Withings may have made one of the most desirable smartwatches of the year. The new ScanWatch Horizon puts the already excellent ScanWatch health and fitness technology inside an extremely popular diver’s watch-style case, and it comes with either a blue or green dial and bezel to tap into the latest trends in watch design. Despite mechanical diver’s watches being popular, they’re not well-represented in the smartwatch realm. It looks like Withings has got the design just right for the Horizon.
Made of stainless steel, the case measures 43mm — a tiny bit larger than the 42mm ScanWatch — and is 13mm thick, with flat, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal over the dial. The rotating bezel is also made of stainless steel and has laser-etched minute markings, while the dial has oversize indices and large hands, both of which have a luminous coating. It’s water0resistant to 10ATM or 100 meters. You get a choice of straps in the box, with an oyster metal link band for a stylish everyday look or a fluoroelastomer strap for sport or diving.
There are two complications on the dial, a simple step count indicator in the lower half to show progress toward your daily goal, and a small PMOLED screen in the top half, which shows notifications and detailed health data. Sensors on the watch include a heart rate sensor, an SpO2 sensor for blood oxygen data, and electrodes to take an electrocardiogram. The watch tracks 30 different workouts and sleep, features GPS and an altimeter to note changes in elevation, and it uses its sensors to warn for both atrial fibrillation and sleep-related breathing disturbances.
The battery inside the ScanWatch Horizon is estimated to last for 30 days before it needs a recharge. It uses Bluetooth Low Energy to connect to your phone, when it will display notifications on the small screen. The Withings Health Mate app is required, and it’s available for iOS and Android. Withings has also added support for Apple Health, Google Fit, Strava, and MyFitnessPal.
Withings will launch the ScanWatch Horizon in the U.K. on September 29 for 500 British pounds, or about $677, which is nearly twice the price of the 42mm ScanWatch. It’ll be sold through Withings’ own online store and through Amazon. At this time, there’s no U.S. launch date, which isn’t a surprise as Withings still hasn’t released the original ScanWatch, presumably due to continued delays with the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval process for devices like this.
