Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E4 Honest Review

Half of the reviews you read on the internet or what you watch on YouTube, or you read on the internet are sponsored, as a result they don’t reflect the “authors” honest opinions. If you are about to spend your hard-earned money then you deserve to get the true information, and this video is aiming to give you what you need to know. Here is the HONEST review of Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E4.

Let’s start !

Please be aware the watch is really expensive if you buying as just Tech device, it’s based-on Google Wear OS 2 (and will be upgraded to OS3 when Google is ready to do or when Samsung’s allows them to do so- Mid 2022) So if you are just after functionality then a cheap Google Wear OS based device will do the exact same thing.

If you care about great looks and some smart features such as Heart Monitoring, notifications from my mobile phone, even some good sport activity tracking then this watch can be worth the money.

To be very honest, if there is one thing guaranteed to get with this watch, it’s for sure the great feeling you will get. The Connected Calibre E4 is luxurious, elegant, and expertly built, it looks much much better than any other smart watch, including the Apple Watch Hermes edition. It’s exceptionally light, comfortable, easy to interchange straps, which are made for “real” watches. It’s desirable. Remember if you are after functionality the Apple beats Google in every aspect. But I really don’t like the look of Apple Watch, and this is the only reason why I gave up on my Apple Watch and then Apple Phone.

The watch is chunky -think about size – but the look is just like any other Tag, even Rolex or whatever. So, if you like luxury watches and you want a smart one, then there are only a few options left, and for me Tag Heuer Connected E4 was the best option. Yes, it does not integrate like Apple into the Google Eco system but again there is no way Apple can give their current watch designers the same feel and look. Garmin’s Marq was also an option for me but the 2 years old watch is due for renewal but there is still no sign of when its due and don’t want to wait for Garmin more.

The button of the watch matches the excellent design. You can feel the quality in everything, including the rotating crown, which helps you navigate through the watch’s menus with speed and precision. The bezel incorporates hour markings and the Tag Heuer insignia, and because it’s set under the crystal, and if you don’t want to use any of those luxuries buttons then the touchscreen is also very responsible and easy to use /navigate.

Watch faces are Tag, so far 11 of them are available, few of them borrowed from their mechanical watches, including Porsche Calibre , I just love them. Not ugly like the Samsung watch or even Garmin’s best Marq.

In this article I will also compare the Tag Heuer with other watches like Fossil, Mount Blanc, Michael Kros, and Garmin Epic, straight to the point for you. I will also compare the Tag Heuer Connected with other Tag watches.

Design and Display

Unlike the previous 3 versions Tag Heuer came with two different sizes:

• 42mm Connected Calibre E4 ( 13.925 mm thickness) , (1.28 Amoled Display 416×416)
• 44mm Connected Calibre E4 (15.1 mm thickness) , ( 1.39 Amoled , 454×454)

Besides the size, everything else is nearly the same except for battery life. As explained earlier if you need one good reason to get this watch it will be for sure the design / looks.

As mentioned before Tag Heuer Connected from outside is a classic watch. The stainless-steel case makes the watch a pleasing heft, where you can feel the Swiss Design craftsmanship (Based on the Tag Keynote the watch is apparently designed in Paris, and of course made in China)

The watch is really light, and a bit thin, but it’s designed in a way you don’t feel it, unless you wear a business shirt, if  it’s a problem for you stick to the 42 mm (I own the 44 mm Connected)

You know by now that the screen is AMOLED and has a touchscreen, which is protected by a scratch resistant sapphire crystal You can purchase the Stainless Steel or Black Titanium guises.

I do have the Stainless-Steel version and a Red Rubber for casual use, I don’t mind repeating it its comfortable to wear all day. As an ex-Apple Watch / Samsung Watch / FitBit and Fossil Gen 6 owner, by far this is the best one to wear and don’t even feel to watch

The Software and Performance

The watch is very responsive, no issues with the performance or whatsoever, and I hope this will stay this way when it gets the free upgrade for Google Wear OS 3.

Accessing Google Play is simple and as expected flowless.

Tag Heuer App’s (Health and Fitness)

OK , be aware this watch is powered by the old and ugly Google Wear OS 2, I guess Tag was also aware of this and that’s why they created they own Health and Fitness app, which is also decent to good, the GPS connection is fast, heart rate accuracy is fine, I compared it with Apple Watch 7 , Samsung Watch 4 ( barrowed from a friend to write this article ) and Fossil Gen 6.

The strap has enough holes to let your skin breathe, but please be aware my workout is just walking or jogging, don’t judge me for any other sports. I will for sure try swimming soon as well, and as soon as I do it, I will update the article.

Beside the Tag Heuer Wellness, the Tag Heuer Sports app is also good, you can just go ahead and start tracking your sports if you know what you are doing, if not you can have a guided workout in your watch, which is like Nike Sports App and is not free. (But free for Tag Owners) The data on the watch is presented clearly, and it’s easy to interact with the app due to it using the hardware buttons on the case.

