TAG Heuer Connected review: The smartwatch for watch lovers

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.