Sometimes I feel more interested in the TAG Heuer Connected smartwatch product family than the people at TAG Heuer. While that statement is made in semi-jest, it remains accurate that the Swiss brand’s family of smartwatch timepieces is a very different type of product than its traditional watches. Accordingly, the same industry people who understand classic watches do not immediately understand the quite different smartwatch product category. That effectively means the smartwatch department is a separate beast. Nevertheless, TAG Heuer is fully committed to its Connected product family and the attention shows. Even more than two years after its original debut, the TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 smartwatch family (which has a large variety of models) remains compelling and competitive, even if the last two decades of tech industry speed suggest that two or even three years is a very long time.
It is very likely that, in 2025, TAG Heuer will again update its impressive smartwatch family by releasing something like the Connected Calibre E5, or a version of the E4 with beefed-up specs and hardware. But it is not immediately clear what the company would add to a new generation of TAG Heuer Connected smartwatches, aside from a better computer inside. This product is already among the best all-around Google Wear OS-based smartwatches on the market, a category that, ironically, does not have many big-name players. Google imagined that its smartwatch operating system would behave similarly to its openly available Android smartphone operating system. The idea was that Google would create the underlying software and others would develop their own hardware to run it. At this time, it hasn’t quite worked out that way. The smartwatch market’s major players now mostly use their own operating systems, including Apple, Samsung, and Garmin. Google is also solidly in the hardware market, with its pretty Pixel phones and not-so-interesting Pixel smartwatches. From what I can tell, if you want the Wear OS smartwatch operating system in a product with personality, the TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 is the item you want to look at.
How TAG Heuer has approached a smartwatch product versus a traditional wristwatch is interesting. The Connected Calibre E4, for example, has seen a number of special limited editions that often include special software. Thus, TAG Heuer has extended the lifespan and profitability of the Connected product family by not just introducing new hardware but also offering a lot of interesting partnership models along with additional sizes. While it has a smaller battery (though around the same one-day running time), TAG Heuer complemented this 45mm-wide Connected Calibre E4 model with a 42mm-wide model that is intended to wear much smaller.
In addition to releasing more versions of the Connected Calibre E4 over the last few years, TAG Heuer has been writing new software for its smartwatch while also doing something you would probably not see happen with its classic watches: reduce the prices. That’s right, given that technology products depreciate soon after they are commercially released, to stay competitive, “aging” technology products need to go down in price. Accordingly, TAG Heuer has been lowering the retail price of these products (the underlying hardware came out in 2022). Let me give you a concrete example. In 2022, I reviewed the steel with black ceramic bezel 45mm-wide TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 watch that, at the time, had a retail price of $2,050 USD. The same watch sold by TAG Heuer today has a price of $1,450 USD. In a time when most other luxury watch brand prices are going up, it is very healthy to see TAG Heuer — even if it is in just this one product category — doing more of what the market expects of it.
The pictured version of the TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 is known as the “Bright Black” and was released in 2023. With its matte black-coated grade 2 titanium case (also with a black ceramic bezel) this version of TAG Heuer’s 45mm wide smartwatch costs a little bit more than the steel version, but it has also experienced a handsome price reduction since it was originally debuted. The original retail price in 2023 was 2,700 Swiss Francs (nearly $3,030 USD as of writing). Today the watch has a retail price of under $2,000 USD, and it is still a very nice product and fun to wear.
There are three things that the TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 smartwatch does particularly well that are certainly worth enumerating. First, the smartwatch is very comfortable. Of course, that will depend on the size, case material, and strap you choose, but overall TAG Heuer succeeded in making a very ergonomic product. This 45mm wide (about 15mm thick) version is lighter due to the titanium case construction and is on a strap that has a leather exterior and rubber lining. It has that welcome “you forget it is on” wearing experience and rests comfortably on the wrist from the moment you put it on. In many ways, the Connected Calibre E4 is more comfortable than other TAG Heuer watches of a similar size that cost much more.
The second thing the watch does well is simply look good. It has a very designer feel to it, which places this technology product more in the world of traditionally-themed sports watches as opposed to smartwatches. The case is intentionally meant to look like that of a traditional watch, complete with the placement of the crown and pusher. However, much of that is thanks to lots of clever case engineering to make sure it looks thinner than it is, given the substantial amount of hardware that needs to reside in almost every smartwatch case/housing. The play of polished gold-tone elements with the matte black offers visual artistry and luxury sparkle, and the variety of straps and bracelets available can further add personality to the watch. I continue to say that people who like the look of traditional watches but who want a smartwatch are often best served by wearing something like the TAG Heuer Connected.
Finally, the third thing the TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 smartwatch is good at is showing off what is on the screen. Rather than emphasize cold efficiency and battery life (though you can reduce the power of the screen in the settings), TAG Heuer wanted to emphasize the visual pop of the AMOLED display with bright light and intricate graphics. TAG Heuer has long understood that fun watch faces and excellent graphics go a long way with smartwatch consumers. Most people who wear a product like this would rather smile when looking at their dial than have a few extra hours of battery life. Under the protective sapphire crystal, the bright 1.39-inch wide AMOLED screen is a pleasure to look at and displays a host of bespoke TAG Heuer software.
Sadly, you can’t download a Super Mario Bros watch face for any of these TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 watches, but you can use most of the special watch faces that TAG Heuer developed for the various special versions of the Connected Calibre E4, such as for its Porsche car collaboration models. Some of the watch faces feel a bit redundant in terms of design, but I value variety over focus when it comes to something like that. Some of the watch faces are quite interesting, such as the orrery-style planetarium face or some of the digital numeric ones. I hope TAG Heuer does not stop putting effort into the software department because special watch faces and other software (such as for many of the activity tracking features) that are unique to these TAG Heuer Wear OS products are very much part of why you might want to consider them and pay a premium price for a smartwatch item. I will say that these are some of the only smartwatches whose analog faces I like more than the digital ones, so that’s saying something.
With 50 meters of water resistance, the Connected Calibre E4 is versatile enough for swimming without being a smartwatch for more intensive underwater activities. With that said, these watches are probably more intended for drier sports and fitness activities. The watch case has a built-in heart rate monitor, but it isn’t quite as fancy as what Apple or Garmin are up to. The activity tracking still covers the basics and is probably still suitable for most fitness tracking purposes, but that is one of the areas that TAG Heuer might seek to upgrade with some of the next-generation versions of its Connected smartwatch products. With that said, TAG Heuer’s activity tracking software is delightful to look at, and helps make the experience more fun.
The most recent special edition version of the TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 x Oracle Red Bull Racing watch was released in the summer of 2024 and is probably a hint of what is to come next. 2025 and beyond will see even more racing-world focus from TAG Heuer, and accordingly so might its smartwatches. I fully expect TAG Heuer to put added effort into marrying its luxury smartwatch products with the various racing worlds that it sponsors and participates in. It is too early to predict how that will unfold, but my instinct is that the modern racing world will inspire the next-generation direction of the TAG Heuer Connected smartwatch. For those who want TAG Heuer’s premium smartwatch product now, it is actually a good time. Prices are fair, and lots of accessories exist to help make the TAG Heuer Connected more personal to you. That includes proprietary straps and bracelets from TAG Heuer, but the case is also designed to accommodate most third-party 21mm wide straps. I recommend the TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 45mm models in titanium as my top picks, but really all versions are going to wear and perform similarly. Price for this reference SBR8A83.BT6302 TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 Bright Black Edition watch is $1,950 USD. Learn more at the TAG Heuer website.
