Luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer has just announced a smaller, slightly cheaper version of their Connected Modular 45 smartwatch from Q1 2017, the Connected Modular 41. Both watches are modular in design, meaning you can choose from different lugs, bezel designs, straps and so on, but you can't add functionality like a Moto Mod. The new model is 41mm in diameter as the name suggests, helping it to not overwhelm smaller wrists. The price is also slightly more palatable at $1,200 instead of $1,550 for its predecessor, but it's still very expensive for an Android Wear smartwatch.
Seven models of the Connected 41 will be released with nine different straps, allowing for a smorgasbord of customization options. Pink, blue and white leather straps will be new for this year. It's unclear which version of Android Wear will come with the new models as Oreo hasn't hit the Connected 45 yet, but it should get Oreo soon if it doesn't already have it preinstalled.
For a starting price of $1,200, customers expect a luxury product and Tag Heuer delivers. The screen is protected with sapphire crystal and metals like titanium and gold are used for the casings. Similar to its big brother, it's waterproof to 50 meters and has NFC for Google Pay (formerly Android Pay). The AMOLED display has a very sharp pixel density of 326 ppi and brightness now goes up to 350 nits (some complained that the larger model was too dim). Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi and GPS are also onboard. Storage has been upgraded to 8GB of memory with 1GB of RAM and the processor is listed as the same Intel Atom Z34XX as in the previous model.
It's great to see luxury watch brands continue to launch Android Wear smartwatches. I would personally never spend even half as much on a smartwatch as they become obsolete incredibly fast. Mechanical Tag Heuer timepieces can last generations. If you have the cash to spare, however, a luxury smartwatch would look very cool on anyone's wrist. Just don't expect to keep it for more than a few years.
Source: Android Police
