Magisk may no longer be able to hide bootloader unlocking from apps

XDA Recognized Developer topjohnwu‘s “Magisk” project has essentially become synonymous with “root” in the Android community. One of the main reasons it’s so popular is because it can hide the fact that the user has modified their device. However, Google may be cracking down on the ability of Magisk to hide the bootloader unlock status from applications.

In order to root your phone, you usually need to unlock the bootloader, which allows you to flash modified boot images. This is needed because Magisk modifies the boot image to spoof bootloader status and/or the Verified Boot status checks. Google’s SafetyNet Attestation API, which is part of Google Play Services, is used to tell an app if it’s running on a tampered device; if the SafetyNet API detects that the bootloader has been unlocked, then it will return a failure status for the “Basic Integrity” check. Devices that fail this check can then be locked out from apps that use the SafetyNet API to determine the device integrity; such apps typically include banking apps, payment apps (like Google Pay), and many online games (like Pokémon Go). However, because the SafetyNet API has thus far only used software checks to determine if the device has been tampered with, Magisk can simply spoof the bootloader and/or Verified Boot status since it is installed at a lower level and with higher privileges than Google Play Services and other userspace applications. As topjohnwu explains, MagiskHide “[creates] an isolated ‘safe environment’ for the detection process, and it goes through Google’s API to create a legit SafetyNet result that does not reflect the real status of the device.”

Recently, though, users have noticed that their bootloader-unlocked devices are failing SafetyNet’s Basic Integrity check even though they used Magisk to patch the boot image. According to topjohnwu, this is because Google may have implemented hardware-level key attestation to verify that the boot image has not been tampered with. Specifically, this means Google Play Services “[sends] an unmodified keystore certificate to SafetyNet servers, verify its legitimacy, and check certificate extension data to know whether your device [has] verified boot enabled (bootloader status).” This means that it may no longer be possible to hide the fact that the bootloader has been unlocked, which will result in applications like Google Pay and Pokémon Go failing to operate normally.

So here we go, after years of fun messing around using Magisk, it seems that Google FINALLY decided to “fix” SafetyNet to something useful, and that is to use key attestation to verify device status (after 3 years since introduced to Android’s platform!)

— John Wu (@topjohnwu) March 11, 2020

As topjohnwu noted, this change to the way that SafetyNet checks the bootloader unlock status comes through a server-side update to the SafetyNet API contained in Google Play Services. However, not every user is failing these updated SafetyNet checks, so the new hardware-level key attestation may not be widely enforced yet.

We’ve seen topjohnwu overcome technical hurdles time and time again. Google frequently rolls out new checks in SafetyNet that topjohnwu then discovers and bypasses in Magisk. Each new version of Android brings changes to the partition structure or boot image, requiring topjohnwu to study the changes and then implement a new patching method. However, even topjohnwu may struggle to find a bypass this time around.

That’s because the workaround this time would involve hacking the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) firmware of devices in order to retrieve the private key. However, this is incredibly difficult to do as it requires finding a vulnerability in firmware that is designed to be incredibly secure. In fact, many companies offer payments in the hundreds of thousands of dollars if such a vulnerability were to be found. Google, for instance, pays $250,000 for remote code execution vulnerabilities in the Pixel’s Trusted Execution Environment, and up to $1,000,000 for vulnerabilities in the Titan M security chip. Even if a private key were somehow to be leaked, it’s unlikely that it would be of much use since Google can remotely revoke the key so it can’t be used to verify the integrity of devices.

Yes, we will revoke them. If the keys are leaked, we’ll revoke them. If the firmware has an unrecoverable flaw, we’ll revoke them. If the firmware has a flaw that can be fixed via OTA, we’ll analyze the situation to decide if that is adequate.

— Shawn Willden (@shawnwillden) March 11, 2020

Once hardware-level key attestation is widely enforced for SafetyNet, most devices with unlocked bootloaders running Android 8.0 Oreo or higher will fail to pass SafetyNet’s Basic Integrity check. This is because all devices that launched with Android 8.0 Oreo or higher are required to have a hardware keystore implemented in a TEE. Certain devices nowadays even have dedicated hardware security modules (HSMs) that make exploitation even more difficult by moving the TEE away from the main processor; the Titan M in the Pixel 4 and Samsung’s new security chip in the Galaxy S20 are examples of this.

