TAG Heuer Connected- Your Reactions

dtf
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T twitchyzero
TH doesn't want to sell me this watch apparently. US website sales restricted to US IP address. No online option for Canadians. No stores carry it in the PNW, only 2 stores serving the rest of the country. This combined with my suspicions confirmed that it's made in China is pretty much the last nail in the coffin.

This really annoys me, usually I get around it with a proxy server in the USA. Also, how is there not a tag store in Seattle?
 
al128
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dtf dtf
This really annoys me, usually I get around it with a proxy server in the USA. Also, how is there not a tag store in Seattle?
nobody in seattle will be interested in hi-tech gadgetry ;o)
 
I
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I picked one of these up in the NYC store a few days ago. I really like it so far. It's only my second Tag but I've wanted a Carrera for a while now. The NYC store said they've actually gotten a few shipments in so far, they actually sold out at one point on the first day.

Other misc notes according to the sales staff: there's a brown leather band in development now. The trade-in mechanical watch will be limited to people who've purchased the Connected watch.

My initial reactions: Battery life is pretty good. I also have the original Moto 360 and that one never got through an entire day. This makes it from 8am to midnight with 30% left. I'm confident it can make it to a 2am bar outing after work. More would be better, but this works fine.

The always on screen is nice. If you just glance at it, I sometimes mistake it for actual hands.

My only worry is it feels like the to top bezel seems like it's plastic.
 
Hubert
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Yes, I agree with your impressions. The watch itself is probably manufactured by Intel. However, despite being rubber, I love the strap and its titanium clasp. Given its [strap] similarities to the one used in the HEUER-01, one would think it is likely manufactured by TAG Heuer and then assembled by Intel. However, this is pure speculation.

Battery is OK, not necessarily great. Never had the MOTO360, so I don't have a reference point to compare. Nonetheless, to save power, I do end up double-pressing the crown to turn off the screen, or use the "Theater Mode" by pulling down the top notification drawer. I want to get another another charger to keep one at home and the other at work. No idea if they can be ordered.

Finally, even though the LCD doesn't provide "true-black" colors, I do understand their reasoning, as explained by Jerry Bautista, VP and GM, New Devices Group at Intel:
"OLED displays and other types of backlit displays have trouble in the sun," Bautista explained. "And they consume a lot of power too. The transflective display we used does both transmission and reflective. It uses the ambient light in a room and in sunlight it mostly reflects."
 
H
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Calibre11 D.C
It's a 410mAh battery, but battery life claims have been vague- "all day battery life"

Unlike others, the screen doesn't go dark- again from the press release "And because the TAG Heuer Connected is above all a watch, the digital hands and indexes remain visible at all times, even when the watch is in ambient energy-saving mode."
So the display is also visible in the dark,like an night clock ?
 
I
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H HarryG
So the display is also visible in the dark,like an night clock ?

Yes, it's dim but visible. A little more visible than glow-in-the-dark hands.
 
Hubert
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Like in a smartphone, the brightness of the screen can be controlled in the settings. I tend to like it at its lowest, so that the black colors are darker.
 
Hubert
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Good article; I agree with all the points made. I've been enjoying the watch so far. It is clear Android Wear is starting to pick up steam, so I am expecting to see several updates from Google in the near future to the OS. The abilty to control actions through the hand gestures has so much potential; I think this is what has the biggest growth area and a good chance of unleashing to next wave of machine human interfaces.

Very glad to see the first batch is sold out. I really hope the momentum continues and this becomes a hit that leads to future generations.
 
mnejmantowicz
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I've read this entire post and watched the entire unveiling and thought about this for a couple of days. With that being said I am a techie who, for a living, integrates mobility into the enterprise, so I am deeply intimate with iOS, Andriod, WP8 and mobility overall. I did purchase an Apple Watch and was very tempted to get a Moto 360 to hack just to see what cool dials I could load from mechanical manufacturers.

This is my take on what Biver, as the current CEO of TAG Heuer, is doing with the connected watch and TAG Heuer overall; Bottom line, he's trying to make the brand as hip as he can to attract a younger audience while simultaneously positioning the entire brand as new with all the brand ambassadors he can muster. He wants to position TAG Heuer as the "entry level" young brand of LVMH, which of course I take issue with.

