Quick History Lesson
The watch has evolved quite a bit from the 16th century portable sundial to a piece of technology that helps manage your life and occasionally tells time. The smartwatch market which is rapidly evolving and growing can be broken down into two segments, full function smart watch or hybrid smartwatch.
The hybrid smartwatch combines smartwatch functionality with the classic look of a traditional watch. It’s often powered by a small battery that lasts anywhere from 4 to 6 months. Examples of hybrid smartwatches are Skagen Signatur, Fossil Neely, and Garmin Vivomove.
The full function smartwatch relies on full touchscreen functionality that you can control with your finger and syncs with many popular apps you may have on your phone. It also relies on being charged in most cases on a daily basis. These are your Apple watch, Galaxy Watch, Fitbit Iconic etc.
This past Christmas I received a Skagen Signatur hybrid smartwatch as a gift and was excited to see how it fit into my current rotation of watches and flow of my daily life.
On first open, the light blue box demonstrates decent quality and the watch is wrapped around a soft pillow that keeps it in place. The black leather band is very plain and very clean-looking. The rose gold coloring on the watch case, three function buttons and metal clasp is a nice and unique touch.
Form
The watch has a rather unsuspecting weight to it, reminding me of various mechanical watches I own. The face and case have a classic minimalist chronograph look. The watch face is comprised of a non numeric number main dial and small sub dial. The main dial does double duty telling time and providing notification alerts, while the sub dial is an activity goal tracker. There are numbers on the outer edge of the non numeric dial points that aid in keeping up with the date.
The 20 mm black leather bands have a nice feel and utilize Skagen’s quick release tabs. The quick release tabs make it much easier to change bands because no special tool is needed to release pins that connect bands to the watch case. Soon, I can easily see myself getting a few different bands and effortlessly switching the look of the watch.
Functions
The watch can track footsteps, track quality of sleep, control music, smartphone camera remote and vibrate when a text or phone call comes in. With a little programming via the Skagen app the watch can even tell me who sent the text message.
The Skagen Connected app which connects to the watch via Bluetooth is the key to setting up the smartwatch functions of the watch. The app interface and look are clean and minimalist, like the watch, and rather easy to navigate and configure to your liking.
The notification alert setup is rather simple and efficient. For example, if you receive a text from your best friend the watch will vibrate and the hour and minute hands will come together and point to the non numeric one on the dial. The app allows a user to set the watch to point to the non numeric number point of their choosing which can represent a text message, app alert, calendar notification, etc.
The app also lets you set a step goal to help you remain active and take steps to be a better version of you. The app is compatible with both iOS 8.1 and above Android OS 4.4 platform devices.
Verdict
Dressed up for a day at the office or dressed down for a weekend adventure the Skagen Signatur is a stylish watch that has garnered me quite a few compliments in the short time I have been wearing it. For casual tracking and discreet features in a compact, stylish package, the Skagen Signatur is a great option. But if you’re serious about tracking certain metrics or using certain apps via your watch you may need to look at a full function smartwatch. The biggest advantage of a hybrid smartwatch like the Skagen Signatur is its ability to sit on your wrist and go absolutely unnoticed as a smartwatch.
Hit
- Stylish.
- Water resistant up to 100 ft.
- Six-month battery life.
- Programmable buttons.
- Materials – Nice grade of genuine leather bands, mineral glass crystal and stainless steel construction.
Miss
- No extras like heart rate tracking or blood pressure monitoring.
- No brightly lit illuminated display for nigh time use.
You can pick up the Skagen Signatur Hybrid Smartwatch Amazon
Fred is a family man with a pension for style, watches and new adventures. He often does his best thinking on vacation with the family taking in new sights and sampling a nice cigar and local libation.
Follow Him – Instagram @mrnicewatchfred
