Apple Watch is no longer the only option if you want a smartwatch that can handle calls through your iPhone. An update to Fossil’s Gen 5 brings the same functionality to Wear OS for the first time.

But it probably won’t end up on other Wear OS watches.

Apple Watch wasn’t the first wearable to play nicely with iPhone. That award goes to the Pebble. But it became the best, thanks to a whole host of features that aren’t available on rival smartwatches.

But Fossil has somehow found a way to steal one of them. Its Gen 5 watch recently got a new Wear OS update that adds support for taking calls from your iPhone.

Fossil Gen 5 now takes calls on iPhone

The Gen 5, like other Wear OS watches, has been compatible with iPhone for years. It would previously alert you when you received a call, but it wouldn’t let you answer it. Now it will — just as Fossil promised.

You can answer calls on the Gen 5 just like on Apple Watch, negating the need to take your iPhone out of your pocket. You can also make calls on the watch using its redesigned Phone app.

Users report the feature works well, allowing iPhone to see the Gen 5 as a Bluetooth headset. But it requires you to hold the watch close to your face since its microphone isn’t the best at picking up sound.

What about other Wear OS watches?

Sadly, this isn’t a Wear OS feature. It has been integrated into Google’s operating system by Fossil. That means we may not see the feature on other Wear OS devices.

It may come to other Fossil wearables, but many of its devices, like the previous Gen 4, do not include speakers.

Via: AndroidCentral