New smartwatches from Diesel, Puma, Armani and Michael Kors
The driving force on the smartwatch market is Fossil. At the IFA, the company presented the innovations of the Diesel, Puma, Armani and Michael Kors brands.
As a result, Fossil currently has two smartwatch platforms, which it offers under different brand names and in different designs. Common to all watches with the more powerful of the two platforms is the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100, an optical heart rate monitor, a waterproof case, 8 instead of 4 GB of storage, 1 GB instead of 768 MB of RAM, Wear OS as the operating system, a battery with at least one day's runtime and a wristband with a standard fitting, so you can change it yourself.
Speaking of the battery: with these new Fossil watches, you can now configure it exactly according to your wishes in order to achieve an optimal balance between running time and performance. In the new custom battery mode of the Fossil smartwatches, you can turn all sorts of things on and off to customize the watch to your liking. With its own app from Fossil, the Wear-OS watches can now also be used together with an iPhone for telephone calls.
The Diesel On Smartwatch Axial is advertised as the brand's "strongest smartwatch", and it's actually quite a sturdy design. The keys are large and corrugated, the ring around the dial is metal and screwed. The default watch face has a striking 3D effect. The new Diesel smartwatch will be available from October and will cost almost €400 in Europe.
Emporio Armani has also launched a new edition of its smartwatch, which is a little more modern than the first generation. The metal housing is now even available in color. You have the choice between different bracelets, whereby the metal link bracelet probably fits the smartwatch best. The Emporio Armani Connected 3 is already available, it costs €369.
The Michael Kors watches have a high glamour factor, here glittering metal in gold and silver predominates. The new Michael Kors Access Lexington 2 and Michael Kors Access Bradshaw 2 models are new versions of the well-known smartwatch models and will be available before Christmas. The exact prices are not yet fixed, but will also be just under €400.
Sports smartwatches are put on a diet
The second technical base is intended for sports watches. It does not have the new possibilities for battery control, does without the loudspeaker as well as the extra memory and is more designed to be lightweight and the used for sports and fitness. The Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor is also on board here.
The newest representative of these sports smartwatches is the Puma watch. For the first time Puma ventures into this area. Together with Fossil, the company from Herzogenaurach in Germany has developed a chic sports smartwatch that should also cut a fine figure in everyday life. The watch costs €279 and will be available from November.
Similarly light and pleasant to wear is the Michael Kors Access, which is particularly striking in red. Despite the brand name, you won't find the usual bling-bling here, but sporty elegance. While the Puma smartwatch has only one button on the side, the Michael Kors Access has three. It costs €295.
From superfluous to chic