Elegance in a smartwatch
Paul Jones
STACK Editor-in-Chief
Withings’ new smartwatch effortlessly blends style with functionality.
We all have little obsessions. For some, it’s shoes; for the more fiscally endowed, it’s cars. I once met a man whose obsession was World War II American naval flare guns… Mine has always been watches. I’m a sucker for horology, and while I’m not particularly enshrined in traditional designs, I do like a stylish watch. It’s why Withings has always been an appealing smartwatch option for the user who doesn’t want something resembling a Star Trek communicator on their wrists.
The company has recently released its latest in a lineage of smartwatches that stretches back close to a decade; the ScanWatch Horizon. If you’re not into hanging off the side of a mountain or doing a Bear Grylls in the wilderness, an option like the Horizon combines just the right amount of data you need from a smartwatch while combining a sleek design that wouldn’t look out of place in a gym, at a restaurant or in a boardroom.
The Horizon comes with two face colours: green and blue. It’s a gorgeous-looking watch with a weighty premium build, finished in fetching matte steel. In the box are the watch, charger, the choice of either a rubber or metal link strap, and a set of tools for adding or subtracting said links. This is surprisingly easy to do and, given a smartwatch needs to have a snug fit for an accurate reading, an excellent addition to the package.
The circular PMOLED display, where all the vital stats are revealed, is sited at the top of the watch face. If, for instance, it’s 12 o’clock when you want to check your stats, the watch hands conveniently split to 10 o’clock to reveal the display when you push the crown and then return to the correct time when access is finished.
Like the original ScanWatch, the Horizon uses the aforementioned crown on the side to navigate the menu. And it’s packed with the essential features you need, from accurate heart-tracking and electrocardiogram to blood oxygen levels for fitness-focused users. On the active front there’s a slew of workout modes to monitor progress, and a sleep tracker to ensure you’re getting the requisite rest.
The Withings/Health Mate is an excellent companion app that is easy to navigate for complete novices, providing concise and decipherable information on vital metrics. I use iOS, and this data is fed straight into Apple Health.
A full charge on the battery can be achieved in a couple of hours, and a single charge stretches up to, wait for it, a phenomenal 30 days. It’s waterproof rated to 10TM, making it perfect for surface swimming, but that’s where you’d want to limit it.
Overall, the Withings ScanWatch Horizon is a stunning smartwatch that effortlessly blends style with functionality. It’s more on the heavier side, weighing 72 grams, and its larger size is probably suited more to a thicker wrist. The Horizon is packed with enough smart features to make it a great choice for a solid health and wellbeing tracker, with the bonus of having this functionality cleverly hidden beneath an elegant aesthetic. It really is the best of both worlds.
^Discounts apply to previous ticketed/advertised price prior to the discount offer. As we negotiate, products will likely have been sold below ticketed/advertised price prior to the discount offer. Prices may differ at airport stores.
