We’ve looked at all types of smartwatches and wearables in the past year, from the Pebble Time Round to the Apple Watch. The industry would tell you that smartwatches aren’t going anywhere any time soon, and the powers-that-be at Tag Heuer are jumping on the band wagon. That’s right–the luxury watch brand has launched their own smartwatch. If you’re looking for something particularly luxe to spend your tax return on, the Tag Heuer Connected will be selling for around $1,500. But—given its lack of innovative features that cannot be found elsewhere on more reasonably-priced smart watches—it doesn’t really live up to its price tag.
Elegant and Functional
Built with titanium components in its chassis, one of the first things you will notice about the Connected is its weight (or lack thereof). This watch is light and will not make you feel like you’re wearing a bulky piece of equipment on your arm. Rather, its weight and graceful lines will make you almost forget it’s even there.
Of course, there is some luxury here. The face of the watch is covered by a sapphire crystal, making it elegant and functional at the same time while protecting the delicate components of the watch from scratching.
The Connected does a good job of imitating the appearance of other Tag Heuer watches. Instead of appearing as if you’re wearing a little computer screen on your wrist, the Connected mimics the look of more traditional watches even down to the fact that the face actually contains an hour and a minute hand to mimic the old-school style of watches.
Technologically Lacking
Given the obvious lack of “smartwatch” capabilities on the Connected, it’s hard not to wonder why Tag Heuer bothered at all. While the watch will count your steps for you, it won’t be able to monitor your heart rate like other smartwatches. And more disappointingly, there are no speakers on the Connected, meaning that even after Android Wear is able to support speaker functionality, you won’t be able to take advantage of the technology. This is especially concerning seeing as one of the main draws of the Apple Watch, for example, is its ability to function with voice activated controls and alert you to incoming messages and other alerts.
The screen’s display doesn’t live up to the price tag, especially when compared to the displays used by other smartwatch manufacturers. You’ll have a lower pixel density than you would find on some other watches selling for less than one-third of the price.
The Connected works with Android smartphones running Android 4.3 and higher, as well as iPhones running iOS 8.2 and higher.
Registration
In order to enjoy all the features of the Connected you will have to register it on the Tag Heuer website. Doing so will of course allow the company to send you advertisements in various forms, but it’s something you’ll have to deal with if you want to access all the available features.
Not Worth the Price Tag
While the Tag Heuer Connected runs well and includes a fairly decent Intel chip to keep things moving smoothly, the fact of the matter is that it costs roughly three to five times as much as many other smartwatches available. Given the hefty price tag and the lack of any truly outstanding qualities, the Connected simply has nothing to distinguish it from other—much less expensive—models.
Image courtesy of Tag Heuer.
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