TAG Heuer unveils third Connected smartwatch

When it comes to smartwatches, time moves quickly. After becoming the first luxury watch brand to release a tech timepiece in 2015, TAG Heuer now unveils its third Connected model. Less bulky than previous generations, #3 has an evolved design and new features.

A bezel that blends seamlessly into the dial gives a super-sleek look to the surprisingly hefty 13.5mm thick, 45mm diameter case that comes in stainless steel or matte black grade 2 titanium. Choose a stainless steel strap if that’s your thing, but the supremely comfortable, colourful and easily interchangeable rubber straps feel like the best partner for this sporty performance watch.

Cycling, running, walking, fitness or golf are the options on the TAG Heuer sports app, represented by cute Keith Haring-style stick people coming to life on screen. In 2019 TAG acquired the successful app Fun Golf, which records your data and acts like a caddy on your wrist as it advises on club selection and distance during your round of 18 holes. Begin your exercise and the 3-2-1 countdown animation looks like the jump to hyperspace in Star Wars (love it).

Of course, you can control the watch’s features by sliding your fingertips around the dial but we enjoyed the crown (a scroller and clickable home button) and two orthodox pushers that lend a retro 1970s stopwatch look to the watch. The pushers are especially handy if you want to quickly control the watch without pausing your jog.

Powered by Wear OS by Google, Connected 3 has built-in GPS and offers a choice of faces for its OLED touchscreen, such as a classic three-hand chronograph, a skeletonised dial, a digital Carrera, and a honeycomb design that echoes a hairspring found in a mechanical watch and which becomes more coloured as you increase your activity throughout the day.

Many onlookers in the watch community thought the bosses at TAG Heuer were – well – crazy when they announced plans for a smartwatch in 2015 but, five years down the line, this forward-thinking brand appears to have hit the button yet again.

TAG Heuer Connected is out now, priced at Euro 1,700 for steel case and rubber strap; Euro 1,850 for steel case and steel strap; Euro 2,250 for titanium case and rubber strap.