Garmin Lily vs Fossil Gen 5E: Best Of Casual World?

Garmin Lily: Functionality of Beauty

Introduced to the world a few years ago Garmin Lily isn’t the latest smartwatch you would come across in your journey to hunt for the perfect Android watch. Personally, I don’t think any smartwatch that is meant to be made for Google OS is perfect. Or on the same level as Apple Watches.

“Even Garmin Lily?”

Yes. If we would compare it with Apple Watch then yes it might end up on the suffering side.

So We are not doing it!!!

Our competitor to beautiful Lilly here is Fossil Gen 5E, and Fossil 5E isn’t the best smartwatch of all time. Well, to be honest, neither is any Apple Watch, I guess it is impossible to have anything perfect.

Fossil 5E: Beauty of Functionality

While Fossil holds a prestigious place in the watchmaking industry, given its 40-year tenure in the environment competing with the likes of Tissot and Tag Heuer. When the focus shifts toward smartwatches Fossil might not be the priority of the majority.

And it is understandable.

Fossil introduced its smartwatch line in 2015 and with each passing year improvements have been made to compensate for using Google Wear OS, there is still a lot of room to improve.

“It seems like you are not fan of either Garmin Lily or Fossil Gen 5E…”

I would disagree, it is true I do feel there was a lot to improvise I have used both Garmin Lily and Fossil Gen 5E and my overall experience was quite satisfactory – to say the least. I like Garmin Lily’s beauty in shape, and I love Fossil Gen 5E functionality.

But what triumphs over what?

Well…

Garmin Lily vs Fossil 5E: Beauty vs Functionality

Before we take a deep dive and get ourselves tangled up with the comparisons that can influence your decision, let’s make one thing clear: pricing. You can have both Garmin Lily and Fossil Gen 5E on your wrist for not more than $200.

While cost can be dictated by a variety of factors – your location, store id, deals, and discounts – in the normal world Garmin Lily can cost around $180. Whereas on the other hand, Fossil Gen 5E can be sold for as low as $160.

Make that of what you will!

Body In Question

I would be lying to myself If I would pretend I don’t care about the Design of a smartwatch. For me, it is just as important as the other contributing factors. Therefore when I got Garmin Lily I was surprised given its size (which is rare I don’t consider surprise surprise). I don’t want to give away too much at this point, so I’ll go ahead and say it was cute (though not like Bellabeat Leaf cute).

Fossil Gen 5E on other hand wasn’t any different from thousands of other smartwatches I have seen before. In essence, it is just – normal.

And normal is normal…

Built Quality 

If you are planning to buy either of them there is one thing you shouldn’t forget. Garmin Lily was primarily designed with femininity in the mind. Of course that doesn’t mean you can not have it, I did and I loved how comfortable it was having a watch that wouldn’t bother me – coughs Michael Kors Access Gen 5 coughs. Its slim body and beautiful dial can sweeten up any wrist. Even if you have petite arms it wouldn’t appear out of place.

“I heard it is little difficult to change watch bands, is that true?”

I’d say no, and my reason is it would always be a hassle to change bands, I usually use Apple Watch Series 7 and I find changing bands there annoying as well. It might take time but you would be able to do it on your own, and it’s not just confined to Garmin Lily. Fossil 5E also has a replaceable band so it is up to your discretion to lighten up your smartwatch the way you would like.

Speaking of Fossil Gen 5E if you would place the two competing watches side by side the difference in size would be astounding. Fossil has stretched the screen size to 1.20 inches in the 5E variation, with casing going up to 44mm, and weight amounting to 119g.

So there is a lot of room to work around.

Display Screen

If you are treating this comparison as the game it is fair to assume Fossil Gen 5E wins here. There is not a chance Garmin Lily TFT-LCD can match up to the standards of Gen 5E OLED screen capacity.

“Is it that bad?”

It is not bad, I will never say that about any smartwatch, all of them have their merits. However, you can not be biased and lean to a side outmatched by another. In the case of Screen in the debate of Garmin Lily vs Fossil Gen 5E, the latter is better at providing quality.

Don’t believe me? Look below…

• The resolution of Gen 5E stands at 390x390px in comparison to Garmin Lily 290x290px.
• Garmin’s use of TFT technology holds back the bright elevating colors Fossil has on the screens of 5E.
• There is no ‘Always-On’ functionality in the Garmin Lily. Fossil 5E on the other hand aces the test here.

However, despite the secondhand performance, there was one thing about Garmin Lily that caught my attention. You can be standing outside in the scorching heat of dessert and you would still be able to see the display on your Garmin Lily.

Resistivity Prowess 

I don’t think we need to spend a lot of time debating here. Both Fossil Gen 5E and Garmin Lily are water-resistant. This is not an anomaly, you would find the resistivity to wetness in pretty much every other smartwatch on the market.

Although, in the case of Fossil Gen 5E there is also another charm to its’ hoard of functionality.

• Fossil Gen 5E is also sand resistant.
• Fossil Gen 5E is also sweat resistant.

Features At Time

It is impossible to go to a smartwatch store or any store and not have certain expectations in your mind regarding the features. If someone says they do that, either they are lying, or they are the most innocent human on the face of the planet.

Although I might be wrong and I have no issue in being so, I do reckon, it is not just vital but hastily necessary to know your needs before making a decision. As much as the design or battery life can influence the performance of a smartwatch, its feature is what truly defines it.

Fossil Gen 5E and Garmin Lily aren’t any different here…

Sensors Sensing Everything?

