Latest Smartwatch Technologies : Part II

In the first part of the series on the latest smartwatch technologies, we divided the smartphones in to three categories – (i) cheap (ii) mainstream (companion of a smartphone) and (iii) luxurious watches. That part mostly discussed the hardware features touching the presently available high-end chipsets. In this second part of the series, we will focus on the luxurious smartwatches. For obvious reasons, we will compare some practical models of the mainstream smartwatches (companion of a smartphone). The conclusion of this article will deliver a fair idea of what smartwatch is practical for whom.

Luxurious smartwatches are more towards precise watches than just a companion of smartphones. Most of these smartwatches are not designed to work with smartphones as the Samsung Galaxy watches. Mechanical watches no way dying in the luxury category – instead, some of the Swiss manufactures integrated the chipsets in the mechanical chipsets creating a hybrid variety. Some of the models cleverly used multiple display arrays to create an excellent 3D effect. Samsung or Apple smartwatch may look like a punk on the wrist of an aristocrat. After Steve Jobs passed, Apple slowly dying and just their MacBook Pro lost the old glory. Most of the new Apple users are a fan of Apple, not are qualified experts. Everyone understands the troubles with the sudden riches.

Latest Luxarious Smartwatches

There is no smell of “Made in China” in this category.

Sony Wena wrist pro or Wena Wrist Active are smart bands, they can be combined with traditional precious watches to enter the range of smart functions. So, your great grandfather’s Patek Philippe can be made smartwatch without disturbing the mechanics. We guess this is the most innovative idea for this segment. Samsung or Apple smartwatches are forced to use the clock faces of the costly timepieces including Patek Philippe, Breguet, Tag Heuer. It delivers the feel – “aha, how nice are the mechanical watches from Patek Philippe”. Luxury smartwatches worth the investment simply because they are thoughtfully designed to work for many decades to centuries, expected to have a resell value as collectable because of the brand name, mechanics, and the metals.

The Entry Level

If you want the cheapest luxurious smartwatch (it sounds like a joke) not to look like a punk then you should look at Fossil smartwatch. Luxury is not always the cost of the product, some products are designed for the aristocrat. Fossil has some elegant smartwatches although the cost does not cross even $500 tag. You should look at the Fossil Gen 5 smartwatch reviews.

The next brand we saw is Titan. Juxt smartwatch from Titan has a lot of reviews and videos. Although it disappointed many of the Titan enthusiasts, we can safely say – Titan is in the correct path. Within the next few years definitely, they will follow the path of the luxurious watches and launch wedding collections. Their present problem possibly the size of the chipsets.

The Hybrid Category

Pricing of this category watches is widest – starting from under $500 hybrid smartwatches from Withings, Fossil to over $5000 watches from the luxurious brands. Frederique Constant, Fossil Q Commuter, Breitling Exospace B55 Connected, Skagen Hagen, Nico Gerard Sunrise Pinnacle are some of such examples. Their idea is to include the sensors and communication in the traditional watches.

The Ultimate Luxarious

Breitling Exospace, Louis Vuitton, Tag Heuer Connected, Montblanc Summit are some of the examples. The Swiss company Tag Heuer is known for timeless mechanical watches, a full-fledged smartwatch with latest chipsets & display a good collectable.

In the recent past, CEO and chairman of Patek Philippe and Tag Heuer had a quite hot word exchange via media. It is possibly clear that Patek Philippe is not interested to extort money by putting cheaper chipsets inside a luxurious casing. But the approach of Tag Heuer is also correct. Instead of giving the market completely to Apple and Samsung, it is practical for the luxury brands to keep some cheaper smartwatches to maintain their existence.

Conclusion – Our Verdict

What about Casio? Is not that company best known for electronic watches? Clever Casio has a series of smartwatch focusing the use in golf, horse-riding & trekking.
Essentially, smartwatches are a cheap mobile accessory. Even the highest effort with a hybrid smartwatch from the watch manufacturers can not create anything extremely interesting watches unlikely the excellent and unique mechanical watches. It seems to use that the smartwatch bands and the hybrid variety are interesting for the future. Internet time sync, GPS and other components are important sensors to upgrade the watches.

I have to agree with the stand of Ulysse Nardin and Patek Philippe. Ulysse Nardin Stranger is a collectable wristwatch for some centuries. Tag Heuer Connected lacks the proper place to use. The battery life is the biggest drawback of the digital thing. Unless the source of money is from some real money online casinos, $200 smartwatch chipset inside a diamond-studded gold box is a bad investment – where is the craft part of a watch? where is the reliability of winding? A wrist watch making precise quality percussion music (Ulysse Nardin Stranger) is something which makes Apple watch to look like a fool. We are used with thin, light, elegant Chrono as wristwatches.

Samsung manufactures the smartwatches as an accessory of their smartphones. They are a quite practical company with wider support. We would suggest sticking with Samsung smartwatches for getting fun and save money for the collectable mechanical watches. Sony’s idea of Wena is recommendable to try – it is a great idea to combine mechanical watches with Android devices. A watch is imperfect to accept phone or listen to music. It is a fact that we have to carry the smartphone regardless of the cost of a watch. So, our judgement making Samsung Galaxy and Sony Wena winners of all categories.