Skip to main content

Timex challenges Withings with the new classically styled Metropolitan+ fitness watch

Classic watch brand Timex has introduced the Metropolitan+, which combines a traditional analog watch style with modern fitness and activity tracking features, along the same lines as the Withings Activite and the Runtastic Moment. Timex says it’s the first in a new range of smart wrist wear, and will form part of its Connected Style Collection.

What’s the Metropolitan+ all about? Underneath the standard analog watch looks, it will track your steps, movement, and calories burned during the day, and then sync the data across to a connected smartphone. The watch uses Bluetooth to transfer the data, where a detailed breakdown of your activity awaits inside an app, plus it displays your daily progress towards a set goal on the watch face itself.

Timex Metropolitan+ Watch
The Timex Metropolitan+ fitness tracking analog watch Image used with permission by copyright holder

Nothing unusual there, but what makes the Metropolitan+ interesting is it doesn’t have a separate battery. All this is done using the standard watch battery inside, that doesn’t require charging. Timex doesn’t say how long the battery will last with this extra strain, but even if it’s six to twelve months, it’ll be way beyond the majority of fitness trackers.

Recommended Videos

Timex will release the watch in silver or black, with red and orange accent colors respectively, plus a choice of straps. It’ll also feature Timex’s quick release strap system, so you can swap them out for any of Timex’s other straps. The accompanying app will be produced for both Android and iOS devices. At this time Timex has only announced the Metropolitan+ in a men’s style, so we’re expecting it to be quite large.

Depending on which model you choose, expect to pay either $125 for the black version, or $150 for the silver model with a leather strap. No release date has been provided for the Metropolitan+. It’s not Timex’s first try at making a smart watch either, as the company released the $400, 3G-equipped Ironman runner’s watch late last year, and also makes the Timex Move x20 fitness band.

Andy Boxall
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Withings ScanWatch Horizon stuns with elegant simplicity
The Withings ScanWatch Horizon sits on a wooden surface.

I’ve been wearing smartwatches like the Apple Watch Series 7 for years, so it wasn’t until I tried the new Withings ScanWatch Horizon that I finally realized how great an experience it is to use an analog watch.

It’s not that the $499 Horizon isn’t a smartwatch; it is and it's packed with plenty of features, but they are carefully winnowed down to just the essentials. You get fitness tracking and notifications, but they are carefully hidden inside the casing of a classic diver’s watch.
Rugged good looks

Read more
Fitbit cleared to launch new feature that could save lives
Move reminder on a Fitbit Charge 5.

Fitbit has been given the green light for a new feature that will passively check for atrial fibrillation (AFib), a form of irregular heart rhythm.

Clearance for Fitbit’s new PPG (photoplethysmography) algorithm was granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), paving the way for a new Irregular Heart Rhythm Notifications feature for certain Fitbit devices.

Read more
‘Exploring fitness’ won’t get Google TV anywhere near Apple Fitness+
The Google TV remote in front of Apple TV Fitness.

Headlines are making the rounds about possible improvements to the Google TV platform. That's exciting, because Google TV is in and of itself an exciting, important platform.

Under the headline "What's next for Google TV," the notes package from Janko Roettgers puts new Google TV Director of Product Management Rob Caruso on the record about a few things. It starts out with a descripton of state of the platform -- some 250 device partners across the globe and seven of the top 10 TV manufacturers making TVs with Google TV baked inside. "If you really want some inside baseball, that's pretty much how every press call with any platform starts -- with numbers telling you just how big and important the company you're talking to is at the moment. It's good context, but...)."

Read more