First Look: Tag Heuer's Modular, Pricey Android Wear Smartwatch

Didn't purchase an iPhone or an Apple Watch Edition because you were waiting for a worthy alternative from Google? Peradventure you own a Pixel now. Y'all might want to check out the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45.

That'southward because the Swiss luxury brand's 2d smartwatch, launched on Tuesday, is partly designed by both Google and Intel. The Modular 45, which starts at $i,650 and can nudge $17,000 depending on the options you select, is the gorgeous timepiece you lot'd expect from Swiss engineers. But it also appears to be a showpiece designed to make Google's Android Wear platform wait its best.

Tag Heuer Modular 45 Hands On 1 True to its name, the Modular 45 is modular: you lot tin choose from among 56 lugs, straps, and buckles that can exist swapped out in seconds with no tools required. Material options for the straps include prophylactic, leather, titanium, and ceramic in many different colors, and then you can get as gaudy or classy as you wish.

The scout module itself fifty-fifty has split up versions: the master Android Wear-powered smartwatch, and 2 mechanical watches if you desire the latest from Tag Heuer but don't want to wear what amounts to a smartphone on your wrist.

And this truly is a smartphone culling for many activities. An Intel Cantlet processor, Android Article of clothing 2.0, and a full suite of antennas (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, and GPS) mean that you'll be able to complete payments, log your workout, and browse your calendar, email, and much more without tethering the Modular 45 to a larger mobile device.

Tag Heuer Modular 45 Hands On 2 Intel and Google representatives joined Tag Heuer at a printing consequence in San Francisco on Monday night, where they detailed the sectionalization of labor that makes the Modular 45 tick. Intel worked on packing in the chips and sensors, a challenge for the watch's full-metal case, which inherently blocks RF signals. Tag Heuer itself was responsible for the design, and Google brought the operating system, which, as far equally I could tell from a cursory demo, is pretty much stock Android Wear.

In that location's a ane.four-inch AMOLED multi-touch brandish with a tenth of an inch of sapphire crystal on top of it, which makes for a marked improvement over the Modular 45's predecessor, the Tag Heuer Connected.

Inside is an Intel Atom Z34 processor, 512GB of memory, 4GB of storage, and all the sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, tilt detection, microphone, vibrations and haptics engine, and ambient light sensor. There's besides a 410mAh battery, with up to 25 hours of life and a charging time of under two hours.

To customize watch faces, you tin can use the new Tag Heuer Continued app on your phone to chose from amidst 30 different pre-selected designs that gauge stately mechanical faces, or yous can customize private components to create your own look.

Tag Heuer Modular 45 Hands On 3 Speaking of customization, the physical components yous choose will profoundly influence the Modular 45's final toll. Safety bands are the cheapest, while y'all can select diamond-encrusted bands and a titanium end for the picket face to push button the price past $6,000.

And if coin is truly no object, you lot can opt for a $17,000 package that includes both the titanium Android watch module and a mechanical 1, also equally leather and rubber straps.

Those prices make the $ane,250 Apple tree Scout Edition seem like a downright bargain.