevation and an accelerometer.

Fossil says the Puma smartwatch will deliver 24 hours of battery life, as well as an additional two days in battery saving mode but we will need to test that in the real world to let you know how that performs.

There is also Rapid Charging on board offering to up 80 per cent battery in 50 minutes.