The high-end style world has been attempting to embrace smartwatches for years. But aside from Fossil, luxurious homes (and most tech firms) have given up on . Gone are the , the and the Moto 360. In their place sit a slew of smartwatches made by Fossil, which might be mainly the identical system in numerous types. It’s not shocking, then, that for its third effort at a linked timepiece, Louis Vuitton is leaving Google’s OS behind and utilizing its personal proprietary software program as an alternative.

Like , the begins at and contains a loud design that’s undoubtedly not for everybody. But given the current launch , which guarantees to be extra helpful and responsive, I used to be curious to see if LV’s personal platform is likely to be adequate for a tool that prices 1000’s of {dollars}.

But first, the {hardware}. Because anybody contemplating dropping $3,500 on the Tambour Horizon Light Up might be extra considering how this factor appears to be like and feels.

Frankly, I’m stunned by how a lot I didn’t hate the design. Sure, the ostentatious markings throughout the 1.2-inch display screen may very well be thought of gaudy. [Ed. note: Cher, what?! – Dana] But the watch faces themselves had been daring and colourful in a approach that I discovered amusing at first however quickly grew to understand. Each time I noticed a brand new face, or when the 24 LEDs within the monogram ring surrounding the display screen lit up in RGB colours, I gleefully despatched footage to my coworkers, aspiring to enjoy shared mockery. But most of us agreed that not solely did the faces not suck, we really sort of favored them. (Except Dana, who wrote this parenthetical.)

Two criticisms stored developing, although. The orange rubber strap that LV despatched was not solely too giant for my wrist, inflicting the watch to maintain slipping round, it additionally seemed low cost. I’d have most well-liked the white or black choices as an alternative, as they seem extra understated and appear to pair higher with the daring graphics on the case. I additionally acquired the Matte Brown design case, which begins at $4,110, as an alternative of the bottom mannequin.

That’s the opposite factor most individuals seen after they noticed the watch, by the way in which. The 44mm case shouldn’t be solely thicker than most smartwatches at 13.2mm (0.5 inches), however it’s additionally very dense. 

Though its face options curved sapphire glass that helps it look smaller than different smartwatches this measurement, its heft and weight in the end make carrying the Tambour Horizon Light Up really feel like strapping a puck onto your wrist.

If cumbersome timepieces don’t trouble you, you may respect what Louis Vuitton has to supply right here. The firm calls this the “most customizable connected watch in the world,” providing a slew of unique watch faces that basically pop on the 390 x 390 AMOLED display screen. There are eight dial configurations to select from and while you arrange the watch you may also enter your initials, which can present up on some designs.

Rotating the watch’s dial on the suitable switches to completely different themes, whereas urgent the highest button on the sting cycles via numerous coloration schemes. The indisputable fact that LV determined to dedicate the dial and button to those capabilities exhibits that the altering up the Tambour Horizon’s look is its primary precedence. You can use the companion app to customise the remaining button on the backside to drag up apps like Alarm, Timer, Stopwatch, Heart Rate, Steps and Camera distant. But extra on that in a bit.

One new characteristic on this technology of the Tambour Horizon is its Always On Display, which additionally modifications primarily based on the theme you’ve chosen on your residence display screen. And relying on the fashion you select, the LEDs beneath the monogram ring on the bezel will gentle up in corresponding colours. This is likely to be my favourite a part of the system. The lights additionally flash while you get an alert and it’s actually pleasant to observe.

You can select which apps can ship notifications to your wrist, via the Louis Vuitton Connect app on iOS or Android. This can be the place you’ll get clearer explanations for a number of the watch’s capabilities, like its “modes” and shortcuts. All informed, the Tambour Horizon affords 4 profiles: Blossom, which shows all of the accessible animations at most depth, Explorer, which balances animations and efficiency with battery life, Submarine, which silences notifications and dims the lights, and Saver, which flip off all however essentially the most important capabilities to preserve energy.

You can activate these by swiping up on the watch to view the Control Center, after which tapping the Mode button within the center. The Control Center additionally affords choices to dig into settings, discover your cellphone, begin a timer or launch your cellphone’s digital camera, together with details about the watch’s battery ranges and connectivity.

The remainder of Louis Vuitton’s OS is simple, if somewhat rudimentary. Swipe all the way down to see your notifications, and swipe proper to undergo the accessible widgets. The left of the house display screen homes about 5 “apps” as a part of a so-called “My Day” part, displaying your calendar, coronary heart price, steps depend and the climate and air high quality in your space. You can reorder these and select which permissions to permit. This a part of the OS feels somewhat like Tizen (or Wear OS’ Tiles), with its side-swiping navigation.

To the suitable of the house display screen is a web page on your upcoming journey, and you should use the app to enter flights, accommodations or journeys or ship your reserving affirmation to a custom-made e-mail handle. Your upcoming journeys will then present up on the watch, and scrolling vertically via the panels will pull up a QR code on your boarding move, details about your terminal, gate and seat, in addition to the related time zones.

You may swipe sideways to see LV’s journey guides on your vacation spot, and after I tapped right here for a fake journey to Singapore, the watch confirmed me extra info on the native Botanic Gardens. It additionally supplied shortcuts for calling the park and mapping instructions there.

This give attention to journey is a characteristic distinctive to LV’s OS, however it’s not troublesome to copy on Apple’s watchOS and even Wear OS. For essentially the most half, you may both use Apple Wallet or the Google Assistant to seek out related ticket-related knowledge or set up a 3rd get together app. But the mixing right here is extra seamless and requires fewer steps. I additionally like the way in which LV presents the info in an easy-to-read format, and the graphics and icons listed below are cute, if arduous to know at first.

Because I linked the Tambour Horizon to my iPhone, I’m not capable of reply to messages from my wrist. But mainly every little thing else concerning the watch’s OS feels purposeful, if a bit restricted. It doesn’t provide fixed heart-rate monitoring, sleep or health monitoring or third-party apps, for instance. It’s price noting that almost all trendy smartwatches do this, so if you happen to’re prepared to miss the dearth of options for the worth, you’re most likely a hardcore LV fan.

Perhaps as a result of it’s doing much less within the background, the watch typically lasted a couple of day and a half of common use. Despite packing the newest Snapdragon Wear 4100 processor, although, the Tambour Horizon often felt laggy, one thing I’ll chalk as much as attainable inefficiencies within the software program (fairly than an issue with the chip).

Was it ever gradual sufficient to frustrate me? No. Are LV’s journey and customization-minded options sufficient to outshine Wear OS? Also no. But in leaving Google’s platform behind, LV has been capable of ship a novel and surprisingly satisfying expertise, albeit in a chunky system which may not attraction to all. Especially not for upwards of $3,000. But with the Tambour Horizon Light Up, LV has demonstrated that it’s attainable to construct a workable smartwatch with out Google’s assist.