Skip to main content

How not to make wearables: The hideous Cybertool is a cautionary tale

Mobile World Congress 2024
Read our complete coverage of Mobile World Congress
Oops! We couldn't load this video player
Just when you thought wearable tech was finally becoming attractive and useful, Acer and Victorinox came along with the Cybertool, a watch that shatters that illusion so completely, it’s like we’ve made no advancements whatsoever in the past few years. Bafflingly unattractive, the Cybertool is evidence even watch makers haven’t got the hang of this smartwatch thing.

It’s not actually a wearable in itself: The Cbertool is an accessory to Victorinox’s range of damn-fine-looking Inox products — hard-wearing Swiss watches that are apparently the brand’s best-selling timepieces. Surely then, they deserve an equally damn-fine-looking smart accessory? Victorinox spent four years and went through hundreds of prototypes before signing off on the Cybertool. It’s … very sensible, but not the product we would have expected after so much diligence.

It’s not the fact the Cybertool doesn’t do much that shocks, it’s how ugly it is.

The Cybertool is a clip-on piece of plastic that that adds a massive bezel to your lovely Inox watch, leaving the face exposed, while adding in a selection of basic smart features after connecting to your phone via Bluetooth. The usual notifications are displayed on an small LED screen, along with a step counter, stopwatch, and a timer. There’s a vibration alert, and the Cybertool even shows the time on its digital display, just in case you need to double check.

The case is water- and dust-resistant, and it has a battery that needs charging each week, despite the relative lack of actual smart features or a big color touchscreen. There are buttons to press, which scroll through the options on the screen, and an accompanying app. Victorinox said people didn’t always need smart features or connectivity, hence the reason for making it removable.

It’s not the fact the Cybertool doesn’t do much that shocks, it’s how ugly it is. It’s a gigantic wart that Victorinox expects people to put on their pleasingly attractive watches, and we’d question whether anyone at all will want to do so. Certainly anyone who wants to wear a shirt will think twice, because the Cybertool stands so proud of your wrist, it’ll be impossible to get past the cuff.

When Acer said it had been working on a new product with Victorinox, it was exciting news. The result was kept a complete secret from everyone, right up until the big reveal — and it’s not difficult to see why. To say it was a letdown is an understatement.

So who’s to blame for this affront to wrists everywhere? Acer told Digital Trends the Cybertool was, “designed by the research and development center at Acer,” and that it, “offers the best of both worlds.” Victorinox has yet to respond to our questions on design and the response to the Cybertool by its customers.

Yes, wearables are hard to get right, but it shouldn’t be this easy to get them so wrong. The Cybertool is a $100 accessory that turns something stylish into something repulsive, and is the absolute last thing we expected from a company with such an established pedigree in strong design. Fossil and TAG Heuer have nailed it, but Victorinox’s Cybertool proves that just because a few watch makers seem to be cracking the wearable conundrum, not everyone’s getting it right.

Andy Boxall
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Best Cyber Monday Deals 2022: Laptops, TVs, AirPods, and more
Best Cyber Monday Deals 2022

Cyber Week is here! With some truly epic deals out there, this is the best time of year to buy a new tech gadget. If you slept through the Black Friday sales, then the Cyber Monday sales, you better grab what you need during this week of slowly diminishing deals. From tablets to air fryers, laptops to smartwatches, we've rounded up the best Cyber Monday deals across a range of categories, and you'll find them all below.
Cyber Monday sales: Quick links

Amazon: Huge discounts on laptops, Echo devices, and tablets
Best Buy: Your destination for sales on super-sized TVs
Dell: Unbeatable discounts on gaming laptops, monitors, and more
Gamestop: Cheap video games, console accessories and monitors
HP: Gaming PCs, laptops, monitors, and printers from $129
Kohl's: Home decor, clothing and kitchen appliance steals
Lowe’s: Up to 60% off appliances like refrigerators and decor
Staples: Save big on laptops, home office hardware and supplies
Target: Tons of cheap kitchen appliances and stocking-fillers
Walmart: Great for laptops, and is restocking PS5 and Xbox Series X

Read more
Best Cyber Monday Smartwatch Deals: Apple Watch, Fitbit, Galaxy Watch
Best Cyber Monday Smartwatch Deals

Cyber Monday may be over, but the best Cyber Monday deals have still stuck around. Some of the other deals we've seen  have sold out fast over the weekend, so if you spot something you like below, snap it up fast. We've rounded up some of the best Cyber Monday smartwatch deals on brands like Samsung, Fitbit, and Garmin. We've even collected some Apple deals, but if you want to read about them specifically, be sure to check out our list of the best Cyber Monday Apple Watch deals.
Best Cyber Monday Smartwatch Deals
Apple Watch SE (40mm, GPS) -- $149, was $279

When the first-generation Apple Watch SE was released in 2020, we described it as the best Apple Watch for most people. While a lot of things have changed since then, including the launch of the second-generation Apple Watch SE, the original budget Apple Watch remains a worthwhile purchase in the Cyber Monday smartwatch deals for iPhone owners who want to try what it's like to own a wearable device. The smartwatch offers comprehensive health-tracking features and responsive performance, while also providing you with notifications from your iPhone.

Read more
Digital Trends’ Top Tech of CES 2023 Awards
Best of CES 2023 Awards Our Top Tech from the Show Feature

Let there be no doubt: CES isn’t just alive in 2023; it’s thriving. Take one glance at the taxi gridlock outside the Las Vegas Convention Center and it’s evident that two quiet COVID years didn’t kill the world’s desire for an overcrowded in-person tech extravaganza -- they just built up a ravenous demand.

From VR to AI, eVTOLs and QD-OLED, the acronyms were flying and fresh technologies populated every corner of the show floor, and even the parking lot. So naturally, we poked, prodded, and tried on everything we could. They weren’t all revolutionary. But they didn’t have to be. We’ve watched enough waves of “game-changing” technologies that never quite arrive to know that sometimes it’s the little tweaks that really count.

Read more