Tag Heuer Sports app

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 

 

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Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E4 Honest Review

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