Topjohnwu also explains that other potential workarounds are either impossible or highly challenging. Using the Xposed Framework to modify the SafetyNet Attestation API in Google Play Services likely won’t work since “proper SafetyNet checks will verify results on a remote server, not on [the] device which can be manipulated by code injection frameworks.” Furthermore, Google Play Services is highly obfuscated, making the creation of such an Xposed Module incredibly challenging in the first place. Spoofing a SafetyNet test result won’t be doable either since the SafetyNet responses “come from Google servers and are signed with Google’s private key.”

Google has had the ability to harden SafetyNet checks using hardware-backed key attestation for several years now. The fact that they refrained to do so for 3 years has allowed users to enjoy root and Magisk Modules without sacrificing the ability to use banking apps. However, it seems that Magisk’s ability to effectively hide the bootloader unlock status is soon coming to an end. It’s a change that we’ve expected for years, but we’re sad to see it finally go into effect. We hope that Google updates the SafetyNet Attestation API to return whether the status check used hardware-based attestation as this would allow app developers to decide if they want to block all users who have unlocked the bootloader.

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Thanks to Daniel Micay (@DanielMicay) for his input regarding this matter!

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Chrome OS may soon get a native printing and scanning app

Late last year, Google announced that Cloud Print will be killed off in 2021. Cloud Print was a service that allowed users to connect a local printer to the cloud to print to it from any device. This tool was especially useful for Chrome OS devices, which left us wondering if some sort of replacement would be introduced. Google appears to be working on a solution.

There are several methods to print from a Chrome OS device, but the functionality is greatly lacking when compared to Windows or macOS. There’s no way to see current and queued jobs, which can be annoying if you want to cancel something. There’s also no real way to manage the printers you’ve used or to see errors when something inexplicably doesn’t print correctly.

The good news is Google appears to be working on a printing solution for Chrome OS. Last month, work began on a “Print Management app” for Chrome OS. This was discovered through a Chrome OS flag with that same title. The flag description reads: “Enables the print management app that allows Chrome OS users to view and manage their native print jobs.” This should be a web-based System Web App that will be launched from the Settings app. You’ll be able to see a list of recent printing jobs along with information about them.

What’s even more difficult than printing with Chrome OS? Scanning. Thankfully, Google appears to be working on something for this as well. Another new flag titled “Scanning UI” has a description that reads: “An experimental UI that allows users to interact with a connected scanner.” This UI will be included in the Print Management app, so it should be a nice one-stop for all your printing and scanning needs.

As Chrome OS has evolved over the years, it has continued to gain more abilities. Some of the things seem pretty basic, such as this printing and scanning app. There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done for the operating system to be on par with Windows and macOS.

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Source: 9to5Google

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[Update: Widely Rolling Out] The new Google Assistant is starting to show up for G Suite users on the Pixel 4

Update (3/11/20 @ 3:45 PM ET): Google announced that G Suite customers can now use the new Google Assistant on the Pixel 4.

The original Google Assistant was a Google Pixel-exclusive for many months from its launch in October 2016, until Google rolled it out for hundreds of millions of Android phones in 2017. Similarly, the new Google Assistant, which launched in October 2019 alongside the Google Pixel 4, remains a Pixel 4-only exclusive. It comes with new features such as continued conversations, making it feel far more like a human being. It’s integrated with the Chrome browser and can do many on-device tasks, including in third-party apps. It comes with a new minimal user interface and a trimmed size, but its availability is heavily limited as only Pixel 4 users are able to use it. What’s more, even that was limited as not all Pixel 4 users could use it. Those who used G Suite accounts didn’t have the new Assistant, as it was available only for personal Google accounts. Now, Google seems to be rolling out the Assistant for some G Suite users on the Pixel 4.

New Assistant UI.

The new Google Assistant has removed a few restrictions already. It no longer requires U.S. English, works with the Japanese language, and doesn’t require enabled gesture navigation now. The incompatibility with G Suite accounts still remains on paper as Google’s support page states that the new Assistant won’t work for users having a G Suite account for work or school. However, multiple users in the Android and Google Pixel communities have started reporting seeing the new Assistant even though they have one or more G Suite accounts on their devices. Not all users have got it yet as it seems to be another customary staged roll-out. Users that have got the new Assistant will be able to identify it thanks to its different user interface.

