When TAG Heuer first announced the launch of its Connected Watch last November in New York City in a live broadcast, we were surprised by its performance, pricing and future-proofing program. S$2,100 for a grade 2 titanium case Carrera case, powered by an Intel Atom processor and Android Wear OS. Two years later, you can foot another S$2,100 to pick up an in-house automatic movement for the watch, so it has the longevity of a mechanical timepiece. Wise move by Jean-Claude Biver.
Nevertheless, personally speaking, smart watches of any kind have always been a strange extravagance for myself. No one really needs a smart watch. It’s nice to have, but I really would not miss it for the world if I didn’t own one. So you can see your text messages on your watch. That’s cool. In addition, a lot of smart watches look rather tacky, and try too hard to upsell themselves like a luxury product.
TAG Heuer’s Connected seems to come from a different place, one that somehow does bridge the gap between the luxe and the technological. It looks good, though admittedly it would be better for me if it was a couple of mils smaller in size. It’s lightweight and durable, and now they have a range of handsome straps to pair the watch with. At S$2,100, it’s not cheap, but it’s definitely the most affordable titanium watch around, and at S$4,200 for a Carrera watch with an in-house movement (price is guaranteed), it’s the most affordable Carrera ever (stainless steel models start from S$5,000 onwards).
We decided to test out the Connected Watch to see just how good it was. Plus points include:
It’s not actually as big on my wrist as I thought it would be, and definitely not uncomfortable.
Battery life is good, even with our extensive use.
You can do a lot on it with an Android phone.
If you have access to Wi-Fi on the watch (logged in and all), you can do a lot with the watch even if the phone is nowhere near you. That is genius.
The TAG Heuer Connected Watch is now available in the TAG Heuer store at Wisma Atria, ION Orchard and Marina Square.
