Skip to main content

Kate Spade Scallop 2 hands-on review

The Kate Spade Scallop 2 is on trend, and should be on your wrist

Kate Spade Scallop 2 Smartwatch review
Kate Spade Scallop 2 hands-on
MSRP $295.00
“The Kate Spade Scallop 2 is a perfectly put together smartwatch in terms of fashion, design, and technology.”
Pros
  • Recognizably a Kate Spade product
  • Great updated design
  • NFC for mobile payments
  • Swim-proof body
  • Heart rate sensor and GPS
Cons
  • New button is questionable design update
  • Snapdragon 2100
  • Likely short battery life

This is how you update an already great product. Last year’s Kate Spade Scallop smartwatch was one of the best designed wearables for women, and for the Scallop 2, Kate Spade has revisited the same basic design but with new tech, and sensible, brand-conscious alterations to the look. The result is a watch that builds on the first, and keeps up-to-date with trends both internally and in the industry.

Hyperbole? Maybe a little, but there’s also plenty of truth to the statement. Let’s look at what’s new.

Scalloped design

The scallop effect has been extended from the bezel to two of the new straps, a metal bracelet and a delicate leather strap, putting more emphasis on a design element that made the original standout. It’s very effective, especially on the leather strap. Some may find the metal bracelet moves away from the subtleness of the original, and there’s a basic strap available too, if that’s the case.

This isn’t the standout new design element. This honor goes to a spade motif that’s present on each of the watch’s screens. When tapped, the heart rate monitor opens. Do this and you’re greeted with an animation that wouldn’t look out of place in the opening credits of a James Bond movie. This joins a selection of new watch faces, including a geo-digital face that ties in with Kate Spade’s new fashion designs.

We love this approach. It’s a smartwatch, which means it’s a piece of technology, but it has also been specifically designed by a fashion brand to tie-in with its latest clothes and accessories.

More CES 2019 coverage

That’s a coherence we don’t often see, and we think Kate Spade’s loyal fans will lap it up, and it’ll attract new fans who will appreciate the attention to detail and ability to coordinate in a new way. On that subject, the Choose Your Look feature — where you can create a watch face with colors to match your outfit — returns, and it’s activated using a new button under the crown (which is also customizable).

The button is subtle and has nice tactility, as does the rotating digital crown to shift quickly through the Wear OS menus. But we’re slightly saddened the button has taken away some of the clean look of the original we really loved. It breaks up the symmetry. Otherwise the Scallop 2 is very similar to the first, visually, which is a good thing. The 1.2-inch screen is perfectly-sized, and the slim body doesn’t look out of place on similarly small wrists. The design continues to be a winner.

More tech

Kate Spade worked with Fossil on the Scallop 2 and has implemented the same tech we’ve seen added to other new-generation Fossil and Fossil-made smartwatches this year. That means a heart rate sensor, NFC for Google Pay contactless payments, GPS, and swim-proof water resistance is onboard, along with the latest version of Google’s Wear OS. It’s a significant step above the older versions, and combined with the rotating crown, much easier to navigate than on older watches.

The same basic design but with new tech, and sensible, brand-conscious alterations to the look.

Despite using the older Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100 processor, the interface was smooth and snappy, and we have no complaints regarding performance. However, don’t expect the battery to last more than a day with regular use, especially if you use GPS and stream Bluetooth music. The Scallop 2 does have fast-charging, reducing the pain of forgetting to top the watch up a little.

There’s one problem with this hands-on experience. I’m not who will go out and buy the Kate Spade Scallop 2 (at least, not to wear), and on my wrist it obviously doesn’t look right. However, looking at the watch on a woman’s wrist shows how balanced the shape is, and confirms that Kate Spade’s design alterations have mostly enhanced the Scallop 2. We’re still not absolutely sure about the new quick access button though, and almost wish another spade motif could have been used on the display instead of a physical alteration.

Price and availability

The price continues at $295 for the basic version with a leather strap, which is less ostentatious than the version with the metal bracelet, and Kate Spade is also selling a selection of new strap designs that brighten up the watch too. They cost from $58, and we’d suggest getting the $295 watch and one of the new straps to give yourself an option. Whatever you decide, we don’t think you’ll be disappointed with the Kate Spade Scallop 2. It’s a wonderfully realized, on-message, and in-style wearable device from a brand partnership that understands how to bring together watches, technology, and fashion.

Andy Boxall
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Google Pixel Buds 2 vs. Samsung Galaxy Buds: Which true wireless buds are best?
google pixel buds 2 vs samsung galaxy  in ear clearly white

The second-generation Google Pixel Buds are here, and they bring an intriguing set of features designed with Android users in mind. Of particular interest is how the Pixel Buds 2 measure up to Samsung's Galaxy Buds, one of the first true wireless choices built to take full advantage of Android.

So, how do they compare? We can help answer that.
Price

Read more
Oppo Find X2 Pro hands-on review: A leather-clad stunner
Oppo Find X2 Pro

Wrapped in bright orange vegan leather, the Oppo Find X2 Pro is among the most eye-catching, tactile phones of 2020. More importantly, it looks like the Find X2 Pro is Oppo’s most well-rounded phone package to date.

The newly announced Find X2 Pro provides sensory overload out of the box, but what about the rest of the phone? Following the virtual launch event in London, I spent a short time with the Find X2 Pro to see if it lives up to the expectations generated by its fantastic appearance.
Smooth, posh design
While it’s a departure from the futuristic Oppo Find X, which had a form factor unlike anything before it, the Find X2 Pro is still a very attractive phone, reminding me of the 2019 Huawei P30 Pro; the curved screen, the off-center camera bump on the back, and even the vegan leather option itself is borrowed from it. This makes it pretty, well-balanced in terms of design, and comfortable to hold, but it does make it slightly derivative, especially placed alongside its unique predecessor.

Read more
Sennheiser’s new Momentum 2 wireless earbuds will have active noise canceling
sennheiser momentum true wireless hands on ifa 2018 2

Though it won't come as much of a surprise to those who follow the true wireless earbuds space, a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) document confirms that Sennheiser's follow-up to its superb Momentum true wireless earbuds will be called the Momentum 2, and they'll come with active noise-canceling (ANC) built-in.

It wasn't hard to come to this conclusion. The FCC document is comprised of two pages from Sennheiser's user manual for the Momentum 2, the follow-up to the company's impressive Momentum True Wireless earbuds. Page 2 indicates how to use the touch controls for the earbuds, and the smoking gun is the ANC feature that you apparently toggle on and off with a triple-tap on the right earbud.

Read more