Google is expected to officially announce this soon. The more major piece of news would be when the company decides to expand the Assistant to more Android devices. It wouldn’t be surprising to see such an announcement at I/O 2020.

Source 1: /u/HesThePianoMan | Source 2: /r/GooglePixel | Source 3: /r/GooglePixel

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Update: Widely Rolling Out

After the new Google Assistant started to show up on the Pixel 4 for G Suite users last month, Google has now made it official. A post in the Google Assistant Support forums states: “The new Google Assistant is available for G Suite users starting today!” This is still limited to the Pixel 4, however.

Source: Google | Via: Android Police

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The EU is set to introduce “right to repair” laws that could also force OEMs to let you update your smartphone

The EU has been taking a hardline stance when it comes to climate change, including plans to vote on legislation that would see standardized charging across the board when it comes to smartphones. The EU has adopted a new Circular Economy Action Plan today, which includes a number of goals that the EU will, as a whole, strive towards. One such goal on that list is introducing the “right to repair” for EU citizens. In reading the Action Plan, I noticed something particularly interesting.

Focus on electronics and ICT as a priority sector for implementing the ‘right to repair’, including a right to update obsolete software.

Firstly, the definition of “right to repair” may be different from what you are familiar with. The “right to repair” outlined in this document specifically refers to the availability of parts for professional replacement – not the replacement by a regular consumer. There is no legislation associated with this document, and as such, there are currently no stipulations as to how long exactly companies should make parts available for, through what means, or for what types of devices.

This goal appears to be an extension of similar rules introduced in October of last year, which pertained to freezers, fridges, and other home appliances. In the case of home appliances, manufacturers will need to ensure they supply spare parts for such machines for up to 10 years. With smartphones being as fast-moving and volatile as they are, it may not be quite 10 years in that industry.

Value is lost when fully or partially functional products are discarded because they are not repairable, the battery cannot be replaced, the software is no longer supported, or materials incorporated in devices are not recovered. About two in three Europeans would like to keep using their current digital devices for longer, provided performance is not significantly affected.

Given that the European Union is pushing for sustainability and eco-friendly practices, it will come as no surprise that the associated annex hopes to have legislative and non-legislative measures establishing a new “right to repair” in place in 2021.

The EU’s Action Plan is an iteration of a previous plan that had 54 goals and was instantiated in December of 2015. All of those goals have since been accomplished or are currently being implemented. “There is only one planet Earth, yet by 2050, the world will be consuming as if there were three,” is how the document starts. While some actions may seem drastic, the EU doesn’t believe that to be the case, even if they expect pushback from global tech giants.

But how can the “right to repair” be enforced when it comes to software updates? Really there would appear to be only one solution, and that would be to allow the bootloader unlocking of smartphones released in the EU. Because of GDPR requirements, many manufacturers such as OnePlus already have EEA variants of their software, so this wouldn’t introduce fragmentation that doesn’t already exist. Admittedly, I can foresee manufacturers getting around that by releasing an update that would unlock the bootloader once a device reaches EOL, which would ultimately solve the issue whilst also remaining rather useless for developers and smartphone modders on our forums.

If you’re interested in reading the EU Circular Economy Action Plan, you can check it out below. It has information pertaining to not just the right to repair laws, but other plans that the EU will try to take action on as well.

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Source: European Commission

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Leaked Google Camera 7.4 APK hints Google is finally working on 4K video recording at 60fps

Google’s Pixel smartphones are widely praised by tech reviewers for their picture-taking prowess, though that praise doesn’t always extend to the video recording quality. Google is making steady improvements to the video and audio recording capabilities of its Pixel smartphones, though, and there’s evidence the company is listening to feedback from video creators: Our earlier analysis of Google Camera 7.3 revealed that Google is preparing to add support for 24fps video recording. Now, we’ve discovered evidence that Google is also preparing a new video recording mode at 4K (3840×2160) resolution at 60 frames per second.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

This feature was brought to our attention by XDA Senior Member cstark27, a notable GCam modder, while examining Google Camera 7.4, an unreleased version of Google’s camera app for Pixel devices. YouTube channel TecnoLike Plus, which is run by YouTuber Julio Lusson, shared this APK with us from the Pixel 4a that they obtained. Within a class related to video recording, cstark27 spotted a new “camcorder.4k60fps” mode. We did not find any evidence for 4K60fps video recording in any asset or resources, though. We also don’t know which Pixel device this feature is intended for.

