Tag Heuer Connected review

The Tag Heuer Connected is a very desirable smartwatch, but it's clearly not perfect. Here are our final thoughts on the device.

We Liked

There's a lot to like about the Tag Heuer Connected, and most of that centres around the physical design. The Connected is the most watch-like smartwatch I've ever seen. As soon as you put it on your wrist it feels natural and looks great. It's also clearly a well-made watch, the titanium feels solid and the details, such as the tachymeter and crown, are nice touches.

The pre-installed watch faces are also the best I've seen included with a smartwatch. They're stylish, and reminiscent of a mechanical watch. The interactive elements are useful additions.

If you like to argue over specs then the Connected should be your go-to smartwatch. With a 1.6GHz processor and 1GB RAM, it's currently the most powerful smartwatch on the market, at least on paper. It certainly all runs very smoothly.

It's also important to take into account the 'special' feeling the Tag Heuer Connected evokes. If you put a Moto 360 on your wrist, it's very clearly a piece of disposable technology, which, once becomes obsolete will likely get flogged on eBay. The Tag Heuer feels much more like a piece of jewelry, making you feel more important when you wear it - like you're ready to walk into a boardroom and fire someone for losing your company millions.

We Disliked

The Connected is such a premium watch, it highlights everything wrong with Android Wear which is less apparent in cheaper watches. Google's OS is far from perfect, but it's generally perfectly serviceable. However, it simply doesn't feel premium enough in this context, and jars with the cost of this watch.

There are two hardware problems with the watch - the relatively low-res screen is quite major, and the lack of a heart rate sensor will bother some prospective purchasers.

The screen is low resolution, which takes the polish of the watch slightly. Pixellation is detectable, which is a shame, because if you're spending so much on the device - you'd expect the screen to be the best available.

Although they're not the last word in reliability, most other smartwatches include heart rate sensors. The fact that it's missing from this, rather more expensive, one seems odd, then. Even if you wouldn't wear it to workout, things like tracking your resting heart rate over months can be interesting and even useful. Oh well.

Verdict

Ultimately, I like the Tag Heuer Connected, not because it's a great piece of technology, but because it's a desirable item to wear. A lot of tech companies seem to forget that's an important thing when designing wearables.

As much as I like the Tag Heuer Connected, there's still a lot to dislike, the low-resolution screen, Android Wear and missing heart rate sensor in particular.

If you're looking for a desirable smartwatch and can spend £1,100 (US$1,500, around AU$2,000) without blinking an eye, then you should consider this watch. However, if the thought of spending that much money fills you with dread, then this watch is not for you, especially as there are better smartwatches that can be bought for a lot less money.

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