Being intelligent enough to know what he doesn't know, Biver partnered with Intel and Google. Why, well they are both them companies that have a vested interest and resources in promoting thier products, Intel CPU, and Google with Android Wear. At the same time, this reduces the risk of failure from a monetary perspective. A win win for TAG Heuer as they enter this new wearables market.

So, if you really read between the lines, this is Biver's attempt to get the Internet generation, or youth in general, into "Swiss" watches. This is were things fall apart with the connected watch:

No way someone will pay $1500 for a smartwatch if they have a $650 and higher smartphone. (Research shows that on average people with lower income opt for the lower cost smartphones, hence mostly Android and are priced lower than $650, their are exceptions of course). No way are they going to spend an additional $1500 to get a "real" watch when their connected watch becomes obsolete. And, I whole heartedly believe, that Biver wants the connected watch to be the "gateway" watch for the Internet generation. I bet the whole watch cost less than $250 to manufacture. With the mid level Apple Watch being around $500, they've priced themselves out of the market. Not to mention numerous other Android based smartwatches that does the exact same thing, for less money, without the "Swiss" name.

Value, what I think is that the entire Swiss watch industry believes is that the word "Swiss" has intrinsic meaning that expresses quality, and heritage. I can't argue that is doesn't, but not at a premium of such disproportionate magnitude, and not especially for the Internet generation who has no reference point as they have always read time from their smartphone. I don't understand how this watch can even be considered Swiss as its made in China on the box.

Size, it's way to big for most hands, though glad they used titanium and rubber to bring down the weight.

While I applaud the effort, and being the first Swiss brand to have a true smartwatch on the market, I'm curious to see what SwatchGroup will release, most likely under the Tissot brand.

Maciej
 
Hubert
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The price is indeed its Achilles heel. If the 10 to 20% sales projections mentioned in this article are accurate, I don't think they are attainable, unless considerable discounts are offered. The brand will also need to continusly bring value added, through exclusive apps, face dials, and updates, in conjuction with heavy influence from ambassadors to maintain its desirability and counter obsolescence.

The exchange program should also be expanded to include a path to upgrade to the next Connected model. Or offer a credit to any TH watch of our choice. The mechanical option provided just doesn't do it for me.

Finally, I am really curious to see what Breitling will reveal on Dec. 16 in Manhattan. That will tell us a lot.
 
Calibre11
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mnejmantowicz mnejmantowicz
I've read this entire post and watched the entire unveiling and thought about this for a couple of days. With that being said I am a techie who, for a living, integrates mobility into the enterprise, so I am deeply intimate with iOS, Andriod, WP8 and mobility overall. I did purchase an Apple Watch and was very tempted to get a Moto 360 to hack just to see what cool dials I could load from mechanical manufacturers.

This is my take on what Biver, as the current CEO of TAG Heuer, is doing with the connected watch and TAG Heuer overall; Bottom line, he's trying to make the brand as hip as he can to attract a younger audience while simultaneously positioning the entire brand as new with all the brand ambassadors he can muster. He wants to position TAG Heuer as the "entry level" young brand of LVMH, which of course I take issue with.

Being intelligent enough to know what he doesn't know, Biver partnered with Intel and Google. Why, well they are both them companies that have a vested interest and resources in promoting thier products, Intel CPU, and Google with Android Wear. At the same time, this reduces the risk of failure from a monetary perspective. A win win for TAG Heuer as they enter this new wearables market.

So, if you really read between the lines, this is Biver's attempt to get the Internet generation, or youth in general, into "Swiss" watches. This is were things fall apart with the connected watch:

No way someone will pay $1500 for a smartwatch if they have a $650 and higher smartphone. (Research shows that on average people with lower income opt for the lower cost smartphones, hence mostly Android and are priced lower than $650, their are exceptions of course). No way are they going to spend an additional $1500 to get a "real" watch when their connected watch becomes obsolete. And, I whole heartedly believe, that Biver wants the connected watch to be the "gateway" watch for the Internet generation. I bet the whole watch cost less than $250 to manufacture. With the mid level Apple Watch being around $500, they've priced themselves out of the market. Not to mention numerous other Android based smartwatches that does the exact same thing, for less money, without the "Swiss" name.

