The best worst thing about Android ar watches is that they all run ’s basic platform. tch makers can add their own custom watch faces, maybe an app or two, but they can’t throw a skin over ’s stard interface as phone makers can.
It provides a consistent experience across the line makes for fast software updates, but it puts a big onus on the hardware makers: you have to innovate on the hardware side. ’s tch Urbane attempts to bring class to the ar market with a stylish all-metal chassis stitched leather b, but it only succeeds in achieving a sort of Vegas-style faux-class.
Big, bulky, boring
The Urbane is big. It’s about the same size as the G tch R, slightly thicker, though it makes poorer use of the space. The round plastic-OD screen is the same size (1.3 inches, with a resolution of 320 x 320), but where the G tch R puts numbers hash marks on the wide bezel around the face for a sporty look, the Urbane is barren. At 67 grams, it’s on the heavy side. At 52mm tall, it won’t fit well on small wrists.
This isn’t a good display-to-case size ratio. Compare it to the Moto 360, which fits a bigger 1.56-inch display into a 46mm round case that weighs only 49 grams. You may point out that many analog watches have lots of case surrounding the watch face, but such comparisons are moot; those watches don’t dem you interact with them, nor read notification text.
Opinions are mixed on the styling of the case. Some users I showed it to thinks it looks classy, others say it’s cheap gaudy. I’m in the second camp. The Urbane looks like an amateurish imitation of a fancy watch; the kind of thing you’d expect from a $50 “Rollecks.” It’s on the ex/Seiko end of the scale, not Burberry/TAG Heuer.
Despite having a smaller display, the tch Urbane is much larger than the Moto 360.
The overall effect is a watch that is dominated by its metal casing, with a seemingly too-small face. It’s about the largest watch I can fit on my relatively thin wrists.
The best thing about the Urbane’s design is that it’s available in both silver gold (really sort of a “rose gold” or “champagne gold” color, judging by the price, there’s not much real gold in there). For some, that gold color is a really big deal. But it’s not even the only gold ar watch around. The “champagne gold” Moto 360 can be had for $210, considerably less than the tch Urbane’s $350 price tag. Sadly, while it seems from my informal survey of coworkers friends that women are the ones most interested int eh gold color, this watch is way too big for most women’s wrists.
The specs on the tch Urbane are like so many other Android ar watches. 512MB of RAM, 4 gigs of storage space, I7 water dust resistance, a Snapdragon 400 processor. In practice, it felt exactly like using most other Android ar watches. It’s neither faster nor slower, doesn’t move the needle for features or usability.
The Urbane’s D face can get bright, but it can’t auto-adjust its brightness to the ambient light level.
In fact it’s still missing the same important feature that the G tch R lacked: an ambient light sensor. ck a brightness setting that works well outdoors, it’s way too bright in darker indoor environments. ck a comfortable indoor brightness, you’ll fumble through the settings to crank up the brightness when you step out in the sun. The ability of a smartwatch to automatically adjust its brightness in concert with ambient light is a key battery-saving usability feature.
The first with Android ar 5.1
The tch Urbane is the first smartwatch to ship with Android ar 5.1. This point-release doesn’t significantly overhaul the platform, but it adds enough welcome features polish to make it finally feel like less of a public beta test more of a finished, usable everyday product.
Android ar 5.1 adds an ambient mode function for any supported app, -Fi support, a lock screen, the ability to draw out emoji, improved menus. It’s a really nice upgrade, but it’s no reason to buy the tch Urbane. l the other Android ar watches will get it soon enough.
It’s safe to say the Urbane is just a metal version of the G tch R. It’s heavier, thicker, less “sporty.”
customizes the Urbane with a hful of custom watch faces, but none of them are particularly inspiring. For the most part, they look like someone copied what they think makes for a good luxury watch face, without the taste refinement to get the little details right. There are better watch faces, in both form function, on the ay Store.
also released an app called Call, which inexplicably supports only the Urbane but not the G tch or G tch R. Android fans have been up in arms about this, but they needn’t concern themselves. l it does it let you dial one someone from a list of recent calls, favorites, or by dialing a number directly. As soon as you’ve chosen who to call, it completes on your phone. In other words, it doesn’t save you any time or hassle— any Android ar watch can dial one of your contacts with a voice comm, anyway.
No innovation here
The tch Urbane is the most expensive Android ar watch available, all it has to show for it is an all-metal casing with a style that is at best, divisive at worst, gaudy. It functions well, it’s your first chance to see the new Android ar 5.1 update, but with a price tag more than $100 higher than the competition, I expect more. More innovation, more refined design.
The battery lasted through a typical day, but not any longer—how about addressing that? How about a larger display? Or a significantly thinner, smaller, lighter casing that works well for those with smaller wrists? rhaps a better charging method than the snap-in-place dock that is almost identical to that which the G tch R uses?
’s tch Urbane is not a bad Android ar watch. In fact, it’s quite average. But it’s the easily most expensive Android ar watch, for that, “average” just won’t do.