After the Pixel 4 launch, we determined one possible reason the device doesn’t already support 4K60 video recording is that bandwidth limitations would prevent the camera app from seamlessly switching between the main and telephoto cameras when zooming. On an episode of The Vergecast, Isaac Reynolds, a Product Manager for Camera on the Pixel, provided another reason the Pixel 4 lacks 4K60. He stated that “we have enough memory bandwidth to move that 4K 60 resolution” on the Pixel 4, but that “you can only record for a certain number of seconds before it saturates some bandwidth capacity.” Because of this, the Pixel team determined the feature doesn’t “meet the Pixel quality bar.” However, he acknowledged that “there are people who really want 4K 60” and that the team has “heard the feedback loud and clear.” Thus, it’s possible the feature will be enabled on the Pixel 4 in a future Pixel Feature Drop. Alternatively, Google may be saving this feature for the upcoming Pixel 5 series, for which there is now some (admittedly weak) evidence that they could be powered by the upper mid-range Snapdragon 765 SoC.

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Thanks to PNF Software for providing us a license to use JEB Decompiler, a professional-grade reverse engineering tool for Android applications.

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[Update 2: New Roadmap] HMD Global reveals Android 10 update roadmap for its Nokia smartphones, teases cheap 5G phone for 2020

Update 03/11/20 @ 2:35 PM ET: HMD Global has shared a new Android 10 update roadmap for its Nokia smartphones.

Update 09/27/2019 @ 2:55 AM ET: HMD Global has revealed their update plans for Android Go devices in their portfolio. Scroll to the bottom for updates. The original article as published on August 22, 2019, is preserved as below.

The latest version of Android, formerly known as Android Q, will be called Android 10 as part of Google’s newest efforts to give Android a fresher look. That’s it, no fluff, no dessert name—just Android 10. And while this may make sense from a business perspective, it is still not sitting well with Android enthusiasts. Nonetheless, Google made the announcement in anticipation of the OS’ stable release, which should now come sooner than later, and with it, some companies have started detailing their plans for rolling out the new OS to Android users. One of these companies is HMD Global, which has outlined their Android 10 update roadmap for their Nokia device lineup.

The good news is that the update will be rolling out across several device ranges, from flagship devices all the way down to Android Go edition phones. Users from all ranges will be able to enjoy the update. The bad news? Some devices are being dropped this time, particularly those that launched with Android Nougat such as the Nokia 6. We’re guessing this means that the company’s update policy doesn’t allow for more than 2 major platform updates, which is a bummer—some companies like OnePlus have started giving users up to 3 major platform updates, with 2016 devices like the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T having received updates to Android Pie this year.

The rollout is set to begin as soon as Q4 2019, with the following devices receiving updates to Android 10 and Android 10 (Go edition):

• Nokia 9 PureView, Q4 2019
• Nokia 8.1, Q4 2019
• Nokia 7.1, Q4 2019
• Nokia 7 Plus, Q1 2020
• Nokia 6.1 Plus. Q1 2020
• Nokia 6.1, Q1 2020
• Nokia 2.2, Q1 2020
• Nokia 3.1 Plus, Q1 2020
• Nokia 3.2, Q1 2020
• Nokia 4.2, Q1 2020
• Nokia 1 Plus, Q1 2020
• Nokia 5.1 Plus, Q1 2020
• Nokia 8 Sirocco, Q1 2020
• Nokia 2.1, Q2 2020
• Nokia 3.1, Q2 2020
• Nokia 5.1, Q2 2020
• Nokia 1, Q2 2020

After being the fastest to upgrade Nokia phones from N to O and O to P, I am super excited to share with you that the Q(ueue) for Nokia phones is moving fast as we get ready to welcome Android 10 on Nokia smartphones – roll out starts in Q4, 2019! #Nokiamobile #android10 pic.twitter.com/qXM4ZXAPBo

— Juho Sarvikas (@sarvikas) August 22, 2019

HMD also has other, more ambitious plans for 2020, including getting 5G into the hands of more people. A 5G device from the Finnish brand is coming next year, but it will stand out from the pack by being affordable, according to Juho Sarvikas, chief product officer at HMD Global, talking to Digital Trends. Currently, 5G devices are going upwards of $1,000 at the very least, so their device, according to our expectations, should retail for around $500 or $600. It is most likely set to be a mid-range device given its price point and how 5G technologies are still plenty expensive, but at such a price point, more people will be able to get their hands on ultra-fast 5G signals.

