Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45

Updated: The Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 now faces competition from the likes of the Apple Watch 3 Edition and the Mont Blanc Summit and we've updated this review accordingly.

The Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 is the premium watch brand’s latest attempt to create a fashionable wristwatch that can also provide the same functionality you’d get on other Android Wear products.

This is an expensive but great looking alternative to the likes of the LG Watch Style and Huawei Watch 2, offering the same Android Wear 2.0 functionality in an arguably more attractive package.

Smartwatches aren’t always designed with a fashion focus, but the Tag Heuer has exactly that. But is the premium design and fashion brand enough to pull you in and get you to spend quite a bit more than you would on the other Android Wear products on the market?

Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 price and release date 

• More expensive than most other Android Wear watches
• Starts at $1,550 (£1,200, AU$2,300) but can be much more expensive

Don’t expect the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 to be cheap; this is one of the most expensive smartwatches on the market. Tag has brought its premium prices to the Connected range, which starts at $1,550 (£1,200, AU$2,300) and goes all the way up to $3,100 in the US and £5,700 in the UK.

The higher end product for the UK comes with diamonds embedded in the bezel though, so that’s why that version is so much more expensive.

You can create your own watch on the online Tag Heuer store, and that will mean the price of your watch will vary. It’s out now in the US, UK and Australia, so you’ll be able to get it delivered pretty quickly.

Design and display

• Premium design with the Tag Heuer design ethic
• Can be a bit heavy if you're looking for a fitness friendly device
• Many different design options available but each has a large, bright screen

If you decide to buy a Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45, a big highlight will be the different styles available to you. It doesn’t offer customization to the level that Motorola did with its Moto Maker store functionality for the Moto 360 watches, but there are 56 versions on its UK store at the time of writing.

You can choose the material used on the bezel – your options vary from diamonds to aluminum, titanium to ceramic. There are a mass of different choices as well as variations in color for the bezel,  but if you go for some of the more premium materials you’ll be spending a lot of money.

We found the cheapest version was with a titanium bezel and a silicone strap. You can buy additional straps separately as well, hence why Tag Heuer is calling this a modular watch. 

It’s simple to pop out the strap by pushing on the connectors from the rear of the watch, but we’re not sure this simple switch in straps is deserving of the watch being called ‘modular’.

For the purpose of this review, we used the Blue Mat Ceramic Bezel edition with a Blue rubber band – that costs $1,700/£1,450/AU$2,350.

The core design of the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 is like a premium watch that you’d probably spend far more money on than your average smartwatch. 

The ‘45’ in the name refers to the watch’s diameter. It’s a chunky piece, measuring 13.7mm thick. That means it’s suited to larger wrists, but the sporty styling makes it look intentional, similar to a Garmin Fenix 3.

It’s also waterproof, so you can take this in the water if you want, but we wouldn’t recommend swimming with this device due to the weight.

It’s heavy at 62.5g, but the weight makes it feel premium. And it looks expensive too, as unlike the previous Tag Heuer Connected watch, this has a full metal case.

On the right hand edge there's a crown that feels tactile when you push the button down. You can’t rotate this for navigation like on the Apple Watch, which is a bit of a shame, as that would have made for easier navigation around the watch’s interface.

The bezel, despite being prominent, is even more just for show, as unlike the one on the Samsung Gear S3 it doesn't rotate. The Connected Modular 45 also isn’t a comfortable device to wear while exercising, unlike the Gear S3.

Compared to the size of alternatives on the market such as the Huawei Watch 2, this is a much thicker and larger option for your wrist.

There’s a 1.39-inch AMOLED display. That offers a clear 400 x 400 resolution, which is quite a bit better than most of the competition. It’s also a large screen compared to a lot of other Android Wear products on the market.

We found that particularly good while navigating around the device, which is a touch easier than the last Tag watch thanks to Android Wear 2.0 software.

The screen is one of the best things on the Connected Modular 45, as it’s clear, bright and doesn’t look like a flat tire like we’ve seen on the Moto 360 watches in the past.