Of course, the app’s automatically syncs with Google Fit, if you prefer to use it too.

The Battery

Tag Heuer has a great marketing team, they claim to give 30% more battery compared with the previous version, which is true by the way but, what they don’t tell you is this extra battery comes because they are using the current latest Qualcomm Processer 4100 + . and in the previous version they were just a full version behind.

So, on a normal day, no sports activity and six thousand steps, busy notification and with on display turned off it uses only 35% battery

With a 1-hour walk, 12000 steps and again busy notification it uses 60-65 % battery

With 1 hour walking, guided sports etc. 80% battery, which means the battery life is good for sure for a day and even more depending on usage. Similar to what Tag claims:

Yes, I am aware that my watch is new, and the battery will tear over time, and for this Tag has introduced a Battery replacement program, The service is offered for Connected models released from 2020 and will be available for five years after the launch date. The replacement will be a like-for-like swap, rather than an upgrade, and cost A$150 / US$110 pricing TBC). Tag Heuer plans to offer this service for every generation in the future based on the Tag Frédéric Arnault

45mm model : ( Battery 430mAh)

A full day on a full charge including 5 hours of golf (including wellness) or 1 hour of running and two hours of walking (including wellness)

42mm model : (Battery 330mAh)

Full day of battery life, with 1 hour of running (including wellness)

Charging

It has a new stand which looks OK, but there is really no need to make a big fuss about it. It’s not a new invention as stated in the Keynote by the CEO, oh yes you have the Tag Heuer logo Infront of the case, it attaches itself to the watch via the 4 pins and magnets. It has a nice angel which helps you to see the time while sleeping if you turn on the ambient mode.

The charging speeds are OK too, it takes 30 minutes to reach about 50% and 70 minutes to fully charge your watch. Neither the speed of charging nor the battery life is outstanding, and you will get the same results from many other Android base watches.

Phone Calls

Like in the previous versions the answer is No!  You cannot make or receive any phone calls from your watch, you can only see who is calling you, accept or reject the call and that’s all, which makes me still wonder what makes Tag Heuer think they build a smart watch?

TAG Heuer Connected Sensors

TAG Heuer Connected E4 has: Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Microphone, Vibration/haptic engine, Ambient light sensor, NFC, GPS, Heart rate monitor (PPG) and a Compass.

Unfortunately, still no speaker and Sp02 sensor (Blood oxygen) which you can find even in a $100 Google Wear OS smart watch 🙁 Of course it does not have the ECG reading either…

TAG Heuer Connected Trade-In Program

TAG Heuer is offering a trade-in program which allows customers to bring back a previous generation of TAG Heuer Connected and receive a trade-in credit towards the purchase of a new qualifying Connected Watch Calibre E4. Sounds good right! But it’s really not! They offer peanuts for your watch, which you can sell on E-Bay for much better value, unless your watch does not work anymore, then this Trade in can be attractive

TAG Heuer Connected E1 : A$ 300

TAG Heuer Connected E2 : A$440

TAG Heuer Connected E3: A$670 ( E-bay 1500 + )

Packaging

It’s spectacular, the amount of work, the detail of packaging is just spectacular. Tag Heuer is all about appearance and I wish I could say the same thing about the “connected ” part.

Price

Still awfully expensive but like every other luxury item, brand comes for a cost. You can purchase the watch online via Tag Heuer web site or via many other web sites such as Amazon, Ebay etc.

It’s 4 to 5 times more expensive than any other Google Watch, but you will need to compare apple to apples. In this case the best price compression will be with Apple Hermes Edition and Garmin Marq, they are in comparable price ranges. Oh, don’t forget, Tag’s sister, the new Louis Vuitton Tambour Horizon smart watch which is even more expensive

If you are frequent traveler, I highly suggest Duty Free shopping which can save you a decent amount of money, and most of the time they are better than Tag’s own stores, and online stores in my opinion.

In Summary

If you don’t care about the looks then Tag Heuer Connected is not for you. Again, if you are after technology there is nothing which will catch your attention or has the “amazing” effect. Stick to the ugly Apple Watch if you have an iPhone if not Fossil Gen 6 is also good.

The Calibre E4 ticks the right luxury boxes, it has just enough tech inside, and the activity-tracking features are good for casual use. If you don’t want to swap between watches as all in one its a good watch, but not perfect.

If you care about the great looks and want a very good-looking watch which is smarter than any other Rolex or Omega, where you have the best watch faces and gives you everything which we covered in this article (in other words the basics of a smart watch) aaaandddd you have the budget then go ahead and buy it.

