Emporio Armani Men's Touchscreen Connected Smartwatch

Product Information

Emporio Armani isn't completely fresh to the world of smartwatches, after releasing a collection of hybrids last year. But with the Emporio Armani Connected and its full touchscreen face, this represents the Italian fashion house's first dip into the world of Android Wear. The silver stainless steel version I’ve been sporting is one of several colourways that the company offers; ranging from gunmetal grey to rose gold and more, each of which is paired with one of a number of complementary strap designs in various materials including metal, leather and rubber. This is an attractive design that, while perhaps slightly bulky for some smaller wrists, can easily blend into formal wear, as well as the rest of your wardrobe. This is the most important aspect of the watch and Emporio Armani nails it — simple but still extremely stylish. The introduction of Android Wear 2.0 also brought with it the promise of micro-apps within the Fossil clubhouse — apps that are unique to each brand's range and offer some personalisation to separate themselves. While the Diesel On Full Guard provides the T-ON-I companion and the Michael Kors Grayson bringing a new watch face mode, My Social, the Emporio Armani option doesn't customise the power of Wear to the same extent, disappointingly.

Despite adding a wealth of new hardware to its fourth-generation smartwatches, Fossil wasn’t yet prepared to dress any of them with the recently released Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100. As such, the Connected is just one of a number of wearables still powered by the now ageing Snapdragon Wear 2100, accompanied by 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. The strap is link based, which means you'll need a good watch repair shop if you want to take out links to get the smartwatch to fit the size of your wrist. This is a common thing with fashion-focused smartwatches, though, as their makers want them to be seen as watches first and smart second - things like straps are treated as they would be on traditional watches.

The Emporio Armani Connected hybrid smartwatch combines the dynamic styling of Emporio Armani and the benefits of today’s wearable technology. Wirelessly syncing to your mobile device, this timepiece is always accurate, automatically converting time zone as you travel. In our mind, if you want a decent look at your heart metrics throughout the day and during exercise, this should suffice. However, the accuracy you receive is likely very dependent on getting the right fit on that stainless steel band - so take note.

The Snapdragon Wear 2100 is an outdated chipset that undermines the premium experience this watch is intended to offer and the integrated GPS is only usable in specific situations due to its damaging impact on battery life. The watch is covered by Fossil’s two-year warranty, which includes materials and workmanship under normal conditions. It doesn’t include the strap or the battery, and won’t be honored if the watch has been mistreated or abused. Our Take

One of the smartest-looking smartwatches around, but its features are lacking

The 2018 edition of the Emporio Armani Connected is an attractive wearable that complements the brand’s existing lineup of timepieces. It’s stylings grant it some of the nicest aesthetics of any smartwatch on the market right now and the Armani brand also holds an appeal all its own. One distinct advantage of most hybrid smartwatches is the battery. The EA Connected Watch has a coin cell battery which should last at least six months, depending on whether you have notifications active or not. Not adding another device to your list of things to charge is a definite bonus, and the battery is easy to swap out. All that’s needed is to remove the watch’s rear cover, using an included key. Warranty, availability, and price Emporio Armani and Fossil have shied away from releasing all the tech spec but we found the Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100 processor to provide a zippy experience around the Connected. Delay when opening apps is minimal and menus almost never suffer from lag.

As for longevity, Armani claims that the Connected 2018 can dole out one to two days of battery life on a single charge. Based on my experiences I’d undoubtedly sway towards the former as far as this claim is concerned, with the watch consistently ending most days at around 20 to 30 percent charge. Any faces you do decide to customise you can then save as personalised ‘looks’ within the watch’s Saved Faces app – another of Armani’s touches. You can use it to browse through all of your custom creations in a single list or filter results by predominant colour. It’s a nice extra if you’re one to switch up your look on the regular. For those who want to make use of that always-on screen with mid-level use, you may even struggle to make it through a working day, as we found a couple of times. You need a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus, or a Samsung Galaxy S21. These all have the latest One UI 3.1 software onboard, while the cameras and processor are competent and powerful enough to operate Single Take 2.0. While it’s likely version 2.0 will make it to other older Samsung phones in the future, not every feature will be included, as some are only made possible by the superior A.I. and other technology inside the S21 phones. What we do know is that this is a smudge magnet - especially with the metal band - and will have you pulling your shirt sleeve up to clean it much more so than devices like the Apple Watch Series 3. However, when pumped to the max, its screen resolution is strong enough to help you see in sunlight and beyond.

PayPal Credit Plans available at Checkout

Just like anything with the name Armani attached to it, wearing the Emporio Armani Connected smartwatch is about the way it makes you feel, and not what it actually does. Having a “bare essentials” feature list means the tech-smarts don’t overshadow the sophisticated style. The Apple Watch Ultra -- officially launched on September 23, 2022 -- is the newest and most state-of-the-art Apple smartwatch available today, closely followed by the Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch SE (2022), both of which were released on September 16, 2022. These models usurped the Apple Watch Series 7 and Apple Watch SE (2020), respectively, with these two models discontinued by Apple. When it comes to the apps that are on board the Emporio Armani Connected, you of course get pretty much all you want from the Google Play store but there are a lot of things that this watch unfortunately doesn’t do.

Like the rest of this year's Fossil Group watches, there's no flat tyre here, just a full AMOLED touchscreen offering a display which is up there with the best — and certainly an improvement on the Fossil smartwatches we saw in 2016. Interestingly, though, Armani has chosen not to release the actual specs regarding its screen. Brands don’t typically spend too much time customising the underlying experience, partly because Google keeps a fairly tight grasp on it in the pursuit of reliable and power-efficient performance, but there are a few Armani-specific touches here and there. A large flat disk of circular cover glass meets a rounded, polished metal surround that contrasts nicely against the hard-edged, brushed finish of the rest of the watch’s body. The right side of the watch features a notched crown, while two hardware buttons reside above and below it. There’s also a small hole for the microphone between the upper button and crown but you’ll seldom notice it.That attractive, slim case is compounded by an impressively thin bezel running around the watch’s fully circular 1.19-inch screen. These proportions make the panel look larger than it actually is when compared to those smartwatches that boast larger displays but also bulkier bodies – think the Diesel On Full Guard. As for notifications, this is the standard experience you will find on Android Wear 2.0. It's still about swiping up to access the stream, then either right or left swipes to clear, with no real grouping. The Google Play Store is easily accessible, and, providing you don't mind speaking to your watch, fairly clear to navigate. It's not at its best when in more noisy environments, but that's to be expected. Raise to wake has been a little temperamental in our experience, too, but thanks to the always-on option being available, the time is never too far out of reach.