Michael Kors Access Sofie

An update to 2016's Michael Kors Access Bradshaw smartwatch, the Michael Kors Access Sofie shows the fashion brand has taken past criticisms on board and worked hard at producing a glitzier and more stylish fashion smartwatch than we've seen before.

The omission of a few key features will dissuade some wearable fans, but there's no denying that this is a glamorous if expensive smartwatch option for many.

That said, it is often on a par with many more inexpensive competitors, so is the Access Sofie still worth considering?

Michael Kors Access Sofie price and availability

• Starting RRP of $350 / £349 / AU$599
• Price varies depending on strap choice and finish
• Lower prices available at third-party retailers

The Michael Kors Access Sofie has been in the works since March 2017. Targeted towards women, it's suitably glamorous if much more of a fashion accessory than a practical smartwatch wearable.

With an RRP starting at $350 / £349 / AU$599 it's a premium entry to the wearable world, with the watch now on sale through Michael Kors stores and online, as well as at third-party retailers. Some shops stock it for less than the RRP, but it remains a pricey proposition.

The Michael Kors Access Sofie isn't hugely feature-rich, but it is a tempting option for those looking for something that wouldn't look out of place when fine dining.

Design

• Very fashionable
• Quite weighty
• Fiddly to change strap

Michael Kors has a well-established reputation within the fashion world, and such style follows it when it comes to smartwatches. The Michael Kors Access Sofie has a fully round display, eschewing the 'flat tire' effect of its predecessor - the Michael Kors Access Bradshaw - and looking all the better for it.

A single button adorns the right-hand side of the face and is the sole means of operating it in a tactile way. Like many other smartwatches including the Misfit Vapor, and LG Watch Sport, the crown doesn't rotate, nor does the bezel. Scrolling through the list of apps is solely down to using your fingers.

The bezel is embellished with gemstones, with the stainless-steel strap also providing gemstones at regular intervals within the links. It's essentially the signature style of Michael Kors and exactly what fans of the fashion designer will appreciate. Such glitz won't be for everyone though.

A 42mm stainless steel casing alongside so many gemstones mean this isn't the lightest of watches.

It feels weighty in your hand as well as on your wrist, but that does immediately convey the feeling that this is an expensive smartwatch rather than the more casual design of something like the Fossil Q Venture or the overly plasticky appearance of many of the basic Apple Watches available.

It's possible to swap out the very glamorous gemstone strap, although it is a little fiddly to re-attach new straps. It's worthwhile ordering alternatives though as the standard design would look a bit out of place when running errands throughout the day.

It looks more like something you'd want to embrace while on a stylish night out than simply rushing around a supermarket.

As standard, the gemstone strap is a little on the large side. Adjusting it requires a visit to a watch repair place or a Michael Kors store, so bear this minor inconvenience in mind before making a purchase.

Rated for IP67 water protection, you should be able to take the Michael Kors Access Sofie into a shower without a problem, and it will withstand being immersed in 1 meter of water for 30 minutes.

None of this we'd recommend, given this is a fashion statement rather than a rugged wearable, but it's useful to know that a minor water incident won't ruin things.

Display

• Fully rounded watch face
• Great AMOLED display
• Clear to read in any light

Dispensing with the flat tire approach of old, the Michael Kors Access Sofie has a fully circular display. The 42mm diameter watch face is notably high-end with its 1.19-inch AMOLED screen offering a resolution of 390 x 390.

It means that clarity and brightness is at the forefront here, with all text, notification icons and watch faces looking very clear, no matter how bright or dismal the weather around you might be.

It's possible to tweak the brightness level to whichever setting you want, as well as whack on Always On so that the watch face merely goes monochrome while still displaying the time when you're not using it.

Obviously, battery life is impacted if you leave brightness on full, but it does ensure that the Michael Kors Access Sofie is extra easy to read.

We were also impressed at how well it handled direct sunlight, with seemingly no viewing angle causing it a problem. Its high clarity also means you'll feel like you own a premium smartwatch that reflects the price tag.

Despite the chunky exterior of the Michael Kors Access Sofie, the watch display itself isn't as big as some alternatives, such as the Apple Watch 3, but it is on a par with direct competitors like the LG Watch Style and Huawei Watch 2.

