Tag Heuer Connected 3rd-gen smartwatch adds heart rate tracking for a sporty upgrade

Tag Heuer has taken the covers off of its latest Wear OS smartwatch – the 3rd-generation Tag Heuer Connected.

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On sale from 13 March, with a price-tag starting at $1,800, the 2020 Tag Heuer Connected is the first smartwatch from the Swiss watchmaking giant to add heart rate monitoring to the mix, making it a much more attractive prospect for people looking for a high-end sports watch.

Essential reading: Best smartwatches to buy right now

That heart rate tracker on the back works alongside some new sporty software on the front – the new smartwatch comes with a dedicated new Tag Heuer Sports app, which provides tracking for golf, running, cycling, walking, fitness and other sessions.

You’ll be able to track your activities with key metrics such as speed, pace, distance, heart rate and splits displayed in real time in the Sports app and also as an overview in sports tile widgets. You can then take that data and sync it across popular fitness platforms such as Apple Health or Strava.

Tag Heuer Connected 3rd-gen smartwatch adds heart rate tracking for a sporty upgrade

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If you’re keeping count, Tag Heuer launched its first Connected smartwatch in 2015, which was followed by the Connected Modular 45 in 2017. In 2018, Tag launched the Connected Modular 41, which took the features of the 45 and put them inside of a smaller body.

In 2019, the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 Golf Edition went live and the newest member of the family clearly builds on that sports-based platform.

This being a Tag, you can expect premium build quality and customisation options aplenty. The 45-mm stainless-steel or titanium cases take their design inspiration from Tag Heuer’s mechanical Carrera chronographs with physical buttons resembling chronograph pushers on board a Tag smartwatch for the first time – either side of a signature central rotating crown.

It’s a 45mm case, housing a 1.39-inch, 454 x 454 pixel (326ppi) OLED touchscreen. Powering proceedings is a pretty hefty 440mAh battery – the same size as the new Montblanc smartwatch – and Tag is promising 20 hours of standard usage, or 4 hours of GPS-based sports tracking. To extend the battery life, the screen will switch between active and ambient modes, with the latter toning down the face to just show the time.

Tag Heuer Connected 3rd-gen smartwatch adds heart rate tracking for a sporty upgrade

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Talking faces, and there’s a wealth of digital Tag Heuer goodies to tuck in to. Users will be able to select between five Tag Heuer watch faces that take inspiration from the brand’s timekeeping heritage, with dial options including a three-hand version of the Heuer 02 manufacture movement skeletonised dial, a digitalised Carrera Heuer 01, a liquid crystal-like display, a unique algorithm-based neural network animation named Orbital, and a tribute to the hexagonal nanotube structure of the brand’s carbon composite hairspring.

In terms of physical customisation there’s an interchangeable bracelet system, with a choice of durable rubber straps available in a classic black scale pattern with red stitching, bolder perforated red, orange or khaki. There are also core steel and black options.

As mentioned, the Tag Heuer Connected 2020 model goes on sale on 13 March. We’ll be publishing a first-look review on that date, as well, so stay tuned for that.

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