Back in February of 2024, I first went hands-on with the lovely-looking new Tissot T-Touch Connect Sport, a hybrid between traditional quartz watches and modern sportwatches. The T-Touch Connect Sport family is a different product from the legacy T-Touch series and takes the amazingly popular family of analog-digital high-functionality sport watches into the smartwatch era. When originally reviewing the Tissot T-Touch Connect Sport, I found a series of software limitations and common feature needs that I detailed at length. The good news is that Tissot’s software team has been continually updating the Tissot T-Touch Connect Sport’s firmware, as well as the mobile phone “T-Connect” application (still hard to find if you just search for “Tissot” in any of the app stores) that is intended to go with the smartwatch series. Today, let’s talk about some of the new features that Tissot has rolled out for this innovative product from the Swiss brand.
As someone who has reviewed a lot of smartwatches (especially from legacy watchmakers), what I can easily say is that there is no “go-to” product for everyone — all of the available hybrid smartwatch solutions out there will have upsides and downsides. The challenge for engineers is substantial. On the one hand, consumers want style, comfort, and autonomy (i.e., long battery life). On the other hand, they want flawless integrations, quick software, a laundry list of features (many of which they don’t use), and plenty of application integrations and connections between their smartwatches and other software that they use. The reality is that engineers and developers need to balance a lot of competing factors. What Tissot wanted to do with the T-Touch Connect Sport is a) wow the industry with a piece of hardware unlike what rivals can offer, b) emulate a traditional watch-wearing experience as much as possible, and c) once again enter the Swatch Group into the considerably competitive arena of software-based timepiece products.
In my original review of the Tissot T-Touch Connect Sport I discussed at length the photovoltaic cell (produced in-house at the Swatch Group) as well as the impressive solar charging ability and strong battery life of the T-Touch Connect Sport. Accordingly, this is one of the most autonomous (long battery life that also charges well in the light) and truly beautiful-looking hybrid smartwatches on the market. Tissot went to great lengths to make sure the T-Touch Connect Sport wears as elegantly as many classic watches and that it looks attractive on the wrist. In this article, I’ve photographed the reference T1534204705104 black PVD-coated titanium version (with black ceramic bezel) of the T-Touch Connect Sport. As a reminder, it has a 43.8mm wide case that is 13.5mm thick and is water-resistant to 50 meters. Over the dial is a touch-sensitive sapphire crystal, and the watch uses easy-to-swap-out 21mm wide silicone straps (a matching titanium bracelet is also available but not in the coated black color).
Tissot made a few important core changes to the onboard software of the T-Touch Connect Sport, but also made a lot of less visible changes to the T-Connect software, including the watch tracks your data along with information you can see in the app. This watch is really not meant to be an activity tracker on its own but rather is designed to collect data that is later inspected in closer detail on the paired smartphone device. That is unlike other more full-featured smartwatches out there that allow you to access a lot more data from the device itself.
My favorite new feature on the watch is a fun tool, but it doesn’t go as far as it can. Tissot added a neat “Solar Energy Level” screen that shows you how intense the current level of light hitting the dial is. Presumably, the higher the solar energy level, the faster the battery will charge via the photovoltaic cell. This is cool and interesting to use, but it doesn’t go as far as telling you how much sun the watch has been exposed to or if you are efficiently charging it enough. That means the Solar Energy Level simply shows you current intensity without helping you to understand more detail about how long the watch has been in good sunlight. If you recall, one of the reasons I previously mentioned this feature as being important is that it can allow the wearer to not only know how efficiently they have been charging their watch, but also if their own body has been exposed to a lot of sunlight. As it is about 110 degrees (F) in Los Angeles right now as I write this article, a solar exposure meter would be a more welcome feature than ever.
Other small but important new features added include the ability to view the current battery life on the watch itself (previously only available in the app, and now “secretly” activated by pressing the small digital display with your finger for about two seconds), as well as the ability to see the current time digitally (or set it as another time zone). Tissot still deliberately separates the main time on the dial and the hands from the features and information in the screen area. In the future, I’d still like to see the hands be more integrated into the digital display of information, akin to what we enjoyed about legacy generation Tissot T-Touch watches.
Tissot has also further refined how the T-Touch Connect Sport is meant to operate as a sports tracking and activity watch. In essence, the idea is that the watch tracks your activity and exercise workouts (either passively or by activating the workout-tracking features), and then you review the data and learn more insights through the app. For example, the watch has an onboard heart rate monitor, which doesn’t offer information you can view from the watch (such as letting you know your current heartrate). Instead, you need to look at your phone for it. While dedicated athletes and sport lovers will need a more robust activity tracking device, for a lot of people who want the basics and who don’t want to switch their watches all the time, Tissot offers a nice blend of easy wearing with meaningful activity and exercise tracking features when the timepiece is used in combination with the T-Connect application.
Many of these tradeoffs are done in the name of battery life and product aesthetics. Battery life is really a positive part of this watch. It can range from as long as six months (without needing to be charged) btut is around three weeks when in regular sports-tracking mode. In addition to the solar/light charging that is available due to the screen-based high-efficiency photovoltaic cell, Tissot allows you to plug in the watch to power using a magnetic USB charger that connects to the back of the case. I found that the software generally sips power, as Tissot really wanted to emphasize long battery life (which it succeeded in doing).
As I do with all hybrid and full-featured smartwatches, I like to ask myself, “Who is this product good for?” Tissot doesn’t have the most expensive high-end smartwatch or hybrid products on the market, but given that it is a Swiss Made product from a legacy luxury watchmaker, this also isn’t the most affordable product on the market. Much of what you are paying for is the hardware, which is truly excellent given that Tissot is part of the Swatch Group, arguably the most competent timepiece-making industrial group in the world. This is a nice enough watch that you’ll probably want to wear it for years, even if the typical life cycle of smartwatches is closer to a year for many consumers.
Young people, casual wearers, and those who mostly want a traditional-looking watch with some novel smartwatch features will be the happiest with the Tissot T-Touch Connect Sport. The watches are stylish, well-made, comfortable, and pretty straightforward. Some people more experienced with smartwatches may lament the lack of certain on-board features, but they could easily forgive that given how little fuss the T-Touch Connect Sport gives them on a regular wearing basis. I will continue to push Tissot to further develop features and software for the T-Touch Connect Sport, and I remain very happy that the Swatch Group and Tissot are serious contenders in the smartwatch and hybrid smartwatch arena. Price for this version of the Tissot T-Touch Connect Sport is $1,075 USD. Learn more at the Tissot website.
