While I was expecting to see brand new smartwatches running Wear OS 3 in the coming months, I wasn’t expecting them as soon as July, and I’m certainly looking forward to seeing luxury watchmaker Montblanc before being out of the block. Wasn’t expecting. Compatible Offerings.
The company just announced its n (opens in new tab) ew smartwatch (opens in new tab), the Summit 3, and while the timepiece brings the expected assortment of upgrades to the table, the most notable improvement is the one-button no. Concierge service or the fact that it’s made from premium materials like titanium – for which you’ll pay $1,290 / £1,105 / AU$2,030 – whether it comes running the latest iteration of Google’s wearable operating system. Yes, Wear OS 3.
Considering that no other brand gets a device in the market before Montblanc, the Summit 3 will be the first smartwatch in the world to offer Neat Take this latest wearable platform when it touches on July 15th, and go toe-to-toe with the best Wear OS watches on the market.
Let’s turn back time…
Google formally unveiled Wear OS 3 at its annual I/O developer conference in May 2021. By that time, Wear OS existed as a widespread but disliked platform in the wearables market; Overshadowed by Apple Watch’s watchOS and Samsung’s Tizen-powered Galaxy Watch line.
The launch of Wear OS 3 was so significant that Google actually turned to Samsung for support, and in turn discovered that both the South Korean company’s Tizen platform and wearables expertise were being combined in the development of Wear OS 3; What fans of smartwatches really wanted was to create a “integrated platform” designed to provide a more consistent user experience with features and functionality.
In August of last year, we finally saw the fruits of this new joint venture, with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 line giving us our first real-world taste of Wear OS 3.
While, aside from the leaks, the Google Play Store actually came on-wrist on Samsung’s new watches, the experience they offered (and still offer today) wasn’t the most authentic on Wear OS 3.
In Samsung’s own words, its latest wearables run ‘Ware OS Powered by Samsung’, and that difference manifests itself in aspects such as some preloaded apps, along with the fact that some functionality remains exclusive to those Those who pair their Galaxy Watch 4 with one. Compatible Samsung Galaxy Smartphones.
(image credit: Montblanc)
We haven’t seen a real Wear OS 3 watch yet
This is why Wear OS 3 is such a big deal at the Montblanc Summit. Google promised that a handful of existing watches (such as those from the Fossil, Skagen Falster and Mobvoi) would be upgraded to 3.0 sometime in the second half of 2022, but provided no further details on a launch date.
Meanwhile, the promise of new hardware launches on Wear OS 3 has been equally abstract; Promising with companies like Mobvoi and Fitbit some And with only Google actually showing off the long-awaited Pixel Watch, which isn’t set to see release until “fall” (sometime between September and November), the race for the best smartwatch isn’t heating up anytime soon. Is.
With less than a month left for Summit 3’s launch, we don’t have long to wait until we see what Google’s own interpretation of Wear OS 3 really looks and feels like; There isn’t some Samsung-specific slant that, by default, serves up Bixby (the company’s often maligned digital assistant) instead of Google Assistant.
Excuse me, how much?
I mentioned ‘luxury’ and ‘premium’ at the top of this piece, and they are words that have always been associated with the Summit smartwatch line (as well as the wider Montblanc brand).
As you might expect, titanium-clad timepieces such as the Summit 3, which comes with the option of premium leather bands and sports the latest Qualcomm wearable chipset (in the Snapdragon Wear 4100+), are not aimed at every man. Is.
So unless you live in a niche demographic of people who are interested in the latest developments in Google’s wrist-based platform but can’t wait for the more moderately priced Wear OS 3 smartwatch to arrive. And For those with a high level of disposable income who are also in the market for a well-designed smartwatch, go ahead.
If you’re like me, though, you might want to put in $1,290 instead of asking for more mundane things like food and heating for the Montblanc Summit 3, at least until the Pixel Watch comes here.
