This isn’t a cheap watch, and it doesn’t feel like one. It’s understated, stylish, very well made, and light enough to wear every day. Its presentation is superb, right down to the cool travel case it comes in. Judged purely by design, it’s worth the investment; but what happens when we look closer? Android Wear 2.0 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 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. 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.

However, while last year's edition was a little too small and stiff to twist, the Connected 2018 goes the other way. Cycling through menus with the crown takes a while to get used to, due to the high sensitivity, though this is still a neat way to get around if you're looking to avoid smudging the display. And, spoiler alert, this doesn't take kindly to fingerprints. If the design is somewhat ordinary, then the technology inside will give you deja-vu. The aging Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor is inside with 4GB of internal storage space, while the 1.2-inch OLED screen has a 390 x 390 pixel resolution. 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 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.This isn’t a fitness watch, despite some of the features, and won’t be anyone’s first choice to wear at the gym, but leaving the heart rate sensor running is a good way to judge overall fitness, even if you’re going about your daily business.

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. The AMOLED screen isn’t too small: It’s bright, clear, and the always-on display — where a simple watch face is displayed to save battery — is legible even in sunlight.

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

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. Of course, the Armani Exchange’s classic watch design helps here. Instead of taking the Apple approach of launching a smartwatch which looks like a cross between a timepiece and a gadget, the Connected looks exactly like a normal watch - albeit one with a touchscreen. There are two aspects of the Emporio Armani Connected that affect its lifetime: The battery and the software. The battery will inevitably lose its ability to hold a charge, but that shouldn’t happen for at least two years, and by that time, Google and Armani may stop sending the watch software updates. However, the watch will continue to work beyond this time. No specific water resistance level is given, so we’d suggest not showering with it on. 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 metal strap has a double clasp underneath, which is a bit of a pain to fasten, but very comfortable and secure once you’ve managed. Despite being a metal link strap, it didn’t catch any hair on my wrist (at least, not very often), and although it’s not a slim watch, it happily slipped under cuffs without a problem. However, it’s heavy — considerably heavier than the Q Crewmasterwe recently reviewed, yet the functionality and the build is fairly similar. This gives us the feeling the extra weight may be artificial, there to make an impression and boost its expensive, luxury aspirations. However, with general use, we've found the Emporio Armani lasts for at least a day. If you don't charge the watch overnight, though, you're likely to struggle getting it over the line on that second day. This isn't too different from what we've come to expect from newer Wear watches, and though the Fitbit Ionic is offering leading battery life, around two days of life from a full-screen smartwatch is the standard. In terms of navigation, you have two buttons on the right side of the face which act as shortcuts to apps such as the Google Play Store, while the Emporio Armani accented crown plays an integral role in your movement. A long press will activate Google Assistant, while rotating the crown allows you to scroll throughout the menu screen and various apps. It isn't perfect — the crown itself is a little small and can sometimes be stiff to move if you haven't got a good angle — but it's a nice way to avoid filling the sharp screen with fingerprint marks. There’s also the fact that the surprisingly robust fitness chops seem at odds with the design and intended wear cases for this smartwatch – I’d more readily sport it out to a nice dinner, rather than choose it as my marathon partner. Emporio Armani Connected – Performance & Battery lifeIn testing, I sported the Connected using both out-the-box display settings (always-on off, tilt-to-wake on and touch-to-wake on) as well as my preferred display settings (always-on on, tilt-to-wake off and touch-to-wake off), and that seemed to make very little difference to longevity, lasting from 8am to 11pm without issue. Even adding constant heart rate monitoring into the mix sapped only a few more percent from the watch’s battery within the same time frame. As we mentioned this is a watch made from steel, so the strap (like the face) is big, solid and IP67 rated. That means you can have it on your wrist in the rain without fear that the water will degrade the strap in any way, but don't wear the watch into the shower as it's not fully waterproof. Another thing that's been refreshed is Wear OS itself, which, despite being prone to the odd hiccup, has improved considerably over the past year. It's still not enough to put it on par with watchOS, but the gap is smaller. 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. We've been spending the last few weeks with the Emporio Armani Connected to understand whether it offers a convincing touchscreen design, how it tweaks the smarts of Android Wear and if it can compete with the rest of the smartwatch field. Read on for our full verdict. Emporio Armani Connected: Design