Smartwatches running Google’s Wear OS platform are aplenty, and the family is getting even bigger with the launch of the Diesel On Axial, which marries a masculine and bold design with Google’s smarts.
The On Axial isn’t Diesel’s first foray into the world of smartwatches — there’s the Diesel On Full Guard and the On Full Guard 2.5 to contend with. But the latest does have its own distinct style. It maintains a strong build with a stainless steel casing, with a few different color combinations — gunmetal, silver, and bronze — and fresh strap options: black leather, blue denim, and gunmetal stainless steel. This watch still maintains the classic Diesel ethos of being oversized and massive though, coming in at 12mm thick and 44mm wide, and there are three rugged buttons on the right edge of the case.
Like most Wear OS smartwatches, the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 chip is powering the On Axial, with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. The boost in RAM should help with performance, and the extra storage means more room for music playback.
The On Axial joins the latest wave of Wear OS smartwatches that have built-in speakers, allowing wearers to answer phone calls on the wrist, no matter if they have an Android or iPhone. Not only that, but there’s also a new extended battery mode that allows for multiple days of use on a single charge, though some features become limited.
You’ll get all the other features you would expect from a Wear OS smartwatch, including access to the Google Assistant, NFC for contactless payments via Google Pay, built-in GPS for distance tracking, and a heart rate monitor. The watch is also swim-proof with a 3 ATM water resistance rating.
Diesel also highlighted a new watch face called Information Tunnel, which has a “psychedelic, tunnel-like effect that gives the illusion of 3D.” Another new watch face called Globe offers up a rotating globe that you can manipulate via touch. You can flick to two different time zones on the globe with the watch face enabled, so it’s useful too.
The Diesel On Axial smartwatch goes on sale this October for $350 on Diesel’s website, and will also be available through Diesel’s retail stores, and other select retailers. It’s the latest in a series of new Wear OS watches, including the Puma Smartwatch, the Emporio Armani Smartwatch 3, three new Michael Kors watches, and the Fossil Gen. 5 watch.
