TAG Heuer has revealed its latest smartwatch, the third-generation of its Wear OS wearables, with the new TAG Heuer Connected focusing on sports in return for its premium price tag. Following the Connected Modular Golf Edition of last year, the new Connected watch looks like a 45mm traditional TAG from the outside, but behind the OLED touchscreen there's a new set of sensors.
It might seem like a distant memory but, once upon a time, smartwatches were made by smartphone makers. Having lost interest in what was deemed a business failure, the wearable market was salvaged by fashion and luxury brands instead. One of the first such saviors is TAG Heuer who just last year launched the Connected Modular 45 Android Wear smartwatch. This time, it’s announcing the Connected Modular 41, designed for smaller wrists. Its petite size, however, can be deceiving.
TAG Heuer's latest smartwatch may be all about interchangeable modules, but the biggest benefit of the Connected Modular 45 might well be its ability to live on after wearables lose their charm. Announced earlier today, the new watch is one of the more expensive options out there - unsurprisingly, given its old-school timepiece brand name - not to mention among the first to run Android Wear 2.0. TAG's trick is interchangeability not only of straps and virtual watch-faces, but far greater personalization.
This week the folks at TAG Heuer and Intel have revealed the newest in high-end smartwatch power. This is the TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45, a 1.39-inch AMOLED touchscreen display-toting smartwatch with Android Wear 2.0. This watch is meant to aim for those that wish to roll with the newest in new smartwatch technology alongside top-end hardware from a brand the legacy watch industry has grown to trust.
Smartwatches are already having a difficult time in the market. The last thing it needs is yet another model that no one will buy, not because it’s bad but because barely anyone can afford it. Unfazed by that prospect, TAG Heuer has just made available a Solid Rose Gold version of its Connected Watch launched nearly a year ago. Perhaps banking on its prestige as a luxury brand, TAG Heuer had no qualms slapping on a nearly $10,000 price tag on this smartwatch.
There is a market for luxury smartwatch after all! As a mechanical watch collector, I was one of those doubters that do not think luxury watchmakers would even be slightly successful in the smartwatch business. The launch of the Tag Heuer Connected has proven me wrong with demand and interest surging.
The phrase "new wine in old wineskin" might be a bit apt in this scenario. TAG Heuer has just launched its first ever smartwatch, running Android Wear, of course, aimed at the luxury market and squarely aimed at the Apple Watch. Coming from the marque, you do expect a hefty price tag, which, for this wearable, translates to $1,500. With that four-digit number, you sort of expect it to have a nice packaging to match. But as some people on Reddit have discovered to their dismay, that might not always be the case.
Just a tiny portion of the presentation of TAG Heuer's first smartwatch (with Google's Android Wear) was dedicated to its warranty. This relatively tiny detail makes all the difference when you compare the watch - and the brand - to smartwatch competitors like Apple and Motorola. The TAG Heuer watch comes with a 2-year warrantee. After that time is done, the owner of the watch has the option of going in to the watch store to swap it out (for a fee) with a mechanical TAG Heuer watch.
The folks at TAG Heuer have revealed a smartwatch that runs Google's Android Wear software. Inside you'll find Google's software - very similar to the software you'll find on devices like the Moto 360 and the Huawei Watch, while on the outside you'll find luxury hardware the likes of which are only otherwise delivered with a far more expensive piece of equipment. This is the first time an Android Wear watch has been released by a manufacturer that hadn't previously released any devices with Android onboard.
Tag Heuer hasn't been shy about teasing its upcoming smartwatch, and as a stalwart of the traditional watch brands there's plenty of interest in what's up its sleeve. The Tag Heuer Connected is due to be unveiled officially on November 9th, but we now know how at least a portion of the wearable will look when it hits wrists.
Now that tech companies have made their smartwatch play, it's time for the traditional luxury watch makers to make their move. Apple has just recently partnered with fashion brand Hermes to offer something even more luxurious on the wearable market and TAG Heuer isn't going to take things sitting down. Having been repeatedly leaked and teased, the luxury marque's first "connected timepiece" will finally be making its first public appearance on November 9 at the LVMH building in New York. And it will come with an equally luxurious price tag.
You definitely won't be able to fault TAG Heuer for not dreaming big, especially in an age when the future of luxury watch brands is being put under the spotlight. It has just revealed the name of its first smartwatch, itself a rather ambitious undertaking. The Tag Heuer Carrera Wearable 01 is so named because of its relation to the non-smart Carrera 01 luxury timepiece. But more than its Swiss roots, this smartwatch is poised to become the industry's first ever upgradeable smartwatch, ensuring the same longevity of both its analog and digital timepieces.