Real-time 3D watch faces for Wear OS are here

Earlier this year, smartwatch face maker Facer got some new competition in to form of Mobvoi’s TimeShow app. But it looks like the company isn’t going to let its grip over the watch face market slip just yet. Facer is taking the fight up a notch by introducing 3D watch faces.

Today, Facer announced that it is launching real-time 3D watch faces for Wear OS. In what Facer says is an industry first, the company claims these watch faces use real-time 3D models. These 3D models are said to feature a high polygon count, high-resolution textures, and lifelike rendering. Additionally, the watch faces will have 3D-based procedurally generated visual effects, interactive 3D animations, dynamic lighting effects, and particle effects.

While it would seem like these features would drain a battery pretty quickly, it appears that’s not the case. Facer claims that through their tests, they found that their watch faces consume about the same amount of battery as traditional faces.

These watch faces will be compatible with the Galaxy Watch 4 and 5, Pixel Watch, and Fossil Gen 6. They will also work with Wear OS devices running on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4100 Plus chipset. The company says the models will run at 60 frames per second on the Galaxy Watch 4 and 5 but didn’t mention what the frame rate would be for the other watches.

Initially, the first wave of 3D watch faces will consist of 15 creations from the company’s internal studio, Facer Studios. However, Facer says that will be quickly followed up by hundreds of watch faces from third-party designers who are a part of the Facer Creator Partner Program.

If you’re a member of Facer Premium, the company says these 3D watch faces will be free. But if you’re not a member, it will cost you $1.99 per face. Ready to give them a shot? Give Facer a try.