HARIS HAMID FAROOQ

Armani, a luxury brand hailing from Italy, primarily known for its clothing and accessories, does not need an extensive introduction. It is a brand that is well-known around the world. They entered the market of smartwatches in 2016, with the launch of their series of Emporio Armani-connected watches. 

I was looking for a smartwatch, not only to track my activities but to wear a watch that could do most of the things my phone can. I have a habit of wearing a watch on my left wrist and I rarely spend a day without one. In this day and age, a smartwatch can keep track of fitness, health, and numerous other things. I had used a smartwatch before but preferred something other than Apple, Samsung, and OnePlus this time around.

That is where the Emporio Armani smartwatch 3 comes in. The idea of a brand like Armani, which is converged in clothing, launching a technology-related product interested me. Not only because I wanted to invest in a new brand for a smartwatch, but also because the brand is one of my go-to selections for clothing and accessories. 

Hardware Specifications

The Emporio Armani Smartwatch 3 is priced at AED 1,544 (USD 420) and is available for purchase on Amazon in matte black, matte silver, matte gold, and matte blue. The watch features a 44mm (1.28 inches) AMOLED display, a stainless-steel case that is 12mm thick with an Emporio Armani logo engraved crown, and an additional two buttons neighbouring it. The watch features a built-in speaker and microphone as well. It is equipped with 8GB + 1GB of memory and embraces a 400 mah battery. It weighs approximately 15 grams and is water resistant up to 30 meters.

The watch sells in a fairly slim, but wide box containing a magnetic watch charger that connects via USB, a black case with an Emporio Armani logo engraved on the top, a couple of quick start guide booklets, the watch itself, and the standard bracelet that comes with it. The bracelet can be replaced with either a watch strap or a bracelet that supports it.

Software Specifications

The smartwatch runs the Qualcomm Snapdragon wear 3100 processor and is supported by Google’s Wear OS. Connectivity options include Bluetooth 4.2, wi-fi, NFC, and an integrated GPS. The smartwatch can track activity, including steps and distance extremely efficiently along with heart rate monitoring. Workouts are easy to track and can be done by swiping left on the screen which opens the activity tab.

Swiping up on the display will show your recent notifications such as messages and emails. Swiping down pulls down the settings menu, which controls sound, activates battery saving mode, turns on airplane mode, rings your phone, and opens settings. Swiping right brings up Google Assistant and a few other widgets such as weather and reminders. 

My Verdict

The contents of the box include a black case which is very useful for packing away your watch during travel and helps protect it from scratches. It has more than enough room to store the charger as well, thus seeming a bit too large for a watch and more fitting for a pair of sunglasses. The charger resembles most smartwatch chargers, with a USB and magnetic watch charging cable. The watch bracelet feels comfortable, has a clean look, and does not pull my arm hair, which is great. The AMOLED display is a joy to look at. It feels clear, smooth, and swift.

There are a few neatly designed smartwatch faces representing the Emporio Armani brand. The buttons above and below the crown on the right side are customizable and can be programmed to perform the action the user wants them to, which is a good additional feature that helps increase accessibility. The sound from the speaker is rich and crisp, and loud enough to wake you from a deep sleep. The watch’s overall look is stunning and embodies a designer smartwatch. 

Out of the 4 colours to choose from, I decided to opt for the matte blue as it was a unique colour for a watch. It looked quite lively in the picture, but it was not that bright. It looks more like a navy/dark blue which is not too far from black. I figured that the blue must have stood out so significantly due to the white background of the photo. When it comes down to it, however, it is still visibly blue, looks classy and elegant, and did not make me second-guess my decision.

As for the size of the case, or display, in this case, no pun intended, it feels perfectly fine. A few comments and reviews were claiming that the case was too big for a small wrist or a woman’s wrist, but I disagree. I oppose this claim simply because the case itself is not oversized, rather the lugs of the watch, also known as the watch horns, are. Adding watch horns of that size to a 44mm case might not have been the most efficient choice. So, theoretically, I do agree that it would feel oversized on a woman’s wrist, considering it is a unisex smartwatch.

The watch can also run 24 hours connected to a phone with all functions running, or so it is said. I tested the battery of the watch keeping in mind that a new smartwatch downloads updates, and applications from the phone it is linked to, and so forth. There are several functions a smartwatch performs upon powering on and connecting to your phone for the very first time, so for the battery to run out quicker than expected would not be far-fetched.

I abundantly charged the watch before connecting it to my phone, but by the end of the setup, the remaining battery was 71%. I kept wearing it until lunch when it decided to power off. The battery had drained from a full charge within 6 hours, and my immediate reaction was to browse the web for any reported issues with the Emporio Armani smartwatch 3’s battery but found no substantial material except a single post subtly reiterating my first 6 hours with the watch. I decided to monitor it for a while, but there was no change.

Recording a walk or a workout on the watch would make the battery run out faster than anything. After 2 or 3 days had gone by, I tried switching to different modes in an attempt to conserve battery. It added an hour or two, but I wondered what the point of a designer smartwatch was if the battery lasted 4-6 hours with all functions running like they’re supposed to. One would expect much better from Armani. Although there is not much wrong with the smartwatch, what is wrong is, unfortunately, critical to its usage.

The watch links up well with your android or iPhone, which is a very important feature for most. Perhaps, the 4–6-hour battery time was the only, yet significant issue I found with this watch. If the need for much more frequent than usual charging is not as big an issue for you, this might be the smartwatch for you, but I doubt that. 

Overall, Armani did great with the look and the colour options. The brand name surely adds to its worth as a smartwatch. However, I would not recommend this watch to anyone for one reason alone, and that is battery time. A smartwatch is meant to be worn for one day at the very least before requiring a full charge, whereas this watch will need to be fully charged at least twice during the day and once at night to get through a full day of tracking steps, activities, and monitoring heart rate while connected to your phone.

Other smartwatches, priced lower than this particular watch can get through one or multiple days without a charge. That is the meaning of wearing a smartwatch, which is why I would recommend anyone observing the market for a smartwatch to choose against this one. Although Armani has not officially announced a new smartwatch after the launch of this one, perhaps they can fix the battery and any other inadequacies with the release of the next one. Until then, I will be sticking with shoes and clothing as far as Armani is concerned.