If you have large fingers, you may find it occasionally difficult to tap and select small icons, but it's not a deal-breaker when you consider that owners of women's watches will typically have smaller hands anyhow.

Fitness

• Not suited for exercise
• No heart rate sensor
• No GPS

The Michael Kors Access Sofie isn't a watch that's been designed for fitness. Just five minutes of wearing it will remind you of this. It's chunky, looks too smart to risk roughing up while running or at the gym, and just doesn't suit anything rugged. 

That's reflected in its features. There's no onboard GPS so you're unable to get an accurate reading of your routes without your phone on hand. There's also no heart rate monitor, so you won't be able to see how your heart is performing while exercising.

It's clear that the Michael Kors Access Sofie isn't for fitness addicts, but there are some lightweight features for the occasionally active user. 

Google Fit and Google Fit Workout are pre-installed, and reasonably useful. Google Fit shows how many steps you've taken each day, the distance traveled, and calories burned. While Google Fit Workout is perfect for tracking your reps on the rare times you might want to take this watch to the gym.

An IP67 water-resistant rating means you can be reassured that sweat or a brief rain shower isn't going to wreck your stylish watch, but you shouldn't take this swimming.

Battery life

• Convenient magnetic charger
• About a day's usage from battery
• Solid if not exceptional battery life

Charging the Michael Kors Access Sofie is easy, which is handy because you'll be doing it a lot.

It comes with its own magnetic charging puck that you place underneath the watch body. Thanks to being magnetic, there's hardly ever any risk of it falling off and not charging correctly. It also means no unsightly ports to contend with.

The Michael Kors Access Sofie's 300mAh battery promises a battery life of about one day. In practice, this will vary massively depending on what you're doing with it.

On our first day of use, which involved plenty of setup and trying out many apps, it only actually lasted about 7-8 hours. However, on a regular day, where you're only using it occasionally, around a day sounds about right.

It's not quite a full 24 hours but the idea of charging it at the end of the day, on your bedroom nightstand, feels about right to us. This isn't a watch you'll want to wear overnight anyway, due to how chunky it feels.

Specs, interface and app

• Useful Michael Kors Access app
• No GPS, heart rate sensor or NFC
• Speedy performance

Like the Michael Kors Access Bradshaw before it, the Michael Kors Access Sofie is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset, with 512mb of RAM backing it up, and 4GB of storage.

It might not be the fastest of combos, but here it means that swiping through the interface is speedy, with opening the majority of apps proving similarly quick.

At times, there's the odd moment of slowdown but odd is the word for it - it's rarely intrusive and generally the exception rather than the norm.

Instead, it's business as usual in a way that will be very familiar to anyone who's used an Android Wear 2.0 watch before, although the OS is now known as Wear OS.

Swipe down from the watch face to access quick settings, or up to view notifications, with a press of the crown showing a list of installed apps. A series of pre-installed watch faces are available to choose from and, in keeping with the look of the watch, they're typically glitzy.

Where things get more original is through the separate Michael Kors Access app. Divided up between My Looks, My Social, My Next, and My Modes, it offers a few useful features.

It's possible to set the watch to switch to your favorite watch faces depending on the time of day. Options are limited to either 6am to 6pm or 6pm to 6am, but it's handy if you have a daytime look and a nighttime look.

Elsewhere, it's possible to change the color of the preset watch face hands, as well as change your watch face to a photo from Instagram or Facebook.

It's the inclusion of My Next that we most appreciated though. This is a small countdown timer for any event that's important to you. It's simple to set up but paired with a complication on the watch face it's quite useful and fun.

Smartwatches typically offer a fairly limited set of controls, especially when it comes to typing in words, but the Michael Kors Access Sofie does what it can with Wear OS.

There are the usual options of using your voice, scribbling letters, or typing on the virtual keyboard. None of these are perfect but at least the options are varied so you should eventually come across something that feels comfortable to you.

Where the Michael Kors Access Sofie feels less than useful though is the features it omits. There's no onboard GPS, so you're stuck relying on your watch communicating with a smartphone at all times to be able to track your navigation.

There's also no heart-rate monitor, although, admittedly, this was never going to be the kind of watch you'd throw on casually before embarking on a quick run or workout session.