Specs and performance 

• Runs on an Intel Atom Z34XX chipset and 512MB of RAM
• Includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC connectivity

Inside the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 there's an Intel Atom Z34XX chipset that will keep the smartwatch chugging along. There’s no way of benchmarking smartwatch chips at the moment, but we found it capable enough to run all of the apps we wanted and give notifications quickly.

We did find it sometimes slowed down when notifying us though, so you may find one of the more popular smartwatches will be a little slicker for your use. Paired with 512MB of RAM, the Tag Heuer is capable of handling simple games and running apps such as Uber.

There’s also 4GB of storage on the watch, which is around the industry standard at the moment and should be enough room for the apps and software you want.

There’s also NFC on the Connected Modular 45, which will allow you to use Android Pay for payments directly from your wrist. We found it easy enough to setup and it’s just a simple tap on the payment reader for you to make your payment.

You may want to be careful not to put the watch too close to the reader though, as it may scratch the screen. There’s also GPS tracking here and Wi-Fi if you want to use the watch without your phone.

We found both of these worked well. Wi-Fi may be useful for some people, especially if you don’t want to carry your phone around your home and you decide to setup the Connected Modular 45 on your home internet network.

Fitness

• No heart rate tracker and can be a little large for fitness fans
• Includes Google Fit apps plus extra fitness apps on the Google Play Store

There are a variety of extra exercise apps you can download for your Tag Heuer Connected 45, but it comes with Google Fit Workout installed on your wrist to help you get off the sofa and start a workout.

Your options here include walking, running, cycling, treadmill running, stationary biking, stair climbing machine and other workouts.

It also includes a variety of challenges for squats, sit-ups and press ups. For each challenge you’ll get to choose a difficulty level and then it’ll provide you with an example diagram of what you should be doing and then the watch will count your reps.

It’s not the most innovative workout app on the planet, but it will provide you with a few extra ideas of how you can workout in brief little sessions to try and up your fitness levels.

That said, the Tag Heuer is not a comfortable device to wear while working out. Its larger design doesn’t feel light enough to wear when running as it can sit heavy on your wrist and you won’t be as comfortable as when you’re wearing the Samsung Gear S3 or a Huawei Watch 2 for working out.

If you do want to take your Tag Heuer out running, there’s GPS here to track where you’re going.

The company hasn’t included a heart rate monitor on the watch though and considering a lot of other Android Wear alternatives include this it’s a big missing feature Tag should have bundled in.

Compatibility and apps

• Will work with most modern smartphones
• Offers every app available on Android Wear 2.0

If you’ve got a modern smartphone, it’s likely the Connected Modular 45 will pair with your device.

All Android devices running Android 4.3 software and above will be compatible with the watch, which means pretty much every major smartphone of the last few years.

If you’re on iOS, you’ll be able to use it on devices running iOS 9 software and above. That’s the iPhone 5 or later. To be able to connect your devices, you’ll need to download Android Wear to your phone and go through the manual connection process in there.

The Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 is running Android Wear 2.0 software, which is the latest version of the operating system, so it supports most apps you’d expect it to.

The likes of Uber, Runtastic and Strava all have apps specifically designed for Android Wear 2.0, and there are a few added benefits to the latest version of Android Wear, such as easier to navigate software.

On the watch itself there's a piece of software called Tag Heuer Studio. Here you’re able to create your own watch faces. You get a choice of watch dials, the metal, the luminescence and the highlights on the watch face, with thousands of combinations possible.

This offers an extra level of customization you don't get on all wearables. There’s also a mobile app that will allow you to add photos to the backgrounds of your watch faces, but the software doesn’t allow you to easily customize the interactive elements of the watch face.

It would be great for example if you could pull in your step count easily and include that. You can see your step count on one of the pre-made watch faces, but it’s not very attractive and it’s not something you can add into another watch face.

Battery life

• Should last you a full day, but not much longer with normal usage
• Easy to recharge with a small charging pad

We found the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 to have quite disappointing battery life. 

Ideally we like to see a smartwatch last for two days from a single charge, but when we were regularly using this we found it wouldn’t even last one whole day.

