TAG Heuer Connected review – Android Wear gets classy

TAG Heuer Connected: The tech

It’s not  only the design and construction that sets the TAG Heuer Connected apart from other Android Wear watches, however, it’s also the technology inside it. This is the first Android Wear watch to be powered by an Intel CPU.

Driving the Android Wear OS in the Connected is a dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z34XX processor, backed up by 1GB of RAM. This seems to be more than up to the job at hand, with fast and smooth operation of both native and downloaded applications.

Voice recognition works well, with the watch correctly transcribing and acting upon any questions I threw at it. I’m not big a fan of speaking into my watch for internet searches, but Android Wear’s uncanny reliability with setting up things such as alarms, timers and calendar entries is extremely useful.

Elsewhere, there’s 4GB of storage, which you can fill up with apps or music. You won’t find a built-in heart-rate monitor, however, which I have to admit is a little disappointing. When I spoke to TAG Heuer, I was told Intel had wanted to include the same monitor as used in its Basis Peak fitness watch, but the designers at TAG decided it would spoil the look of the watch and declined.

The battery life of the watch isn’t all that impressive, either. With a transflective display in place and a large 410mAh battery, I had hopes of Sony SmartWatch 3-rivalling stamina. Instead, the Connected is rated for a mere 25 hours of use, which from my experience is about right. Ultimately, you’re going to be charging the Connected overnight, which means you probably won’t be using the vibrating alarm function to wake you up in the morning.

And there’s nothing special about the connectivity. Although the TAG Heuer Connected can be paired with both Android and iOS phones, iPhone users won’t really get the full benefit of the Android Wear platform. You’ll still receive notifications from all the apps on your phone, and see who’s calling you, but as far as new watch apps go, you’ll be stuck with what shipped with the device.

It’s a shame, since I can’t help but think that a lot of the TAG Heuer customer base will be iPhone users, but it’s unlikely Apple will open up its watchOS to third parties anytime soon. Still, if you’re an Android phone user, the Connected works just as well as any Android Wear device, with the watch instantly smarter and more feature-rich.

TAG Heuer Connected review: Price and trade-in

By smartwatch standards, the TAG Heuer Connected is expensive. It’s £1,100 inc VAT, which costs almost three times as much as the top-end Huawei Watch, and it’s also pricier than the steel-bodied Apple Watch with the most expensive Space Black link bracelet.  

By normal watch standards, however, it’s far from overpriced. In fact, it sits at the entry-level end of the luxury watch spectrum, so watch lovers might consider it a bargain. And it’s these people the TAG Heuer Connected is aimed at. While tech lovers generally look at purchases as disposable, watch lovers look at purchases as investments. And it’s for that reason TAG Heuer has fashioned a trade-in scheme for Connected buyers.

After two years you can take your Connected into a TAG Heuer store, lay down another £1,100 and walk out with a mechanical TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 5. Before you ask the question, though, you’re not paying for the watch twice: a Carrera Calibre 5 would cost you upwards of £2,000 anyway, so you’re essentially enjoying a Connected smartwatch for two years then putting its original value against a new watch.

Oh, and that Carrera Calibre 5 will look almost identical to the Connected model you’ll be trading in, with the same 46mm titanium case, same rubber strap with titanium deployment clasp, and same titanium crown. In fact, TAG Heuer told me the original plan was to put a mechanical movement directly into the Connected casing when it was traded in, but this proved too problematic.

TAG Heuer Connected: Verdict

The TAG Heuer Connected is a very different kind of smartwatch. It runs Google’s Android Wear OS, but that’s not its main selling point. Instead, the Connected has been designed primarily as a luxury watch, and on that count it succeeds admirably.

The design is pure TAG Heuer; the titanium case, clasp and crown ooze quality; and although the screen isn’t as crisp as others, it’s still a great example, and the sapphire crystal glass will keep it looking good.

The lack of heart-rate monitor is a little disappointing, but TAG was clearly not going to derail its design vision in favour of features. When it comes to features, the Connected is a good showcase for Android Wear, with its customisable dials and understated notifications maintaining that clean design.

Ultimately, if you’re a watch lover and the smartwatch concept intrigues you, the TAG Heuer Connected is the ideal device to satisfy that curiosity. And if you don’t like it, you can always trade it in in a couple of years’ time. For less expensive options check out our Best smartwatches.