With each passing year advancement in technology takes place, and a new reality is shaped. No one would have predicted in the early 2000s by 2023 half of the world would be earning from the comfort of their homes, and they would probably be richer than the other half going out for money.

Yet it happened. Just the same way today smartwatches feature features that can track your heart rate, the steps you take, the distance you travel, the anxiety you feel, the time you sleep, and whatnot.

“Wow! Does Fossil Gen 5E and Garmin Lily does the same too?”

Of course. Fossil is better defined by its functions to perform various tasks, so yes, it can, and it does with 90% efficiency, and the same can be said for Garmin Lily as well. For sure, it is not the most proficient on its own, but for the general purpose, it’s more than good enough.

“I have heard Garmin Lily is manufactured to keep track of menstrual cycle and Pregnancy.”

You have heard, right? Surely, In my test, I didn’t put those features to the test, one of my friends did, and she was quite satisfied with the results. They were not 100% accurate (of course) there were correlations with the reality to say the following.

“Garmin is actually competing really well here!”

Indeed! In terms of sensors Garmin is not far off from the Fossil Gen 5E. Yeah, the other might be more optimized, if your usage relies on general stuff, I’d say they are on the equal level.

Connectivity Ability 

For an IoT device, it is hastily impotent to have the needed ability to connect to other smart devices in the plain. Even if they are not necessarily smartwatches or smartphones. Thankfully Fossil and Garmin didn’t disappoint here.

Both of them can do the following with ease:

• Compatible with iOS and Android.
• Supports Bluetooth.
• Sync Data to the smartphone for better fitness tracking.

What both of them can’t do:

• No integrated GPS so uses your phone’s ability to track and tell.
• Doesn’t support Wi-Fi version 5 or 6

What only Garmin Lily can’t do:

• NFC

Although in its defense I don’t think NFC is really a deal breaker. I have never heard anyone saying they transfer data using NFC.

Wits To Out Wits 

Just like it is important to have functions that can be of need. It is also necessary to have a smart device that can handle your wants.

If you are thinking about Garmin Lily and Fossil Gen 5E to do it for you. You might be on to something.

Let’s begin with Fossil!

Despite the availability of Fossil Gen 6 which is the better product of the two, I wouldn’t put Gen 5E too far behind. Yes, there are differences like GEN 6 has 8GB RAM while 5E works with 4GB, but it is not a lot if your use isn’t – a lot.

But we are not concerned about Gen 6 at the moment. Our qualm is relevant to Gen 5E and Lily of Garmin. However, if you are we have done the Fossil Gen 6 vs Ticwatch Pro 3.

So, if you’ll put them side by side, both of them are pretty capable…

• You can use both to answer phone calls.
• There is a music playback option available
• Both of them support customization through widgets.
• It is not a hassle to connect your portable device to social media. Integration is innately convenient.

“Seems like a fairly equal match.”

Uhm, not exactly, I wouldn’t say that…

“Why.”

Despite the charm it encapsulates Garmin Lily can’t compete on all fronts with Fossil Gen 5E. It doesn’t have voice command, you might have a problem installing third-party applications, and there is no vibrating motor within it to notify you.

All in all, it is just not at that level…

Sorry

Battery Life

In all these years I’ve had the pleasure to wear and review smartwatches I still believe truly – truly – no brand or company has ever come close to solving the issue of battery life. With each feature that is introduced to solve a certain problem, persisting issue of a drained battery only gets worse.

And yes a lot of brilliant minds has put their heads together to find a brilliant solution. We are no where near brilliance.

Fossil Gen 5E and Garmin Lily are product of the same brilliant minds.

Lifespan Over Lifetime

All of us understand the concept of proportionality. To those who might not, it is pretty simple, if two things are directly proportional then the increase in one would mean an increase in the other. On the other hand, if two things are indirectly proportional the increase in one thing would be a decrease in the other.

For smartwatches, it is the second principle that applies. If your consumption would be heavy there is more than a slight chance by the end of the day your watch would be beeping to get charged. And vice versa.

“Which one beeps the first of Fossil and Garmin?”

Well, it is Fossil that does, and it is pretty self-explanatory why that might be the case. Since Fossil is the junction of functionality the power needed to handle the operations would obviously be more. Hence the need to get the battery charged up frequently.

On average and from what I noticed your Fossil watch can last for as long as 36 hours. Whereas Garmin Lively would be up and alive even after 96 hours and more.

Wireless Charging

Neither Fossil Gen 5E nor Garmin Lily supports wireless charging. Which is a bummer considering the standards of the industry today.

But you know what!!!

We should give them the benefit of doubt. As mentioned above they are not exactly the newest entities from their respective companies. So it is understandable why you might have to stay in one place while your smartwatch would be plugged into a socket.

Garmin Lily vs Fossil Gen 5E: Beauty Over Functionality?

Just before we begin to seek the answer to Garmin Lily vs Fossil Gen 5E I left a question for you: Beauty Over Functionality? Which can triumph over the another? If you don’t remember you can always go up and read again.

Anyways, it is not an easy task to choose one over the other considering the merits both hold close to them. If It was up to me I think I’d prefer Fossil Gen 5E. Yes, it is not the most beautiful watch in the world, but it can achieve a lot, and you can achieve a lot with it.

However, considering the fact Garmin Lily is also capable to perform a variety of tasks and it is better looking, I wouldn’t advise anyone from buying it as well. In the end, both of them are perfectly capable to power up your day and keep in track of your nights for years to come.

And isn’t that what we all want?