There’s a 410mAh battery inside, which is a little above the battery capacity we usually see in these devices, yet quite often we got to the evening and found the watch to be entering battery saver mode, as it was down to 15% already.

If you’re happy to recharge your watch each evening and you don’t think you’ll be constantly using apps on your wrist, the battery life of the Tag Heuer should suit you. 

But when the LG Watch Style and LG Watch Sport both last for over a day, it’s a shame the battery on this watch won’t last the same amount of time.

It's also a shame the company hasn’t included a low battery mode where it will just tell the time instead of offering all the Android Wear features.

Tag Heuer hasn't tried to make a smartwatch that’s suitable for everyone, instead it's positioned the Connected Modular 45 at the luxury end of the market and in turn at a very small percentage of the public, as this device is going to be too expensive for most people.

It’s great that Tag is embracing Android Wear 2.0 and trying to do something different to the rest of the market with the design and customization, but the differences aren’t enough to justify the price jump.

Most of the features are acceptable, or even good, but none of what the Tag Heuer Connected 45 offers compared to other devices on the market is worth the extra money you’ll have to spend to get it.

Who’s this for?

This watch is for the kind of person who wants to wear a premium device on their wrist and isn’t afraid to pay a high price for it.

If you’re already in the market for a watch that costs a lot of money, you may not be offended by the price of the Tag Heuer smartwatch.

But for most people, who consider a smartwatch to be a luxury item that you don’t really need, you could invest that money in a top of the range iPad or laptop and still have some spare change in your pocket.

Still, if you already wanted to spend a lot on a watch, why not make it a Tag Heuer smartwatch?

Should you buy it?

Even if you are the kind of person looking for a premium, luxury watch, you should bear in mind that this device will date a lot quicker than traditional watches.

If you buy a premium traditional watch it likely won’t date in five years, but the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 won’t be supported in terms of software for much longer than that, and its hardware is likely to start feeling dated too.

That may not persuade you not to buy the Connected Modular 45, but it is something to bear in mind if you're considering it.

Competition

Don't think the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 is a watch made for you? Then why not try one of the watches below?

Apple Watch 3 Edition

We’d recommend the Apple Watch 3 if you have an iPhone, but there’s also the Apple Watch 3 Edition for those who want something with a premium design and price tag.

The Watch 3 Edition comes with all the features you’d expect on the normal Apple Watch 3, including cellular connectivity, but also has a white or grey ceramic case and a matching sport band to hold it to your wrist.

Beware the price though, it’s $1,299 (£1,299, AU$1,829) for the smaller version and even more expensive for the larger 42mm case one.

Read the Apple Watch 3 review

Mont Blanc Summit

The Mont Blanc Summit is a similar proposition to the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45, seeing as it's an Android Wear 2.0 device from a premium watch brand.

Though it's a little cheaper, with a starting price of £765 ($890, around AU$1,290).

It has a stylish design, as you'd expect for the money, and like the Modular 45 it has a round face, but it also has many of the same drawbacks, including a user experience that's the same as far cheaper watches, and it's even lighter on features than its rival, as there's no GPS or NFC here.

Read the Mont Blanc Summit review

LG Watch Sport

If you’re after all of the features the Tag Heuer offers and a little bit more – such as a heart rate tracker – you should go for the LG Watch Sport.

This comes with Android Wear 2 onboard and also packs a top of the range Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset, 4GB of onboard storage and works with both iPhone and Android devices.

It’s much cheaper than the Tag Heuer, but is at the top end of conventional Android Wear watch pricing, so if you're looking to save a lot of money you may still not want to go for this one.

Read the LG Watch Sport review

Samsung Gear S3

If you want something a little different to the Android Wear devices like the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 you should go for the Samsung Gear S3.

It runs Tizen software and comes with all the fitness features you’ll be looking for on a wearable device.

It’s not as attractive as the Tag Heuer watch though, so you may not want to go for it if you’re looking for something with premium style.

Read the Samsung Gear S3 review

First reviewed: April 2017