What do you think about HMD’s latest plans for next year? Let us know down in the comments.

5G Source: Digital Trends

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Update: Android 10 update roadmap for Android Go devices

HMD Global has now shared its update roadmap for Android 10 Go edition.

Android 10 Go Edition will first arrive on the Nokia 1 Plus in Q1 2020, while the Nokia 2.1 and the Nokia 1 will receive it in Q2 2020. The update does appear to be arriving very late, as by Q2 2020, we already expect to see the first glimpse of Android 11, with an eventual release in Q3 2020.

Source: Juho Sarvikas

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Update 2: New Roadmap

Juho Sarvikas has released a slightly updated roadmap for HMD Global’s Android 10 plans. He says the company has taken all the steps to fight COVID-19, but implies it has set their schedule back a bit. Here is the updated list:

Q1 2020

• Nokia 2.2
• Nokia 2.3
• Nokia 6.2
• Nokia 7.2
• Nokia 3.2
• Nokia 4.2
• Nokia 8 Sirocco
• Nokia 3.1 Plus

Q2 2020

• Nokia 5.1 Plus
• Nokia 1 Plus
• Nokia 3.1
• Nokia 2.1
• Nokia 5.1
• Nokia 1

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TicWatch Pro 2020 Review – Upgrades that matter

The Wear OS ecosystem is not nearly as crowded as the Android smartphone ecosystem. While there are dozens of companies pumping out Android phones, smartwatches are mostly made by just a handful. Fossil Group, which includes brands like Skagen, Misfit, Puma, Michael Kors, and more, makes up a large chunk of the Wear OS options. Mobvoi stands out from this crowd by being an upstart competitor, and they recently released the TicWatch Pro 2020.

The TicWatch Pro 2020 is an upgrade to the original TicWatch Pro that launched in 2018. Mobvoi did launch an LTE upgrade of the TicWatch Pro 2018 last summer as the TicWatch Pro 4G. The TicWatch Pro 2020 slots into this lineup by offering the same specifications as the TicWatch Pro 4G, but minus the unimpressive LTE — essentially coming out as the true successor to the 2018 model.

Mobvoi once again has included their usual suite of personal touches to help improve the Wear OS situation. Are these enough to make the TicWatch Pro 2020 not only good through the lens of Wear OS, but a good smartwatch in general? Let’s find out.

Specifications	TicWatch Pro 2020
Size	45.0 x 12.6mm, 58.5g
Display	1.39″ AMOLED (400 x 400 px) + FSTN LCD, Gorilla Glass 3
Watchband size	22mm
SoC	Snapdragon Wear 2100
Memory	1GB RAM, 4GB storage
Connectivity	Bluetooth v4.2 + BLE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
GPS	GPS + GLONASS + Beidou + Galileo
Sensors	PPG heart rate sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, e-compass, ambient light sensor, low latency off-body sensor
NFC Payments	Yes, Google Pay
Battery	415mAh
Durability	Military Standard 810G, IP68
OS	Wear OS
Colors	Black, Silver

Note: The TicWatch Pro 2020 was provided for review by Mobvoi. However, they did not have input on this review.

Hardware & Design

As I said when reviewing the TicWatch Pro LTE, you’re either going to love or hate this design. Smartwatch design varies much more than smartphones and people are very picky about fashion choices. I can’t really tell you if this watch looks nice or not. Personally, I’m not a fan of big, chunky industrial-looking watches. You may love them. I would really like to see Mobvoi change-up the design of the Pro series as this is basically the third time we’re getting this design.

What I can do is talk about the build quality and how it feels. There are four components that make up the TicWatch Pro 2020’s design: the display, the bezel, the body, and the button. I’ll talk about the display in its own section, but let’s talk about the other parts here.

