I love how extra Louis Vuitton’s new $ 3,400 smartwatch is

THe has been trying to embrace smartwatches in the high-end fashion world for years. But with the exception of Fossil, luxury homes (and most tech companies) are giving up on Google’s Wear OS. The Movado Connect smartwatch, LG Watch Style and Moto 360 are gone. Instead, there are numerous Fossil smartwatches. These are basically the same devices in different styles. So it’s only natural that Louis Vuitton will leave Google’s OS behind and use its own software instead, as a third effort with a connected watch.

Like its predecessor, the LV Tambour Horizon Light Up starts at around $ 3,400 and features a loud design that may not be enjoyable for everyone. However, given the recent launch of Wear OS 3, it promises to be more convenient and responsive, so I wanted to know if LV’s own platform would be sufficient for thousands of dollars of devices. rice field.

But first, the hardware. Those who are considering dropping $ 3,500 on the Tambour Human LightUp are probably more interested in the look and feel of this one.

Frankly, I’m amazed at how much I didn’t like design. Indeed, the flashy markings on the entire 1.2-inch screen can be considered flashy. [Ed. note: Cher, what?! – Dana] However, the clock face itself was as bold and colorful as it was fun at first, but soon became grateful. Every time I saw a new face, or every time the 24 LEDs on the monogram ring surrounding the screen turned on in RGB color, I was happy to send a photo to my colleague with the intention of enjoying the shared ridicule. But most of us agreed that not only did the faces not suck, but they really liked them. (Except for Dana who wrote this parenthesis.)

However, two criticisms continued to appear. Not only was the orange rubber strap sent by LV too big for my wrist, but the watch kept slipping and looked cheap. You should choose the white or black option instead. Because they look more understated and seem to fit nicely with the bold graphics on the case. Instead of the base model, I also received a matte brown design case starting at $ 4,110.

By the way, that’s what most people noticed when they looked at their watches. The 44mm case is not only thicker than most 13.2mm (0.5 inch) smartwatches, but also very dense.

Its face features curved sapphire glass to look smaller than other smartwatches of this size, but due to its weight and weight, it will eventually strap the Tambour Horizon Light Up to your wrist. It will be a feeling.

If you don’t mind bulky watches, you might appreciate what Louis Vuitton offers here. The company calls it “the most customizable connected watch in the world” and offers a number of dedicated watch faces that actually appear on the 390 x 390 AMOLED screen. There are eight dial configurations to choose from, and you can even enter your initials when setting up your watch. This will appear in some designs.

Turn the clock dial on the right to switch between different themes, and press the button at the top of the edge to switch between different color schemes. The fact that LV has decided to dedicate dials and buttons to these features shows that changing the look of the Tambour Horizon is a top priority. You can use the companion app to customize the rest of the buttons at the bottom to display apps such as alarms, timers, stopwatches, heart rate, steps, and camera remotes. But I’ll explain that in a little more detail.

One of the new features of this generation of Tambour Horizon is Always On Display. This will also change based on the theme you select for your home screen. Depending on the style you choose, the LED underneath the monogram ring on the bezel will illuminate in the corresponding color. This may be my favorite part of the device. The lights flash when you receive an alert and it’s really fun to see.

You can use the Louis Vuitton Connect app on iOS or Android to select an app that can send notifications to your wrist. Here you can also explain more clearly about some features of the watch, such as “modes” and shortcuts. Tambour Horizon has Blossom, which displays all available animations at maximum intensity, Explorer, which balances animations with performance and battery life, Submarine, which mutes notifications and dims lights, and Saver, which turns everything off. Provides four profiles. But the most important feature to save power.

To activate them, swipe up on the clock to bring up the Control Center and in the center[モード]Tap the button. The Control Center also has options for checking settings, finding your phone, starting a timer, and activating your phone’s camera, as well as information about your watch’s battery level and connectivity.

The rest of the Louis Vuitton OS is a bit rudimentary, but straightforward. Swipe down to see the notification and swipe right to see the available widgets. On the left side of the home screen, you’ll see about five “apps” as part of the so-called “My Day” section, which shows your calendar, heart rate, steps, weather and air quality in your area. You can sort these and select the permissions you want to grant. This part of the OS is a bit like Tizen (or Wear OS tiles) with sideswipe navigation.

On the right side of the home screen is the Upcoming Travels page, where you can use the app to enter flights, hotels, trips, and send booking confirmations to your customized email address. Your upcoming trip will be displayed on your clock and you can scroll vertically through the panel to see the QR code on your boarding pass, terminals, gates, seating information, and associated time zones.

You can swipe sideways to see the LV travel guide for your destination. Pretending to be Singapore and tapping here, the clock displayed more information about the local botanical garden. We also provided a shortcut to call the park and map directions to it.

This travel focus is a feature specific to LV’s OS, but it’s not difficult to duplicate on Apple’s watchOS or Wear OS. In most cases, you can use Apple Wallet or the Google Assistant to search for similar ticket-related data or install third-party apps. However, the integration here is more seamless and requires fewer steps. I also like how the LV displays the data in an easy-to-read format. The graphics and icons here may be confusing at first, but they are cute.

I have connected the Tambour Horizon to my iPhone, so I can’t reply to messages from my wrist. But basically, everything else about the watch’s OS feels like it’s working, albeit with a few restrictions. For example, we don’t provide constant heart rate monitoring, sleep or fitness tracking, or third-party apps. It’s worth noting that most modern smartwatches do that. So if you want to overlook the lack of features that are worth the price, you’re probably a hardcore LV fan.

The clock usually lasted about a day and a half of average usage, probably due to less background activity. Despite having the latest Snapdragon Wear 4100 processor, the Tambour Horizon sometimes felt a delay. This points to potential software inefficiencies (rather than chip issues).

Have you been late enough to irritate me? No. Are LV’s travel and customization-oriented features enough to outperform Wear OS? Also, no. But by leaving Google’s platform behind, LV was able to offer a unique and surprisingly satisfying experience, albeit a chunky device that may not be appealing to everyone. This is not the case, especially for $ 3,000 and above. However, with the Tambour Horizon Light Up, LV has demonstrated that it is possible to build a working smartwatch without the help of Google.