Emporio Armani Men's Touchscreen Connected Smartwatch

Product Information

For those who want to make use of that always-on screen with mid-level use, you may even struggle to make it through a working day, as we found a couple of times. However, while last year's edition was a little too small and stiff to twist, the Connected 2018 goes the other way. Cycling through menus with the crown takes a while to get used to, due to the high sensitivity, though this is still a neat way to get around if you're looking to avoid smudging the display. And, spoiler alert, this doesn't take kindly to fingerprints.

It doesn’t have especially long battery life either, even without energy draining features like a heart rate monitor. If you turn the watch off each night, then you’ll just about get two working days from it. If you forget, then it won’t last through the second day. Charging takes an hour or so, and is performed by magnetically attaching the watch to a small charging tab. It’s small and easy to carry around, but not exactly luxurious. It’s also the same as you get with most other fashion smartwatches developed by the Fossil group. The final feature it doesn’t have is NFC, so the watch doesn’t have Android Pay. Not as fast as an Apple Watch Series 3The extra weight may be artificial, there to make an impression and boost its expensive, luxury aspirations.

Like the rest of this year's Fossil Group watches, there's no flat tyre here, just a full AMOLED touchscreen offering a display which is up there with the best — and certainly an improvement on the Fossil smartwatches we saw in 2016. Interestingly, though, Armani has chosen not to release the actual specs regarding its screen.Of course, the Armani Exchange’s classic watch design helps here. Instead of taking the Apple approach of launching a smartwatch which looks like a cross between a timepiece and a gadget, the Connected looks exactly like a normal watch - albeit one with a touchscreen. Now, in terms of heart rate, we found the Emporio to be more on the money - again, something that can't be said for all the fashion-first smartwatches in Fossil Group's family. After a number of test runs against the Fitbit Versa, it always seemed to indicate that our average bpm was within a few beats of the other watch, though the two did vary sometimes over the max heart rate figure. One run, for example, the Connected sat a considerable distance off the Versa's reading during separate ramps up in intensity. We were fans of the design in the debut Emporio smartwatch, but it definitely feels like things have been taken up another notch in the second-gen model. It's smaller and lighter, with the bezel now separating from the interchangeable watch straps. Brands don’t typically spend too much time customising the underlying experience, partly because Google keeps a fairly tight grasp on it in the pursuit of reliable and power-efficient performance, but there are a few Armani-specific touches here and there.

Smartwatches need to look good, and as luxury brands enter the market, we find they end up producing some of the best-looking wearables. One of the latest is the Emporio Armani Connected, Armani’s first Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch. It’s unquestionably attractive, with a name that oozes class, style, and sophistication. In our Emporio Armani Connected review, we see if the watch is all style and no substance, and if it is, whether it really matters. Understated and stylish As for notifications, this is the standard experience you will find on Android Wear 2.0. It's still about swiping up to access the stream, then either right or left swipes to clear, with no real grouping. The Google Play Store is easily accessible, and, providing you don't mind speaking to your watch, fairly clear to navigate. It's not at its best when in more noisy environments, but that's to be expected. Raise to wake has been a little temperamental in our experience, too, but thanks to the always-on option being available, the time is never too far out of reach. Just as you would expect, entry doesn't come cheap, either. We're still a long way away from Tag Heuer or Louis Vuitton territory, but with prices starting at and higher end Connected models featuring a price tag, it is among the most expensive to choose from in the large Fossil Group litter. A large flat disk of circular cover glass meets a rounded, polished metal surround that contrasts nicely against the hard-edged, brushed finish of the rest of the watch’s body. The right side of the watch features a notched crown, while two hardware buttons reside above and below it. There’s also a small hole for the microphone between the upper button and crown but you’ll seldom notice it. I had little issue with this small detail but you might want to swap the pins out for standard spring bars to remove this element if it bugs you. Emporio Armani Connected – ScreenHowever, with general use, we've found the Emporio Armani lasts for at least a day. If you don't charge the watch overnight, though, you're likely to struggle getting it over the line on that second day. This isn't too different from what we've come to expect from newer Wear watches, and though the Fitbit Ionic is offering leading battery life, around two days of life from a full-screen smartwatch is the standard. Yes, provided you like the style, and don’t have a problem with the brand name’s prominence, then the EA Connected Watch puts everything we like about the Fossil Q hybrid watches into a more fashion-forward body. It works without fault, makes us feel pretty special when its on our wrist, and doesn’t have to be charged up regularly. Those are three very strong positives. The 2018 edition of the Emporio Armani Connected is an attractive wearable that complements the brand’s existing lineup of timepieces. It’s stylings grant it some of the nicest aesthetics of any smartwatch on the market right now and the Armani brand also holds an appeal all its own.