The bezel is metallic (black or silver) and it has the same faux number dial that was on the original. The display is recessed slightly below the bezel, which provides nice protection against dings and scratches. The bezel ring sits atop the watch “body” which feels like a high-quality plastic with a matte finish. The very bottom of the watch, the part that touches your wrist, is silver metal. The buttons on the side are either black or silver and they feel very high-quality as well. The buttons feel solid and they offer a satisfying click when pressed.

The TicWatch Pro 2020 is marketed and priced as Mobvoi’s premium smartwatch and it certainly feels premium. It’s not lightweight, but it’s also not overly heavy on the wrist. Style preferences aside, I’ve never had any issues with the build quality. Fossil watches are notorious for having hardware defects, but I’ve never seen complaints about TicWatches. To conclude, this is a well-built smartwatch.

Display

The most unique feature of the TicWatch Pro series continues to be the dual-layer display. This is a smartwatch that actually has two displays and they work together to solve one of Wear OS’s biggest problems.

The first display is a 1.39-inch OLED panel (400 x 400). This is what you will interact with most of the time. It has good colors, gets decently bright, and makes the Wear OS UI look crisp. As smartwatch displays go there’s nothing particularly mind-blowing about it, but it looks nice.

The second display is an LCD panel that sits atop the OLED screen. When the OLED display turns off, the LCD panel kicks on and displays the time, date, steps, and battery level. The trick here is this LCD display uses very little power. You can check the time and other small details without the battery-draining OLED display. Wear OS devices are notorious for having bad battery life, so any time you don’t need to light up the full display is a good thing. Another benefit of the LCD panel is great readability in bright sunlight.

I raved about the dual-layer display in my review of the TicWatch Pro LTE and my thoughts remain the same here. At its core, a smartwatch is a watch, after all. I love features that allow me to continue using the device as a watch even when the battery is nearly dead. That’s exactly what Mobvoi’s “Essential Mode” does. When the battery would normally be too low to use the watch, Essential Mode turns it into a “dumb watch.”

My one gripe with the dual-layer remains as well. I would love to be able to customize the watch face for the LCD display. The watch face Mobvoi uses is based on their “Zoran” watch face, and while it’s perfectly fine, being able to customize this would take it to the next level.

Software & Performance

The TicWatch Pro 2020 comes out of the box with Wear OS system version “H” and November 2019 security patches. This is the same Wear OS we’ve seen for a while now. In theory, Wear OS is great. I like Google’s philosophy on how a smartwatch OS should operate. The Tiles offer quick access to common things, notifications work well and are easy to respond to, and the app selection is good enough for what I need.

Performance is the biggest issue with Wear OS and that’s why it’s so important that the TicWatch Pro 2020 has 1GB of RAM. In fact, RAM on a Wear OS device is more important than the processor. The TicWatch Pro 2020 is using the 2-year old Snapdragon Wear 2100 chip instead of the newer 3100 chip, but that actually doesn’t matter that much. 1GB of RAM, on the other hand, is essential for a modern Wear OS smartwatch.

RAM is important on a smartwatch because it greatly affects how fast things feel. Generally, on a smartwatch, you want things to be easily within reach so you can jump in and out quickly. RAM plays a big part in this, so the jump from 512MB to 1GB can have a tremendous impact.

I don’t have any complaints about performance on the TicWatch Pro 2020, except one. I haven’t noticed any lag or choppy animations anywhere. Swiping through the UI is smooth, apps open quickly, and lift-to-wake is prompt. My only real gripe with performance is how long it takes for apps to install on the watch, but that’s something I’ve noticed on all smartwatches.

Mobvoi has included its own suite of fitness apps as well. This suite consists of TicExcercise, TicPulse, and TicMotion. The first two are not much different from Google’s own included fitness apps and feel a bit unnecessary. TicMotion, on the other hand, is an AI-powered app that is supposed to automatically track workouts.

As I mentioned in my review of the LTE model, automatic fitness tracking is a feature Wear OS is missing. Samsung has this functionality on its smartwatches and it’s super handy. I’m glad Mobvoi is trying to fix this, but TicMotion feels unfinished. Workout detection often doesn’t work or starts tracking long after I’ve started. Again, I think it’s smart of Mobvoi to try to fill a gap in Wear OS functionality, but I don’t see much reason to use their fitness apps over Google’s.

