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Review Montblanc Summit - premium smartwatches with the best price in the category

Montblanc is a luxury brand with more than a century of history, so it is always curious when something new appears in a very conservative ecosystem.



At the same time, the company declared its “innovative” ambitions, perhaps, before anyone else! My acquaintance with the Montblanc smartwatch clock pursued personal goals (I am at the “choice of hours” stage), and I respect what this brand does, therefore I ask you in advance to forgive if there are personal impressions and emotions in my story will come out on top.

In general, it should be noted that the market of “expensive watches” is divided into two parts. Luxury models are increasingly (in my opinion, mistakenly) also include watches of such brands, for which watches are not a noticeable direction. Say Hugo Boss. A significant part of such “luxury hours” belongs and is being safely developed by Fossil.

The second group is the brands that are known as “watchmakers”, and the whole history of their development is associated with exclusive models of watches, innovations in this field and premium accessories.

Montblanc stands out against this backdrop. If only because the main glory, success, the main recognition of "Mont Blanc" has as a manufacturer of exclusive writing tools and accessories. Hours in the company appear later (c 1997).



Montblanc and innovation


Founders of Montblanc: Alfred Nehemias, August Eberstein, Claus-Johannes Voss

Strictly speaking, the history of the creation of the company is directly connected with them. In 1906, several people came together in order to create a fountain pen, which would not need to be dipped into an inkwell.


The handle of Rouge et Noir appeared in 1909, three years after the foundation of the company

And wrap it all up ... The price range of the Montblanc pens today is from 13,000 rubles almost to infinity. One of the models entered the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive writing instrument (estimated cost $ 125,000).



Currently, the company is part of the Richemont holding, along with brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chloé and Baume et Mercier and others. Since 2012, the company has allowed its products to be sold on the world market online. Previously - only through boutiques. In Russia, officially online sales are scheduled to start soon. Formally, all prices on the official website and from partners are presented for review.

Montblanc and gadgets

The company is one of the first few years ago, declared its ambitions in this niche. Back in 2015, we mentioned a smart buckle for classic watches.

At that time, there was no such hard confrontation between Apple Watch and premium watchmakers.



Therefore, it is impossible to say unequivocally that the development was swift, boosted, forced. The presence in the market of smart electronics, perhaps, fit into the "innovative strategy" of the brand, and, if it was heated, then, perhaps, from the competition of watchmakers. At the same time, several other large luxury brands, including Frederique Constant, Breitling and some others, announced their plans.

To date, in the Montblanc lineup there are several smart products, including a smart pen, which we also mentioned in one of the selections, a clasp and a smart watch on WearOS - Montblanc Summit .



In Russia, smart watches are represented by fifteen similar models in steel and titanium cases. The cost range is from 59100 rubles to 67800 rubles at the time of publication. I was lucky to meet a younger model in a steel case with a black leather strap.

Specifications

The Montblanc Summit watches are running WearOS (this is the former Android Wear) based on a Snapdragon 2100 processor. There are 4 GB of internal memory, 512 RAM, and the sensors include Wi-fi, Bluetooth, and an optical heart rate monitor.

A set of characteristics, say, basic, but they are quite enough. The clock works quickly, correctly, although, to be honest, I did not burden them with a large volume of tasks. My watch use model is pretty calm.

I must say that with a Wi-fi module, a smart watch on WearOS (Android Wear) had at least some meaning for me. I divided a part of applications between two gadgets, and now I was able to receive a part of notifications solely on the clock. Considering that the watch “drags” the Internet via Bluetooth from a smartphone, constant synchronization with the Wi-fi network does not need them, which for some time prolongs autonomy.

In this sense, WearOS, unfortunately, is still vulnerable: the Montblanc watch will work for about a day, however, the charge time to a full battery is quite comfortable - one and a half to two hours. Of the additional features - the level of protection IP68 (from splashes, dust).

It is hardly worthwhile to make any verdict to the system, but in general, everything has become more convenient and more logical, in my opinion. The leading role is now played not by your smartphone, but by the Google app store, from which you download everything you need (and everything that is compatible with a particular model).

