Withings ScanWatch Horizon review – a traditional watch that has all the smarts

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• VERDICT

The Withings ScanWatch Horizon will appeal to traditional watch connoisseurs who also want to gain those valuable health and fitness insights. For those customers who want all the smarts of a smart watch but the style and tradition of a regular timepiece - the Withings ScanWatch Horizon is just what you need.

There is no shortage of smartwatches today but one model – the Withings ScanWatch Horizon – manages to combine the design of a traditional watch with the many features of a smartwatch.

The ScanWatch Horizon is a stylish timepiece– it looks like a diver’s watch. And it does have 10 ATM water resistance so you can take it in the water for a swim or a snorkel.

The watch has a sapphire-glass casing and an anti-reflective coating along with a titanium finish that adds to the premium look of the device.

It also has a stainless-steel band watchband – and all the tools you need to remove links.

For our review, we had to remove two links to get to get the right fit.

It’s also a lot heaver than a regular smartwatch because of that chunky metal band but there’s also a elasticised sports band in the box as well.

At first glance it looks like a regular watch – but if you look closely there is a small circular screen in the top half if the watch face.

A press of the digital crown activates this screen – and if the hands are in the way of the screen, they actually move out of the way so you can see it clearly.

And when you’re done the hands return to their rightful place so you can still tell the time.

The ScanWatch Horizon includes several smart features and health monitoring.

The watch will let you know when you’re getting a call on your connected smartphone and send you nominated notifications.

An earlier version of the Withings ScanWatch was the first in Australia to include the ECG to detect if the user has atrial fibrillation (AFib) which is arrhythmia or an abnormal heartbeat.

Having this feature available on your wrist is pretty impressive.

The watch can also monitor your heart rate constantly through the embedded PPG sensor and even alert the user of any irregularities.

The ScanWatch Horizon also has Breathing Disturbances detection which, while sleeping, can sense night-time breathing disturbances which are a sign of sleep apnoea.

Tt does the by using an algorithm that analyses blood oxygen levels, heart rate, movement and breathing frequency that’s all collected through the ScanWatch’s accelerometer and optical sensors.

Naturally, the watch can monitor your workouts and activities and give you info on your steps, calories and even your workout routes via an in-app connected GPS.

It can monitor more than 30 activities including walking, swimming, running, cycling and much more.

Users connect the ScanWatch Horizon to the free Health Mate app which provides a dashboard for your data and activities and lets you set goals and manage your achievements.

It’s also possible to connect more than 100 third party apps through the health mate app including Apple Health, Google Fit, Strava and MyFitnessPal.

Now the big winner here is battery life which runs for up to an astonishing 30 days.

It is after all only powering a small screen so the battery is going to last a lot longer than a regular smart watch which has to power a larger screen all day long between charges.

The ScanWatch Horizon goes on sale on July 14 and is priced at $699.99.

It is available with either a blue or green watch face.

Customers can order the watch exclusively from JB Hi-Fi online.

VERDICT

The Withings ScanWatch Horizon will appeal to traditional watch connoisseurs who also want to gain those valuable health and fitness insights. For those customers who want all the smarts of a smart watch but the style and tradition of a regular timepiece – the Withings ScanWatch Horizon is just what you need.