More frustrating though is the lack of NFC connectivity. It makes pairing wireless headphones tedious and means you won't be using your Michael Kors Access Sofie to pay through Google Pay at any point. The latter is a key problem for a watch that's clearly made for a night out or classy date.

Compatibility

• iPhone and Android supported
• No NFC means no Google Pay support
• Noticeable vibration alerts

The Michael Kors Access Sofie works best with an Android phone. By sticking with Android across the board, you'll benefit from extensive app support, and full notifications.

Simply put, it just works a little better when paired with an Android phone. That's true of all Wear OS watches and why the Apple Watch 3 is generally the best recommendation for iPhone owners that want full functionality.

That doesn't mean that iPhone owners miss out if they opt for the classier looking Michael Kors Access Sofie however. You won't benefit from full notifications (and you need to make sure the Wear OS app is running in the background at all times), but you'll still see most important notifications.

You just won't be able to interact with most, such as iMessage or SMS messaging. There’s also the option to sync with Apple Calendar rather than Google Calendar. And Google apps like Gmail do allow for replies right from your wrist.

In all cases, notifications invoke a light vibration which is just enough to capture your attention without alarming you.

Verdict

The Michael Kors Access Sofie is one of the more glitzy and fashionable smartwatches out there.

Suitably eye catching, it's not going to be to everyone's taste, but there's no denying that it looks expensive. 

It lacks a few key features though, making it more suited to fashion fans than fitness fiends or tech obsessives. Read on for our final verdict.

Who's this for?

Blatantly for fashionistas, it can't be overstated just how eye-catching the Michael Kors Access Sofie is. This isn't a subtle watch by any means.

Clearly much more of a fashion-oriented wearable than a fitness one, this is a watch for the woman who wants her wearables to look as great as her other accessories. It's just asking to be teamed up with a classy necklace or glamorous handbag.

Just bear in mind that this isn't a great smartwatch for features. It covers the core bases, but in a way that a watch half the price could also offer. If you want to be untethered from your phone, enjoy GPS tracking or heart rate monitoring, this isn't the wearable for you.

Should you buy it?

If you're after a talking point wearable, the Michael Kors Access Sofie is the fashion smartwatch to get. There are certainly more feature-rich devices out there, and smartwatches that offer the same features for less (like the Fossil Q Venture), but this is something a little different from the rest.

It's as glamorous looking as a 'regular' watch but with the added bonus of some lightweight smart features.

For those that want to embrace technology without sacrificing looks, this is the smartwatch to go for. Even more so if you can find it at a reduced price at a third-party retailer.

First reviewed: August 2018

There are lots of alternative options, such as the following three smartwatches:

Fossil Q Venture

Features-wise, the Michael Kors Access Sofie and Fossil Q Venture are on a par, utilizing the same OS and largely the same hardware. There's hardly any difference besides a couple of themed apps that each have their own simple pros and cons.

The Fossil Q Venture has the edge in price, being a lot cheaper than the Sofie, but in terms of style and noticeable quality, it's the Sofie that runs away with things. If you're looking for something a little more rugged (but not fitness orientated) or something subtler, the Fossil Q Venture is the better option.

• Read our full Fossil Q Venture review

Apple Watch 3

The Apple Watch 3 lacks the style and panache of the Michael Kors Access Sofie, but it does offer many more features. A heart rate sensor, GPS and waterproofing makes it a far more practical offering for the more active wearable owner.

There's also the fact that iPhones work best with Apple Watches, so if you're an iPhone owner this is a no brainer of a choice. Don't expect this to look anywhere near as nice as the Michael Kors Access Sofie when on a night out, however.

• Read our full Apple Watch 3 review

LG Watch Style

The LG Watch Style has that effortless style that means it blends into whatever you're wearing, but if you want something that stands out from the crowd, you need the Michael Kors Access Sofie. 

Still, the LG Watch Style is significantly cheaper, and very thin and lightweight. Just don't expect it to have much of a battery life. Its 240mAh battery makes it noticeably less useful than the pricier Michael Kors Access Sofie, and that's even without its display looking as high quality as the Sofie's.

• Read our full LG Watch Style review