Home iPhonia iPhone Accessories ,,,,,When we talk about a brand like Armani there is always a bit of reverence, because the good Italian Giorgione is today one of the greatest exponents of the Italian class in the world: this Emporio Armani Connected follows the line for a product definitely above the lines from the point of view of style and image.
Emporio Armani Connected, the review
Full satisfaction from the box
The Emporio Armani line represents the most youthful and trendy sector of the house founded by Giorgio Armani (which has 11 brands to its credit, plus other minority shareholdings), but still retains all the details that have made the brand so distinctive in the world.
We see this right away by opening the package, where a riot of velvet and chromed metal make us forget, for a moment, the smart heart of the smartwatch.
The packaging, which is undoubtedly the most beautiful we have seen so far in the world of smartwatches, introduces the Emporio Armani Connected as a non-casual model, but a product desired by those looking for it.
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In our case it is the ART5006 model, with a steel strap with folding clasp on a 42 mm steel case, with a 30 mm round internal display and three side buttons at 2, 3 and 4 o'clock.
The size of the strap is generous: in our case we had no problems, given the size of the wrist above the average, but for those with a smaller wrist perhaps you need the intervention of a watchmaker or shopkeeper at the time of the sale for a correct wearability, an operation that can hardly be done independently.
The weight of the watch is normal, considering that it is a model with a steel case and strap: compared to the last generation of smartwatches curated by Fossil, this is certainly a step forward, if only for the flexibility of wearOS and the presence of two more buttons that offer convenient shortcuts, even if they are not essential.
Heart wearOS
Inside Emporio Armani Connected beats a Google wearOS heart, an operating system that longtime users knew as Android wear: compatibility speaks of (at least) iPhone 5 with iOS 9 or other smartphones with (at least) Android OS 5.0.
Once you have turned on your smartphone for the first time and downloaded the App for iOS or Android, just follow the instructions on the screen (better if the first installation is carried out under a Wi-Fi network), associate your account first with the App and then to the smartwatch and, subsequently, update everything as required.
With us everything worked quite well, some operations made it necessary to wait half an hour before everything was settled, but nothing impossible and above all within the reach of the common user, even if he has never had smartwatch experiences.
On the wrist, constant monitoring
From the hardware point of view, the most important novelty is undoubtedly the presence of the heart rate sensor, which certainly offers a more complete overview of daily activity, including steps, calories burned, cardiac activity (but in this case the measurement is not can be used for medical purposes) and above all averages and activities.
The management of steps, calories and averages through the App is quite simple and clear, even if we would have preferred greater flexibility in the consultation, such as more freedom in choosing the day.
However, we liked the possibility of consulting everything from the Google Fit portal, even from Mac via browser, a factor common to many other smartwatches (except Apple Watch, which does not compromise on this factor).
1 of 3 It is not a sports watch, however it does not mind a correct one at the park: here with the Nike Plus App
Emporio Armani Connected is not a sports watch, this can be understood immediately from the construction of the case, from the software features and also from the look, however it is certainly not a model that is afraid to jump into the fray: the Swimproof technology allows it to be worn. even in the water while the integrated NFC allows you to manage payments via the Google Pay App, has an integrated GPS to record distances during training sessions and obviously also integrates the Google Assistant for info via voice.
For the latter, however, we must admit that on the one hand we found it improved and more precise than in the past, on the other, however, the voice recognition is a bit slow and therefore not very useful.
The integrated App store is interesting, from which we can draw on a series of Apps to perform various tasks, among which the most interesting turned out to be those relating to running.
Even in this case, however, the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 internal processor allows you to perform the operations, even if for some Apps it has proved to be at the limit.
Excellent, punctual, constant and complete the part relating to notifications, which appear on the display (with haptic alert on the wrist) and in some cases also allow an in-depth analysis. On Android in some cases it is possible to answer, on iOS at the moment no due to limits imposed by Apple.
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Personalization and battery
Obviously, one of the reasons why you buy a smartwatch is undoubtedly the customization, especially in a model like this in which the image plays a very important role.
We found the present dials very beautiful: the standard WearOS ones not so much, but more than anything else because they have been known for some time, instead the exclusive Armani ones, often very faithful reproductions of famous analogue dials, offer an exclusive and interesting look.
In many cases the user himself, once the dial has been called up (an operation that is done entirely from the smartwatch), can also customize it further for some phases such as changing a color or the use of a part of the dial and, finally, saving it as preset to be recalled at a later time.
Very nice (and convenient) the possibility to read all your data from the Google Fit console also from Mac
In the same way, the strap can be changed with another standard strap: on the Armani website there are various solutions but users can also use other straps that are readily available on the market.
Charging is, like most wearOS models, induction thanks to a USB-A charger included in the package.
The battery life is estimated in one day: using it little it is possible to get to the next morning, but then it must be recharged. However, charging is very fast, an hour to bring Emporio Armani Connected from 0 to 100%.
Considerations
Emporio Armani Connected is a good smartwatch, because it has ample customization in a definitely classy look, offers a sturdy construction and can be worn, literally, anywhere, from the office to the gym, from the living room to the pool.
Compatibility is good with iPhone and Android, with the point of view that you have to do most of the things on the clock face instead of on the App, which is mostly used for pairing and transporting data to servers. which can then also be accessed via the web.
The battery life is suitable for use: the only negative sides that we can point out are a computing power that at times “calls” a little more and the price, certainly not expensive for an Armani-branded product but a little for an average wearOS smartwatch.
That said, this watch is designed for those who want the Emporio Armani style on their wrist but don't want to give up notifications, activity control and customization that an analog model obviously cannot offer.
Pro : • Robust construction and Armani look • Extensive customization
Against: • The computing power should be increased • A little expensive
Price: 419.00 Euro
Readers can find Emporio Armani Connected at the parent company's website, in various jewelers and stores in the peninsula, as well as online on Amazon.it.
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