Value, what I think is that the entire Swiss watch industry believes is that the word "Swiss" has intrinsic meaning that expresses quality, and heritage. I can't argue that is doesn't, but not at a premium of such disproportionate magnitude, and not especially for the Internet generation who has no reference point as they have always read time from their smartphone. I don't understand how this watch can even be considered Swiss as its made in China on the box.

Size, it's way to big for most hands, though glad they used titanium and rubber to bring down the weight.

While I applaud the effort, and being the first Swiss brand to have a true smartwatch on the market, I'm curious to see what SwatchGroup will release, most likely under the Tissot brand.

Maciej
Hi Maciej,

Insightful as ever. I think we won't have to wait too long to see what others do- The Breitling Smartwatch is launched this Friday I believe.

My view on this is that no-one yet knows whether Smartwatches will completely take over the wristwatch market, or whether they'll be the next generation of those digital calculator watches from the 1980s that we now laugh at. But, you have to be in the game, just as Heuer was with quartz back in the 1970s. I saw a lot of parallels between this Smartwatch race and the quartz race of the 1970s, which is why I used that Jack Heuer quote in the Calibre 11 article. Like those first electronic watches, the Connected isn't "Swiss", but "assembled" by Intel- likely in the US.

When quartz first launched, they used a totally different form to other watches, looking more like a sci-fi transponder than a watch. Over time, quartz designs became more classical, until it got to the point when you couldn't tell whether what powered the watch was a mechanical movement or a battery movement.

We're only in the early phase of this technology, and for me (and I think many of this forum), my reason for buying the watch will be out of curiosity more than anything else. There are things that I love about the Apple Watch, but I've stopped wearing it after only a couple of months. Let's see what the Connected is like and whether it goes beyond curiosity
 
Hubert
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Yes, I think they are shooting way too high. With the current Recommended Price, I think that figure will be hardly attainable.
 
elbeik
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Let us not forget this is not, a pure watch, but a hybrid mix of a technological lifestyle device embedded in a Swiss watchcase. It would be unfair to compare it to “traditional” watches on their own.

Everything is getting connected today, including the body scale in the bedroom. Let’s face it, you would be really annoyed if your phone wouldn’t connect to your car audio system.
The Connected signals changes, not only within TH, but also on the level of the Swiss watchmaking industry. Change sounding alarms, notably with purists.

Yes, it might not be a revolution, as we’ve seen a plethora of wearable devices on the market already. But TH did something only it can, and that’s embedding the wearable stream into an icon of wristwatches.
In my opinion, this is a key distinctive feature of the Carrera Connected, and this is what should get the interest of Millennials.

The Millennials; a new generation of young, tech-savvy, socially-connected consumers, every brand, whatever the category, is fervent to grasp.

The TH Connected is yes, more expensive than anything similar on the market, but it distinguishes itself with a Swiss uniform. Unlike the Apple Watch, Samsung Wearables or the Motosomething, it looks like a premium watch. It’s not merely a gadget, and this is where TH is planning to hit.

You’re a young executive; would you rather be wearing a gadget, or smart watch that actually looks like a watch?

I am an avid user of Apple; between my personal phone, iPad, iPod, Airport Extreme and what have you, there are half a dozen devices from Apple around the house.
I did not however purchase an Apple Watch, nor do I intend to.

@mnejmantowicz said it; I am already glued to my phone, I really do not need yet another device to give me the weather, announce a tweet, or inform me Uber is here.
Beside, I enjoy looking at a pure watch.
Did the TH Connected trigger my interest? Yes, as David mentioned, I am quite curious to experiment it.
Am I ready to take the plunge? Not yet…

Will it sell? I am guessing it will, but it will require more efforts at the product development.

More customization options, more TH unique apps (not just faces), and a wider range. A 46mm watch is obscene on a lady’s wrist.

The Connected is a good boost for Tag Heuer, a brand refresher.

Most of us here a purists, collectors, loyalists, whom might be either connected to the heritage of the brand, or, looking forward to dynamic changes.
As long as it doesn’t get too “Guetta”, I think we still enjoy our brand image.
 
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