Claimed as the 'most premium' smartwatch from the Android Wear collections, the "Tag Heuer Connected" has recently been unveiled in an NYC event. This smartwatch valued at $1500 has gotten lots of attention even before it was revealed, probably because Tag Heuer is one of the most famous and respected brand of watch worldwide. But is the "Tag Heuer Connected" any good? Tech website TechRadar was able to go hands on on the device to find out, and here's a summary of their review:
"Tag Heuer Connected" Hands On Review
Certainly the "Tag Heuer Connected" is way more expensive than the average smartwatch which is only at around the $230 mark. So what do you get from your $1500 device? First off, there is the grade II titanium, the same thing the company used for its luxurious Carrera watches. With that material, the "Tag Heuer Connected" is durable, light weight, and it would also take long before the watch's body wears out. As for the strap, the "Tag Heuer Connected" uses rubber instead of metal or leather, which gives the device a sporty look instead instead of the premium look the Apple Watch and the Huawei Watch bring.
Seven strap colors are available - black, green, orange, red, blue, white, and yellow. The multiple color options is a good thing, but it may not be able to compensate on the device's lack of heart rate sensor and GPS. These are really major omissions, especially for people who are into fitness tracking. Also, the "Tag Heuer Connected" is only water resistant and not water proof.
With those mentioned drawbacks, the watch is still worth a shot, especially if those drawbacks do not affect your personal usage of the smartwatch. Deep inside, the "Tag Heuer Connected" is actually pretty impressive. The "Tag Heuer Connected" is the first to use Intel's newest Atom processor that is specifically designed for a wearable. It is a 1.6 GHz processor that is a big improvement to your usual 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processor that most Android Wears get powered by. This only means that the "Tag Heuer Connected" should perform faster than its competition. As per TechRadar, the "Tag Heuer Connected" certainly felt fast.
That's not the only advantage the "Tag Heuer Connected" has over its rivals, it also has a bigger RAM of 1 GB (compared to the usual 512 MB) and it has both Wi fi and Bluetooth connections. The internal storage is 4 GB. However, the battery life claimed for its 410 mAh battery is just for 'all day' consumption, which actually makes sense since the screen is large and always on.
Furthermore, the "Tag Heuer Connected" has a pretty low screen resolution, at least compared to its "Huawei Watch" and "Samsung Gear S2 rivals". "Tag Heuer Connected" has a 1.5 inch screen with a 360 x 260 resolution or 240 ppi. "Huawei Watch" has 286 ppi and the "Gear S2" has a 302 ppi, which created a rather big difference. Although, the "Tag Heuer Connected" does not look terrible at all, it's just not as sharp as the other premium smartwatches. "Tag Heuer Connected" comes with a transflective LCD display to compensate with its low-res display, making the screen less reflective.
The "Tag Heuer Connected" runs Android Wear which now comes with more good features including emojis and iPhone compatibility. Alongside Google's default touches on the OS, Tag Heuer added a few more special touches, including the less cartoonish design and three watch faces. According to the reviewer, the faces in the "Tag Heuer Connected" are among the best that has ever been pre installed on an Android Wear, and this is probably because the company has so much experience when it comes to this department.
As a conclusion, the "Tag Heuer Connected" is one impressive wearable, and it should be, as it is way more expensive than the other smartwatches on the market. Overall, the device is really solid, and at the same time lightweight. So if you are willing to drop $1500 on a smartwatch when there are other $300 options, the "Tag Heuer Connected" is a pretty great buy.