For me it was a 45th birthday present from my family, and since that day I have been enjoying the watch every second

Tag Heuer Connected vs Apple Watch 7

Tag Heuer Connected vs Fossil Gen 6

Tag Heuer Connected vs Garmin Marq

The rest of the article will be updated very soon 

 

To read more reviews click here :

Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E4 Honest Review

Tag Heuer Connected E3 Review

Originally written in March 2021

Let me tell you this, most of the review’s that you read in the internet is sponsored, and they are not reflecting their trough opinions, as there is no way you can rate that much expensive watch with very little tech that high, and here are my reasons behind:

What you need to know first !

TAG Heuer is a luxury watch brand, as all of you know. Tag is selling old technology for the “exterme price” , they released the watch in 2020 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor, which was just for replacement by the manufacturer, and just after 3 months the new Processes 4100 was released! While you need to pay fortune for older processors many “cheap” smart watches started to get in to market with the Qualcomm 4100 processer.

What does this mean for you?  There will be no “future upgrades and you will be stuck with Googles Wear OS 2, and a bad battery life” . Even if you are not a “techy” person, you should care about its battery life because even Tag admits that you will not get a one-day battery life from this ultra-expensive watch, in summary you can have a very expensive watch in your wrist which looks awesome but its dead 🙁

With this price tag, and the 160+ years watch building experience from Tag Heuer Connected, I thought I would have a watch which would be much better from my current Apple , or previous Samsung Galaxy watches (gen one and two). I was hoping to see all the information I need about my health, my sports tracking, data of my phone in my wrist , but all what I saw is great looking bulky watch which is well under powered. Yes it looks great, and that’s all .

So why buy this smartwatch when you can get  a traditionally luxury watch for the same amount, which can keeps its value, while this one will be no way worth the half price not even after 6 months ( check e-bay and see it for your self)

The Battery

Based on Tag the 430mAh battery should reach out for full day with about 45 minutes of exercise tracked while the watch is brand new, like anyone in business you buy a smart watch to stay “connected” , and if you stay connected you will be just lucky if you get 12 hours of battery life 🙁  Check the screenshot yourself right below

While the battery is not great the charging speed is also not worth the money, to get it fully charged you need to stay away from your watch for 90 minutes,  and if you want to buy additional charger , you need to spend a fortune for it as well … ( You can buy an entry level Fitbit for the cost of additional charger, which is just plastic !

Tech Specs

Qualcomm Snapdragon 3100 chip, 1GB RAM and 8GB , Titanium-Grade 5 case,  AMOLED  1.39-inch display , the dimensions are  45 x 45 x 13.7 mm , its heavier then Apple watch or even Garmin’s Marq.

Please check my YouTube channel for compression of Apple watch vs Tag Heuer Connected

The Design

It’s for sure if not the best one , one of the best looking watch which you can buy. You can feel the quality without even touching the watch.  You can notice the stainless steel case from quite distance, s the fixed ceramic bezel in brushed steel is just shinny, so the watch is great for “showing off” for sure! But again you might have to show off a dead watch if you use the watch in full capacity with GPS etc open…

It has a 44mm wide and 13.5mm thick case, which is not a small neither light at all . The screen is  1.4-inch OLED and has 454 x 454-pixel resolution, nice and clear, so when reading text you will not have much issues – if the battery is fully charged.

You can check their web site for better pictures 🙂

Phone Calls

Nope , you can not make or receive any phone calls from your watch, you can only see who is calling you, accept or reject the call and that’s all, which makes me wonder what makes Tag Heuer (TH) think they build a smart watch ?

Activity & Fitness Tracking

You will not find any sensors beside the heart monitor , for example, if you walk for a while your Apple or Google watch can detect the activity automatically, where in Tag you will need to start it manually, and if you forget to stop your activity guess what , it will continue to run and not notify you .

Saying that, TH did a good job with the interface and their own app, so you will have for sure something for the $$$$ you pay. In summary its not as TAG Heuer actually claims, “Every feature of the Connected watch has been purposefully selected to enhance the wearer’s experience – specifically during sports!!!

 Watch Appearance & Customization

This is where you get the most value for your watch , this smart watch looks like watch and the watch faces are just great , but again forget to have full customization of your watch faces, but beside the thinness , it’s gorgeous.

The Software

The Bad: The software side of things still needs a fair bit of work across all areas — there are some bugs and many limitations.

The Good: TH development team done some fair work here, the fonts looks good and they are easy to read, and the timing apps clearly shows that TAG knows how to build a watch – but a “traditional one” and the software team were able to get some inspiration from there.

As its a Google Wear OS you as expected you’ll get e-mail and message notifications, music controls, calendar appointments, weather, maps and  selection of apps on the Google Play Store. Oh it has also a microphone to get you connected with Google assistant.

Packaging

It’s spectacular, the amount of work , the details of packaging is just spectacular. This proves my statement that TH is all about appearance , I wish I could tell the same thing about “connected ” part.

You can watch the video in my YouTube Channel