Hands-On: TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 Green Ceramic 45mm Smartwatch & VINGT SEPT Eyewear

This new version of the TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 45mm watch in steel with a green ceramic bezel is the latest iteration of the Swiss brand’s very popular Wear OS-based smartwatch collection. Over the last several years, TAG Heuer has claimed dominance in the luxury smartwatch market when it comes to products that feature Google’s popular smartwatch operating system environment. There is certainly other competition on the market for high-end smartwatches (though the space is still decidedly niche), and some of the competitors (Hublot and Louis Vuitton, for example) are actually sister brands of TAG Heuer. That said, TAG Heuer is currently the leader when it comes to merging a sophisticated designer look with a modern sporty smartwatch hardware experience and this popular operating system.

TAG Heuer doesn’t rely on the stock WearOS system but is special in that the Swiss brand has a dedicated facility in Paris where it has special software and design teams that create the software and graphical layers that are built over the base operating system environment. TAG Heuer has come a long way when it comes to its Connected smartwatch faces being increasingly pretty as well as functional. New for 2024, TAG Heuer is even launching a series of digital watch dials for the Connected that evoke many of the currently available traditional watches from TAG Heuer. The idea is not only to add more brand personality to the Connected smartwatch user interface but also to channel wearers into future purchases of TAG Heuer’s more traditional luxury watch products. In any event, the displays on the watch’s AMOLED screen under the sapphire crystal are bright, sharp, and easy to read.

TAG Heuer quietly updates its Connected smartwatches with new hardware as I understand it, but this reference SBR8A14.BT6317 is part of the Connected’s E4 generation of hardware and contains a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100+ processor. The case is fitted with all the standard smartwatch sensors and features, including a heart rate monitor. Activity and fitness tracking is a very popular use of modern smartwatches, and TAG Heuer even has its own sports tracking software layer (with pretty nice graphics). Overall, I can’t think of any major smartwatch features missing in the TAG Heuer Connected E4.

Much of TAG Heuer’s aesthetic effort in the Connected family has been to make them both more wearable and more traditionally styled (versus appearing like a wearable gadget). Compared to mainstream smartwatches, this means the TAG Heuer Connected case and materials are going to be a serious upgrade in style and quality. The includes the polished steel case with its finely machined surfaces, the scratch-resistant green ceramic bezel, and the comfortable fitted rubber strap that can be easily swapped out for other colors or an available matching bracelet. In addition to being 45mm wide (TAG Heuer also makes a 42mm-wide version of the Connected), this smartwatch is 15.3mm thick with 50 meters of water resistance.

The other big news at TAG Heuer in 2024, when it comes to non-traditional products, is the relaunch of its eyewear division. TAG Heuer had a very successful business selling glasses and sunglasses until the early 2000s. For legal reasons and the elimination of a key supplier, TAG Heuer was forced to shut down selling eyewear for a number of years. After investing in brand-new technology and a novel collection of products, TAG Heuer returns with a bevy of truly nice new products. I was able to sample all of the new TAG Heuer glasses and really appreciate the technology, style, and (most importantly) the comfort of the products. They aren’t just sunglasses licensing cash grabs but rather authentically original and innovative products.

I photographed one of the new TAG Heuer eyeglasses with the green ceramic version of the Connected Calibre E4. These glasses are a version of the new TAG Heuer VINGT SEPT family (the ones that fit my head and face the best), which should be available for purchase soon where TAG Heuer or fine eyewear is sold. Going back to the smartwatch, price for the new reference SBR8A14.BT6317 TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 watch is 1,750 USD. Learn more at the TAG Heuer website.