Nixon Mission Review

For those dedicated skiers, surfers, or other extreme sports enthusiasts, this may be the smartwatch for you. With a ruggedized impact-resistant case and an impressive water resistance rating of 10 ATM, the Mission by Nixon is all set to accompany you on your ski or surf trips. Unfortunately, this all comes at a premium price — the most expensive of our test — and earned a rather mediocre score overall, though it does have plenty of bells and whistles. It's up to you to decide if these extra features are something you would use or if they are needlessly boosting the cost.

Ease of Use

This watch is running on the Android Wear operating system, similar to many other models — the Huawei Watch, Asus ZenWatch 3, and the Fossil Q Marshall, just to name a few. These watches rely on the Android Wear app to capture a screenshot, and it's an altogether unintuitive and finicky experience that takes a few tries to figure out — much, much more difficult than other models. However, this model does have unmatched water resistance, rated to 10 ATM or 100m of depth. Nixon states on their site that this means it is suitable for rain, splashes, shallow swimming, submersion, and even snorkeling or surfing — rightfully so, for a watch that is marketed directly to surfers. An important note: This rating only applies when the microphone door is closed, something worth checking if you plan on taking your Nixon Mission in the water, as forgetting to close it could turn into a very expensive ($400) mistake with a dead smartwatch.

This watch has a similar charging setup to other Android Wear watches, with a multi-pin connector on the back of the watch using magnets to align properly. This would take a little precision on your part to connect, but it was a fairly reliable connection and not often prone to accidental disconnects from being jostled.

This model does allow you to swap wristbands, but it does require specialized tools (a small hex wrench) and is only really compatible with bands from the manufacturer, which offers an impressive array of additional bands and bezels to customize your watch. The Nixon lacks a crown scroll or rotating bezel input method, leaving only the touchscreen and the single side button as an input method.

We weren't terribly impressed with the touch screen on this model, finding that it could be overly sensitive at times and completely unresponsive at others. This model also had the longest delay to wake when you raised your wrist, taking almost 1.5 seconds to light the display. While this seems fast, it is noticeably slower and substantially more frustrating than the seamless transition of the Apple Watch Series 2 or the Samsung Galaxy S3.

Smart Functions

This model has a standalone GPS module, but lacks NFC technology, meaning that it is not usable as a payment method with Android Pay. The Mission does have music controls that will pop up automatically when necessary, identical to the other Android Wear models. You can play/pause, or skip tracks — even thumbing a song up or down from the watch screen when using Pandora. You also can load up music directly on the watch to listen to offline. The Mission lacks a speaker, but can pair directly with a pair of Bluetooth headphones for listening to music.

Unfortunately, this lack of speaker means that you can't take calls directly on the watch itself. The watch will notify you of an incoming call, but you must answer your smartphone to complete the call.

The Mission has a microphone for use with the Google Assistant, but only works when the waterproof cover is open.

To test popular app compatibility, we took a sample set of 10 common apps and attempted to install them on each model, seeing if the app was even compatible and if it was fully functioning. The Nixon worked with Spotify, IFTTT, Strava, and Shazam, with more app compatibility coming with the Android Wear 2.0 rollout. You can receive push notifications from other apps through your phone, but you can't perform any actions with the apps.

Display

The 1.39", 400 x 400 fully circular screen was well-received by our rating panel, which found that it was a high-quality screen, on par with the Asus ZenWatch 3 and the Huawei, only being beaten out by the Apple Watch Series 2 and the Gear S3.

The Nixon fell a little short in our visibility test, being reasonably difficult to see in bright outdoor light — quite a conundrum for a watch primarily marketed for avid outdoor athletes. It did redeem itself slightly by having both an automatic brightness adjustment mode and an 'always on' mode.

Fitness Impact

The Nixon uses the Google Fit app — like the other Android Wear watches — to track workouts and your basic fitness stats. You can choose between walking, running, and cycling, or select from one of the three challenges: push-ups, squats, or sit-ups. This watch is also set up with the Trace apps to monitor your skiing or surfing session, as well as providing a summary of the current conditions.

This watch lost some points for its lack of a heart rate monitor. However, its step counter was exceptionally accurate in most of our tests, though the total steps took some time to refresh and update after walking for a while.

Battery Life

To simulate normal use, we woke up each watch on a set schedule, as well as sent it a prescribed set of texts, call, and notifications. The Mission lasted for 31.5 hours of this, putting it squarely in the middle of the pack. It distinguished itself with its rapid charging, taking only 32 minutes to hit 50% and 80 minutes to completely top off.

Value

This specialized watch comes at a premium cost, while only earning an average score — definitely the wrong choice for budget-minded shoppers.

Conclusion

The Mission by Nixon is a rugged, outdoor watch that is the perfect match for the skiing or surfing enthusiast. This watch can take a beating, but unfortunately, it might deliver quite a beating to your budget with its exceptionally high list price. For the avid surfer, skier, or rider, it may well be worth it to get such detailed data on your performance, as well as remain connected, but for many people, this watch's performance and price just don't add up.