Battery Life

Battery life is one of the most important aspects of any smartwatch. The TicWatch Pro 2020 passes with flying colors in this regard. The dual-layer display really makes a big difference in battery life. I can get about two days of normal use on a single charge, and then I can get up to 30 days once Essential Mode kicks in.

Speaking of Essential Mode, as I touched on in the Display section, this is one of the best features of the watch. You can enable it at any time or it will automatically come on when the battery is critically low. This allows you to still see the time, date, battery, and even continue to track steps when the watch would normally be useless. It’s great.

Charging the watch is done with the included magnetic cradle. The watch snaps in firmly and charges decently fast. My only gripe with the charger is that the cable is attached to the cradle, so you can’t plug the cradle into a microUSB or USB-C charging cable you already have plugged in somewhere.

The Platform Problem

If you read a lot of smartwatch reviews you’ve probably noticed a trend when it comes to Wear OS devices. People talk about the platform being stagnant, devices with poor battery life, laggy performance, etc. A common conclusion for these devices is “good…for Wear OS,” implying even the best Wear OS device can’t stack up to the competition.

There are several problems with the platform, and for the most part, they affect every Wear OS device. The latest chip that Wear OS devices can use is the Snapdragon Wear 3100, which is nearly 2 years old. Despite that, it’s common for watches to still launch with the Snapdragon Wear 2100, which was launched in 2016. Why? Sadly, the benefits of using the Snapdragon Wear 3100 aren’t that noticeable. There’s not much incentive for manufacturers to use a 2-year old chip over a 4-year old chip. That’s not good.

So hardware limitations are certainly part of the problem, but the Wear OS software is not without blame. Samsung watches with smaller batteries can easily outlast Wear OS devices with bigger batteries. This has caused manufacturers to take matters into their own hands with custom battery-saving tricks. Fossil includes several special battery saving modes, and, of course, Mobvoi adopts the dual-layer display.

All of these factors make it difficult to review Wear OS devices. You can look at a device like the TicWatch Pro 2020 in the vacuum of the Wear OS ecosystem and say it’s really good, perhaps also one of the best. However, looking at the big picture of smartwatches in general, it doesn’t stack up to Samsung watches or the Apple Watch.

Basically, it all depends on what you’re looking for. Platforms are very powerful. If you own an iPhone, you’re likely not interested in anything but an Apple Watch. Likewise, if you’re a Google fan, you may not consider anything but Wear OS. I’m a fan of Samsung watches, but there are certain Google-focused things you can’t do with them (most notably: Google Assistant). If Wear OS is your platform of choice, you’re not getting the best that smartwatches can offer.

Conclusion

As I’ve mentioned several times, the TicWatch Pro 2020 is essentially the same as the LTE model, just without LTE. My conclusion about that watch was that the 1GB of RAM was reason enough to upgrade. I didn’t find the LTE to be super compelling. With that in mind, the TicWatch Pro 2020 is a worthy upgrade over the original TicWatch Pro. You get an important specification bump without unnecessary LTE, which is an overall win.

Reviewing Wear OS devices can sometimes feel repetitive. My conclusion usually boils down to the same thing I mentioned in the “Platform Problem” section: “good…for Wear OS.” Compared to other Wear OS devices such as the Fossil Gen 5 or Skagen Falster 3, the TicWatch Pro 2020 has the same basic specs. You lose out on the newer Wear 3100 chip, but you’re making up for it with the unique dual-layer display.

Wear OS devices ultimately fall into two groups. There are the high-end watches that have 1GB of RAM and probably cost too much for what they are. Then there are the affordable watches that still have 512GB of RAM and sometimes lack features like NFC. If you’re serious about smartwatches, the first group is what you should consider. The TicWatch Pro 2020 is firmly in that group and it’s one of the best Wear OS watches that you can get.

Should you buy the TicWatch Pro 2020? If you are a fan of the design language Mobvoi uses and you’re okay with Wear OS, I don’t think you can go wrong. It has the same important specifications as other high-end Wear OS devices, plus you’re getting the super useful dual-layer display. $259.99 may be a lot to pay for a smartwatch, but you’ll be happy with performance and battery life.

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The post TicWatch Pro 2020 Review – Upgrades that matter appeared first on xda-developers.

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