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Design and Comfort
If anyone is going to design a comfortable, attractive watch, it should be an established Swiss brand with 155 years worth of experience. Thankfully, Tag Heuer have delivered. The design is based on their Carrera collection of watches, looking very similar to the Heuer 01.
The Connected comes in one size, and it's rather chunky at 12.8mm thick with a 46mm diameter. It's clearly designed for male wrists, and would probably look out of place on more slender arms.
The body is manufactured from grade II titanium, so it's reasonably lightweight at 52 grams (81 grams including the strap). That's the same metal Tag uses for its mechanical watches, so it should be hardwearing and durable. Certainly, in the time I've spent with the watch, I didn't manage to scratch or dent it.
The case only comes with one colour/material, but the watch does come with a variety of strap options. All of them are vulcanised rubber, but there are several colour choices, including, green, blue, orange, red, white, black, and yellow.
These straps are proprietary, so you can't swap them for any old strap, and if you would like to change straps, you'll have to visit a Tag Heuer shop so they do it for you.
I'm still undecided whether the lack of design options is positive or negative. On one hand, it's nice to have the option to design a really personal wearable, on the other, Tag knows more about designing watches than you. The Connected will be rare, so it's unlikely you'll come across someone else wearing one.
The vulcanised rubber strap does give it a sporty feeling and aesthetic. It looks and feels okay, but it certainly doesn't feel like it cost £1,100 (US$1,500, around AU$2,100). Whereas the Huawei Watch straps and more-expensive Apple Watches straps feel luxurious and premium, the Tag's just doesn't evoke the same feeling, for me.
The Tag is however the most watch-like smartwatch I've seen to date. Unlike the Apple Watch or Samsung Gear S2, which clearly resemble tech products strapped to your wrist, the Tag Heuer could easily be mistaken for a traditional, mechanical watch, especially with the numbered tachymeter around the bezel (which doesn't rotate).
In terms of interacting with the device, most will take place through the large, circular touchscreen. There is a large crown-esque button on the right-hand side featuring a Tag Heuer logo. This is the power and home button. It protrudes quite a way, and feels like it should rotate similar to Apple's Digital Crown, but doesn't.
On the rear of the watch, where you'd expect a heart rate sensor to be, you'll find a plastic back and nothing else. This is both surprising and disappointing, especially given the Connected's sporty-styling. Now, this isn't a big deal for me, or many others who aren't interested in health and fitness monitoring, but it's a big let down for sporty-types. It's also a shame the rear is made from plastic, considering it's a £1,100 watch.
In a way, the design sums up the company, because although Tag Heuer is an established Swiss watch maker, their motto is "Swiss Avant-Garde Since 1860". In fact, TAG is an abbreviation of Techniques d'Avant Garde. So the company is based around experimental or innovative thinking, not necessarily the most 'traditional' watch brand.
The Tag Heuer Connected is rated IP67, which means it's splash-proof water resistant. You don't need to worry about it in a rain shower, but take it off before you go swimming.
Battery Life
The Tag Heuer sports a 410mAh battery, which is above average for a modern smartwatch (most have around 300mAh).
Tag Heuer claims this is good for around a "minimum 25 hours battery life, based on typical usage". That's pretty spot on, I managed to eek out two full days usage when wearing it.
That's a bit disappointing, especially considering the Samsung Gear S2 manages to last between two and three days with a small 250mAh battery. Presumably this is because the screen is always on (although, that can be turned off), and powerful Intel chip (although that's purely speculation).
In short, battery life is not a stand out feature.
The charging dock is a magnetic disk, the Tag Heuer sits in there securely, but because the strap doesn't fully open, the watch can't sit flat on the desk. It's not wireless, also, there are gold contacts on the charging disk and rear of the watch.
It's a pleasant enough dock, and features a standard microUSB connection, which cuts down on the number of wires you need to carry around, if you're an Android user.
