Today, we will delve into the Louis Vuitton Tambour Horizon Light Up Connected Watch, which marks the brand’s venture into the smartwatch arena. This timepiece represents a fusion of luxury craftsmanship and modern technology.Throughout our exploration, we’ll examine its design, software, performance, battery life, and features in detail.
Table of Contents
Review of Louis Vuitton Tambour Horizon Light Up Smartwatch
Design:
Louis Vuitton’s design choices are intriguing, albeit not universally appealing. Personally, I find them quite appealing.
The timepiece exhibits a blend of traditional and futuristic elements, featuring a round watch face with sapphire glass encircled by 24 LED lights animating the iconic Louis Vuitton monogram ring. This creates a mesmerizing kaleidoscope of colors, particularly in low light conditions when the watch is activated. The 1.2-inch display offers a decent size, though it may appear large on smaller wrists. With an array of built-in watch faces reflecting Louis Vuitton’s design ethos, customization options abound, ensuring the watch feels fresh daily and aligns with the owner’s preferences. Crafted from stainless steel with the LV logo engraved, the design impresses both in hardware and watch face variety.
However, it’s worth noting that the watch’s size may seem bulky and hefty on smaller wrists, as Louis Vuitton offers only one size option, unlike Apple, which provides two sizes to accommodate diverse preferences. Additionally, there’s a matte brown version of the watch available, starting at $4,100.
Software:
In the realm of smartwatches, there are two major contenders: Apple’s watchOS and Google’s Wear OS. Louis Vuitton’s previous generation of connected smartwatches ran on Wear OS. However, with the new third-generation connected watch, Louis Vuitton has opted for its own proprietary software.
The transition to this new software has been quite seamless and intuitive. Coming from an Apple Watch, I found it fairly straightforward to navigate and visually appealing. One standout feature of this software is its high level of customization. While Louis Vuitton claims it’s the most customizable smartwatch globally, I personally find Apple Watch to offer more customization options. Nevertheless, Louis Vuitton’s software allows users to customize not only watch faces but also the colors of the user interface. With eight dial configurations and various color schemes, changing the look and feel of the watch faces is effortless. Additionally, the customizable button below the crown allows easy access to favorite apps such as stopwatch, weather, alarms, and calendar. Notifications can be tailored through the LV Connect app on iOS or Android.
The watch offers four modes: Blossom, Explorer, Submarine, and Saver, each catering to different preferences and battery life needs. The control center provides quick access to current mode, battery life, and shortcuts, while swiping down reveals notifications and swiping right accesses built-in app widgets. The watch also features an always-on display, a first for Louis Vuitton connected watches.
However, the LED lights, while adding flair to notifications, can be distracting in certain settings. Thankfully, users can adjust the settings to limit their frequency.
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Performance:
The watch is powered by a Snapdragon Wear 4100 processor. While I won’t dwell too much on this, as the usage of a watch differs significantly from that of a computer or smartphone, it’s worth noting that the watch has consistently maintained smooth performance without any lag or slowdowns. This reliability in speed and absence of glitches are crucial for a seamless user experience, which Louis Vuitton delivers.
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Features:
Now, let’s discuss the features, where unfortunately, the watch falls short. While it boasts a stunning design and a plethora of customizable watch faces, its functionality leaves much to be desired. For instance, while I can view text messages and incoming calls, I’m unable to reply to them, whether through a keyboard or voice input. This limitation extends to phone calls as well—I can only accept or decline them, with no option to respond directly from the watch.
Additionally, the absence of support for Apple Pay or Google Pay, despite having NFC technology, is disappointing. The watch is only compatible with Alipay, a contactless payment system exclusive to China, rendering it unusable for payments outside of Asia.
Furthermore, while the watch can display notifications from certain apps on my phone, I can’t take any action on them. For instance, I can view reminders from my iPhone’s Reminders app, but I can’t modify or mark them as complete directly from the watch. This lack of interactive functionality diminishes the overall utility of the device.
Moreover, considering its bulkier size, one might assume it houses advanced health sensors. However, it only includes basic features like a heart rate monitor and step tracking. In contrast, devices like the Apple Watch, even at a lower price point, offer a wide range of health and fitness tracking capabilities, such as blood oxygen monitoring and calorie tracking. This disparity is disappointing, especially given the premium price of the Louis Vuitton watch.
While it’s true that this watch isn’t primarily marketed as a fitness device, the lack of certain features is still a letdown, particularly considering its high price tag. Ultimately, these limitations detract from the overall value proposition of the device.
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Battery life:
In terms of battery life, I typically get about a day on average, although this can vary based on usage of the LED lighting and my preference for the always-on Explorer mode. While I do feel that the battery life could be improved, it’s still necessary to charge the watch every night before going to bed, a common practice with most smartwatches nowadays.
Conclusion:
It’s essential to approach this product with a different perspective than traditional smartwatches. Comparing it directly to an Apple Watch, for instance, would be unfair, as this watch serves a different purpose. While devices like the Apple Watch prioritize smart functionality above all else, this Louis Vuitton watch is first and foremost a beautifully crafted timepiece with added smartwatch features. If you appreciate both the elegance of luxury watches and the convenience of smartwatch capabilities, then this watch is a fantastic choice.
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