TAG Heuer Connected review: The smartwatch for watch lovers

“It’s just standard Android Wear in a pretty case.” That’s what a colleague said to me when he heard I was reviewing the TAG Heuer Connected, and although he’s basically right, it’s a far too simplistic view.

You may as well say a Porsche 911 GT3 is no different from a VW Golf; they’re both German cars that get you from A to B, after all. But it’s the way the Porsche will get you from A to B – and how you’ll feel while driving it – that makes the difference, and ultimately justifies the price tag.

Although the TAG Heuer Connected runs Google’s Android Wear OS, and offers a familiar set of features to other Android Wear devices, it’s a very different proposition to anything else that has come before it. That’s because at its heart, the Connected is a proper watch first and a smartwatch second. It’s exactly what watch lovers have been waiting for.

TAG Heuer Connected review: Design and features

The TAG Heuer Connected is the best-looking smartwatch to date, but more impressive than that is that it’s also a great-looking watch. I placed the Connected in one of my watch boxes alongside a mix of TAG Heuer, Rolex and Cartier timepieces and it didn’t look out of place. Put an Apple Watch, Motorola Moto 360 2 or Samsung Gear S2 in the same company and they’d stick out like a sore thumb.

That’s in large part due to the classic TAG Heuer design of the watch, but also the materials used in the construction of the watch. Grade 2 titanium makes up the bulk of the case, which makes it very strong, resistant to corrosion and incredibly light. The rubber strap is secured with a standard TAG Heuer deployment clasp, which is also titanium – it’s  designed to allow for easy adjustment, ensuring a comfortable fit.

And although the watch is very light – 82g according to my digital scales – it’s also very large, with a 46mm case diameter. To give you some perspective, the photograph below shows the TAG Heuer Connected flanked by a Rolex Submariner and a TAG Heuer Monza, both of which are dwarfed by 

Bear in mind, though, that the design of these watches dates back decades, and in the case of the Monza, all the way back to 1933. With the trend moving towards larger watches these days, the Connected will fit in among its contemporaries.

If there’s one thing that lets the design down slightly, it’s the fact that the back is plain black plastic. I wasn’t expecting it to be sapphire crystal glass, since there’s no mechanical movement to see, but I’d rather it was titanium like the rest of the case.

Still, with the watch strapped on your wrist, it looks every bit the luxury timepiece, and to complete the effect it also comes with a selection of TAG Heuer Carrera faces to choose from. There’s the classic three-hand design, a triple sub-dial chronograph or a dual time-zone GMT face to choose from.

That’s not all, though. There’s also a customisable “Themed” face, with three sub-dials. As standard, these have been set as a countdown timer, stopwatch and alarm, but it’s also possible to assign other data to those dials. Via Google Fit, you can set them to display steps taken, calories burned or distance walked, and in theory it’s also possible to set weather updates. I couldn’t get that to work, but with other apps able to send their data to the sub-dials on the Themed face, and more in the works, it’s a nice extra to have. TAG has also made an effort to tidy up Android Wear’s notifications: whenever you have any waiting for you, they’re represented by a tiny numeral on the face, keeping things simple.

Tag Heuer Connected review: Display

The screen is a 1.5in transflective LCD affair, and although some may wonder why TAG has decided not to use OLED technology, you only have to spend a few minutes with it on a bright, sunny day to know it made the right decision. Thanks to that transflective design, the Connected is a breeze to read whether you’re inside or out.

By default the screen will automatically dim when the watch detects you’re not using it, but it’s still easily readable in its dimmed state, and a light tap on the screen will wake it up. In fact, just twisting your wrist upwards will wake the display.

The resolution of the screen is 360 x 360, which gives it a pixel density of 240ppi. It’s not the highest-resolution Android Wear screen around, but it’s still a very good one. It’s crisp and clear, and it’s no chore to read your emails and messages on it, or even catch up on the news via the BBC News app.

Just as importantly, gestures and single-finger swiping are smooth as silk, making it simple to navigate around Android Wear. The sapphire crystal glass probably helps with that smooth feel, while also offering a degree of robustness that matches the watch’s chunky look.

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.