Up to the fact that YouTube can look, well, beauty is!



Of the pre-installed content in the watch, Uber, Runtastic (With a subscription for several months), Foursquare and world time service are pre-installed. At the same time, the watches are not positioned as sports ones, this is rather an accessory for business.



Meanwhile, the pulsometer is quite accurate here, if we are talking about a pulse at rest or a normal rhythm of life. In comparison with a portable ECG-pulsator, the sensor does not cause any complaints.

The watch is equipped with an AMOLED-display with a resolution of 400x400, Multitouch. The most important thing that I want to mention is that it is without a frankly annoying strip below.



Dials can be selected from the clock or through the app.



For some of them, so-called “complications” are provided. In addition to the main - time - on the main screen, you can put some more data valid by the system.



WearOS main screen for Summit provides access to several settings. Here you can set up a background constant synchronization, notification mode, calendar, and access to advanced settings.



You can customize the device with other "improvised" methods. The easiest, probably, to dig into IFTTT, which is available when installed on a smartphone and for hours. I do not want to say that I used the most mandatory opportunity, but as an example:



Design

Here I would like to start with the fact that this item can be viewed from two sides. One point of view was voiced by the portal Wareable, which I respected, which I put in part for the top three design.

I, perhaps, do not agree with this wording. In any case, it is impossible not to understand that no one watchmaker invents design for smart collections! The other day, the presented Hublot smartwatch on WearOS is a reissue of an already existing range, Tag Heuer is the same, Frederique Constant and Breitling are the same. Nobody comes up with a new design for smart watches, they all pack sensors into existing cases.

For the collection of smart watches, Montblanc also chose its permanent collection “1858”. And I must say that here, Montblanc stands out among its competitors, which I especially liked.

All major manufacturers of smart watches have become the reason for the "markup". For example, the cheapest model Tag Heuer can be bought for 55 thousand, smart - from 70; Frederique Constant - from 30 thousand, smart - from 70. And only Montblanc smart watches are the cheapest in the range of watches in principle.

On average, the difference reaches about 20 - 30 thousand rubles, but if you take the collection, which formed the basis of Summit models, the cost here starts from 202 thousand rubles. In other words, in this sense, the company acts, in my opinion, more honest than others. The main cost in hours are exclusive mechanisms and materials.

In this case, the mechanism saves Montblanc at the expense of electronic filling and provides an opportunity to save its customers. Is it logical Is logical

Continuing to talk about design, I must say that “simplicity” is in general characteristic of the Montblanc collections. Both male and female models are quite strict.



At a minimum, the watch case is almost always smooth, and only in some sports models the bezel is additionally decorated (there is also inlay in the female versions). In other words, I would say then not a “simple design”, but a design that is traditional for Montblanc - we have a watch in a smooth steel case.



The only thing that will somehow give out to outsiders the brand of watches is the logo neatly inscribed in the crown.



It decorates the only active button with which the clock is turned on, and also performs the function of “return to the menu”. It is strange that the crown itself does not rotate. This would be a good scrolling control on the menu. For example, I would like to be able to have less contact with my finger with the display, so that it doesn’t slap him.



Watches assembled flawlessly. Wareable this, by the way, also notes. Like, they are simple, but the quality of the assembly and materials - at altitude. Feel on the hand, you feel them, and it's nice. However, the weight is quite “lifting” - only 91 grams.



Comes with a soft calfskin leather strap. Neither sticks sticking out, nor traces of pruning. Even in places of permanent folds with time, although “wrinkles” appear, after all, these are not cracks that are overgrown with fringe.



From the back of the case 4 neat screws:



The brand name is engraved on the clasp:



From the sensors - from the back side of the optical heart rate monitor.



And a dock connector. The watch, of course, does not have any openable MicroUSB connector on the case and comes complete with proprietary round charging.



There is nothing unusual about it. Is that it is decorated in the center of the company logo.



