TAG Heuer’s New Smartwatch Ditches Google’s Wear OS to Be Apple Friendly

Right as Google’s Wear OS is hitting its stride—now feature-rich with robust smartwatches that can go toe-to-toe with the Apple Watch—luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer has decided to ditch the operating system altogether for its latest Connected Calibre E5 smartwatch. Instead, it runs a proprietary “TAG Heuer OS” (still based on Android). But unlike many of the latest Wear OS smartwatches designed only for Android phones, this one is compatible with iPhones.

That’s likely one of the biggest reasons for the switch, as Google seems to have abandoned making its smartwatch platform compatible with Apple’s hardware (Apple never made it easy, though this could change). It also allows the Swiss watchmaker to be less dependent on the whims of Google, but ultimately, it means TAG’s smartwatch will not have access to the wealth of apps found on Google and Apple’s respective platforms.

I spent a few days with the 45-mm Calibre E5 (there’s also a new 40-mm variant), and this fifth-generation smartwatch feels polished, despite the software change. It’s also striking in its design, unlike any other smartwatch, with premium materials like a ceramic bezel, domed sapphire crystal, and snazzy band options. Unsurprisingly, the version I tried will cost you a punchy $2,000 when it goes on sale this month (and goes up to $2,800 for other variations), though the smaller 40-mm Calibre E5 starts at $1,800.

A Luxe Smartwatch

Comfortable and premium: the new TAG smartwatch sports a ceramic bezel, flat or domed sapphire crystal, titanium and DLC, depending on what model you choose.

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

The Calibre E5 has a nice heft to it that helps make it feel luxe enough to match that price point. A stainless steel polished case, black polished ceramic bezel with silver markings, and flat sapphire crystal also furthers the premium pedigree. TAG has, of course, several other variations. You can get a black diamond-like carbon (DLC) grade-2 titanium sandblasted case, white and green indices, or a domed sapphire crystal over the display, exclusive to the new 40-mm case.

The sloped lugs offer a comfortable fit, and the metal bracelet integrates well with the case. It’s interchangeable (there’s a button you press on the underside to release it), though these straps are expressly designed for the E5. Still, I was able to pop on a 22-mm pin buckle strap from one of my other watches without issues.

Despite being weighty, I didn’t mind wearing this smartwatch to sleep, though you may want a more comfortable strap. However, when I woke up the next morning, I spent a few minutes hunting for my sleep results, only to learn they don’t exist. Yet. TAG says it plans to add sleep tracking, likely in December via a software update, which is important considering this is a staple feature on most smartwatches these days.

One of the boons of smartwatches is you can switch between several watch faces, and the E5 is no exception, but nicely many here mimic designs of TAG’s mechanical watches, such as the Carrera or Aquaracer. It’s fairly simple to customize these on the watch itself, too, choosing different accent colors, backgrounds, and complications.

The crown doubles as a way to scroll through the interface, which makes it easier to select items in various menus. There are also two pushers above and below the crown. The top opens a menu with the main capabilities of the watch, like fitness tracking, weather, calendar, and dialer. This button also acts as the select button, whereas the bottom pusher takes you to the previous menu. Press the bottom button on the home screen, though, and it’ll open your quick settings menu, with access to low-power mode, theater mode, bedtime mode, and so on.

A swipe up from the home screen shows your notifications, and a swipe down has a selection of widgets you can curate, like step count, heart rate, and weather. I was able to receive all the notifications from my paired Android phone, and there’s a fair amount of actions you can take. I deleted emails, marked them as read, and even “Liked” messages. There are some canned responses you can send, but there is no option to respond via keyboard or voice. These boilerplate responses didn’t always show up on every message, either.

The Calibre E5 is limited in that sense—you can’t open WhatsApp and respond to a friend. You can’t open up the Google Home app and check your Nest security camera. There is no cellular version of this smartwatch, so you’ll need your phone nearby to receive notifications. It would’ve been nice to have the option for contactless payments. But there’s also beauty in its simplicity. Maybe it’s good that you can’t respond to your coworker’s Slack message.

It can take phone calls, and they sound OK coming through the speaker on the watch. Also, if you press and hold the bottom button, it activates your phone’s voice assistant. Weirdly, it doesn’t really do anything on the watch—my phone lit up and Gemini turned on, and its responses came entirely through my phone. That seems a little pointless.

The E5 has up to two days battery life, or three days in low-power mode, but with the always-on display, WIRED’s unit needed to be recharged after a day and a half.

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Some of this functionality may be even more restricted on iPhone, but TAG has received official Made-for-iPhone certification with the Calibre E5, which means it can offer a better-than-expected experience with improved Wi-Fi connectivity and notifications. I didn’t try it with an iPhone, so I wasn’t able to see how well it works.

The Calibre E5 is powered by Qualcomm’s Wear 5100+ chipset, and I didn’t notice any bouts of lag while roaming through the interface. It’s fairly responsive. As for battery life, TAG claims up to two days (three days with low-power mode), but with the always-on display, my unit needed to be recharged after a day and a half. The smaller 40-mm supposedly lasts 1.5 days (two days in low-power mode). Paying attention to the detail, TAG has done well with the nicely designed included charging dock and its USB-C port on the back, which makes it easy to travel with and use the same USB-C cable you use for your other devices.

Health Is Wealth

Fitness and health are a focus on the Calibre E5, or at least, that’s what TAG is spending a lot of time talking about. You can track steps, calories burned, active time, and heart rate. When the update for sleep tracking arrives later this year, it’ll also enable blood-oxygen measurements, breathing rate, and heart-rate variability, though this is largely for the benefit of sleep analysis.

You can get a continuous reading with the heart rate tracker, and, for the most part, the results seemed to line up with the Google Pixel Watch 4 and Apple Watch Series 10 during the day and on walks. However, during an indoor rowing workout, the Pixel Watch and Apple Watch were far more aligned on my average beats per minute, with the Calibre E5 undercounting by 10 beats. I’ll need to see how it fares over a longer period, and perhaps without the metal bracelet, which is not fun to exercise with (TAG didn’t send me the sportier bands for this hands-on experience).

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Also, indoor rowing wasn’t available to track on the Calibre E5, and there’s no auto-workout tracking. You have the basics such as walking, running, cycling, hiking, swimming, treadmill—and of course “Golf”, a feature TAG has leaned into with its smartwatches—but you’ll need to use “Other” to track anything else. There is dual-band GPS here, but I didn’t get a chance to test it. Along with this, there are running plans to choose from, and that Golf mode has a course map display that will automatically adjust as you advance, with over 40,000 course maps worldwide.

Admirably, this is the 10th year since the original TAG Heuer Connected smartwatch arrived, and it remains one of the few luxury smartwatches on the market. The watchmaker will continue to offer the battery replacement service for anyone worried that their $2,000 smartwatch’s battery will degrade after two or three years—head to a TAG Heuer boutique for a $100 refit.

As I wrote five years ago, a luxury smartwatch isn’t going to last forever. You can (and will) argue that spending $2,000 on a smartwatch is silly, but this misses the point. The Calibre E5 will attract a demographic of people who want a smartwatch that can match their other dressy watches, while still delivering functional information, like heart rate and notifications. Swap the band, and you can take it on a run before a business meeting and still log your data. It boils down to whether you like the look and feel of this watch, and what that means to you.

I don’t see it necessarily replacing an Apple Watch or even a Pixel Watch. Instead, like your TAG Heuer Carrera or Formula 1 watches, it’s another option to put on your wrist, for those days when you want something a little more than a pretty face. Stay tuned for our full review.