On the reverse side of the docking station is a rubberized coating on the edge, which provides stability on the surface.



As an intermediate result, I would like to note that it is quite difficult to praise or scold watches. If you take the part for which Montblanc was responsible - everything is fine. WearOS, in principle, also works quite predictably.

It should be noted that no one initially misleads anyone into delusion. As for the battery, it is written on the official website how much it works. So much it works. It is written that it takes about one and a half to two hours - so much and charges.

As long as the amount of RAM is enough, until Android starts to slow down, we can all predict. And the rest - the built-in application store is quite able to complement what may not be enough, ranging from alerts to dials.

Therefore, it seems like Montblanc is to be praised, while Google is somehow unfair to curse, after all, the product is one, but in general it’s rather a positive product. I will say that, in my opinion, the integration with Runtastic looks strange - the watches are not positioned as sports, do not have built-in GPS, and workouts can be perfectly run with Google Fit.

I would also like to probably have NFC, because for some time I made sure that contactless payments are convenient. Everything else was enough for me. I got used to the autonomy of smart watches within 24 hours, and I generally did not expect anything else.

Plus, it seemed to me the right concept to make a watch-gadget cheaper than regular watches, and so far, it seems, from luxury brands, so far no one has been able to boast.

Who should buy?

My opinion probably cannot be authoritative here. However, I will share them. Initially, I approached the choice of watches in the following way: one can manage or one cannot manage. Many quite cope with one smartphone.

I decided that it was impossible. Then I decided whether it was possible to get by with watches that simply show time, or I need a watch, such as “ status ”. And it turned out that I put in the concept of "watch" after all the second, and I want to wear on my wrist not just something with arrows, but some other story.

As a result, I divided the brands into those who, say, are ready to work with the middle class, and those who are not ready, and by the age of 30 bought (as I think cheap) Swiss watches within 50 thousand rubles.

If you follow my logic, and I am convinced that there are such people, the Montblanc smart watch in terms of price and quality is an excellent choice. Especially they should be paid attention to, for example, those who would like to have a prestigious accessory, but also see no point in clever “trend” opportunities to refuse. In this price category there is no such class.

As I understand it, the company also wants to increase awareness among young audiences, and smart gadgets are part of this strategy. To be honest, it’s hard for me to imagine a student with a smart pen for 50 thousand, but I myself, while I still consider myself young, are feeling interested in Montblanc pens. The one that you saw in the photo in this text, from my personal collection.



WearOS on iOS

In fact, when Google announced this month that it “closes” Android Wear in favor of WearOS, it was emphasized that this is being done in order to increase the popularity of devices among Apple users.

A number of improvements were promised in the future, including synchronization with Google Fit, and I must say that the IPhone clock works correctly, there are no significant differences, in general. Notifications from accounts come, and everything else is configured offline through the app store.

Perhaps the only difference is that there are no dials in the main menu: they will need to be set up in hours.



There is already added synchronization with the fitness service Google. The settings at the bottom of the screen are the same, but the expanded ones have slightly decreased.



However, this does not affect the quality of work hours. All the basic features of WearOS, and this is primarily a quick notification of events on the smartphone, the clock continues to perform properly and paired with the IPhone.

It is curious that at the meeting I was delicately indicated that, they say, it is better to synchronize the clock with smartphones on Android, since only in this case they will be able to work in full force. However, it is funny, but, apparently, the main office does not think so. On the official international website a link to the application is just in the AppStore .



Official specifications:




Sensors:

Results

Hours are simple and clear in management and settings - the familiar OS plays a significant role here. For myself, I found several useful features related mainly to notifications and working with them.

Recognition of gestures, texts, voices occurs correctly, therefore, it is in principle convenient to write and respond even from such a display. I also charge my watch every day as usual: I also charge my smartphone every day, I see no reason to focus on this particular attention - that is, that is.

Does Montblanc logo warm on the button? Yes, warm. Nice to wear an expensive thing made with high quality. Does it make me slip the clock on everyone's face and say: “This is Montblanc!”? Not.

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/411191/

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