Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E5 smartwatch is luxury at a price that’ll make you wince

The Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E5 blends technology and luxury, ready to pull eager buyers away from those ordinary smartwatches without any horological heritage.

Does it succeed? It’s complicated. There’s plenty to like, including how it wears, but some of the all-important tech aspects cloud a quick recommendation. Here’s my experience with the Calibre E5.

6/10

Case Material

Steel / Titanium

Case size

45mm / 40mm

Display

1.39-inch / 1.2-inch

CPU

Qualcomm Snapdragon 5100+

The Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E5 gets the wearable part exactly right, and reflects Tag Heuer’s luxury status, but the tech side is less successful. Arguably though, it may not even be the smartwatch’s prime reason to buy.

Pros & Cons

• Wonderful to wear and look at
• Two case sizes, multiple finishes
• Logical, stylish menu system
• Neat charging plinth

• No app store access
• Health and fitness data may not be accurate
• Sleep tracking not available yet

Specs, price, and availability

The Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E5 is available in two case sizes — 45mm and 40mm — and various finishes. The model in our photos is a 45mm titanium model with a black DLC finish, attached to a rubber strap with a steel DLC-coated folding clasp.

The smartwatch’s case is also available in steel or rose gold PVD, and with a choice of metal, leather, and fabric straps. There are also two special editions, one with sports brand New Balance and a special Tag Heuer Golf edition.

Prices vary depending on which model you choose. The entry-level point is the 40mm steel smartwatch with a rubber strap, which costs $1,600. The Golf special edition is the most expensive version at $2,400, and the model I’ve been wearing costs $2,300.

This is considerably more expensive than almost all other smartwatches available. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 starts at $349, and the Apple Watch Series 11 starts at $399.

Wearing the Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E5

Fantastic on the wrist

The Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E5 is a true Tag Heuer watch, and as is befitting for a watch brand that can trace its history back to 1860, it is a joy to wear.

Despite this being the larger 45mm version, it’s well-balanced, and the strap is very comfortable. The folding clasp is easy to adjust, and while it can get a little hot when exercising, the perforations stop it from getting sweaty.

The 1.39-inch OLED screen is covered in sapphire crystal, which minimizes reflections and has a beautiful sheen. The two pushers have a soft, dampened action, and the rubber coating around the crown makes it easy to rotate with your finger.

However, it’s not the only comfortable-to-wear smartwatch with a sapphire crystal over the screen. What makes the Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E5 different is how it makes you feel. I love its style and feel proud wearing it. I happily wear it outside my cuff, and would sometimes choose it over some of my favorite mechanical watches.

The fantastic selection of watch faces adds to this. There are virtual versions of popular Tag Heuer watch dials, including the Aquaracer, Formula 1, and the new Solargraph models. I’ve also really enjoyed the animated “holiday” faces, especially one with a sled-style Porsche 911.

The Calibre E5 is a middle ground between a luxury analog watch and a smartwatch, far more so than a Galaxy Watch or a Pixel Watch. Not everyone will “get” that, but those who do will look at the Calibre E5 with envious eyes.

What about those business decisions?

Apple is the priority

It’s not a surprise that a Tag Heuer watch, smart or otherwise, looks great and is lovely to wear. However, this is a smartwatch, and the technology needs to match the style.

For the Calibre E5, Tag Heuer has left Google’s Wear OS software behind and adopted an operating system developed in-house. It has also tailored it for Apple’s iOS, as its research has shown 70% of Tag Heuer’s Connected watch buyers own an iPhone.

Smartwatches that aren’t the Apple Watch, but still work with iOS, are surprisingly rare. The Calibre E5 doesn’t use Apple’s Health or Fitness apps and is instead managed through the Tag Heuer app. When you connect the smartwatch to an Android phone, you also use the Tag Heuer app.

I’ve used the Calibre E5 with both Android and iOS. Functionally, there aren’t any obvious differences, but the Tag Heuer app’s design is slicker and faster on iOS. The Android version doesn’t have quite the same modern design.

Notifications arrived in a timely fashion on both phones. It’s easy to start and track workouts, and all the Tag Heuer watch faces are available. However, notifications are not interactive, so you’ll need to reach for your phone.

Connecting the smartwatch to a phone is simple and fast, but I have had a few problems when connected to an Android phone. For example, the Calibre E5 refused to update the OS for a few days, saying it couldn’t connect to Wi-Fi, despite the connection being set up. It eventually just updated itself.

I also had a situation where the smartwatch disconnected itself from the app, which promptly forgot it existed. The only way to solve this was to perform a factory reset. Although the Calibre E5 is compatible with both Android and iOS, it does seem like the smartwatch is best suited to use with an iPhone.

What’s the software like?

Simple, which is both good and bad

The Calibre E5’s menu system is entered using the two pushers and then navigated by the touchscreen and rotating crown. The pizza-slice-style menu is clear and logical, but if you’ve been used to Wear OS, not swiping left and right on the screen to see different titles takes a little adjustment.

Swipe down on the screen to see general health stats, and up to see notifications. Tag Heuer lists the Qualcomm Snapdragon 5100+ as the processor inside the smartwatch, which we take to be a member of the Snapdragon W5+ family.

Performance isn’t great. The software stutters when changing modes, and is slow to react when firing up functions like the weather app. It’s also less responsive than other smartwatches when scrolling through data while working out.

Because the Calibre E5 doesn’t use Wear OS and isn’t an Apple Watch, it does not have any access to an app store. The software lacks some key features, such as a maps app, despite having built-in GPS.

The Tag Heuer software’s design is great with clear text, large buttons, and some cool animations. But the software isn’t as smooth or fast to respond as most other smartwatches, and without access to an app store, there’s no way to fill in any of the app gaps.

Tracking health and workouts

Updates need to come soon

Before we get into what the Calibre E5 can track, we need to talk about what it cannot. At this time, the Calibre E5 does not support sleep tracking, and does not measure blood oxygen levels, or other data points like heart rate variability (HRV). Tag Heuer says these features will arrive in an update, but does not provide a date outside of “this winter” for its arrival.

This leaves fitness tracking and the heart rate sensor, leaving it behind the competition. While it’s unfortunate that sleep tracking isn’t available, and you should never buy a product on the promise of software updates adding features in the future, I do wonder how many would actually wear the Calibre E5 overnight.

Track a run or a walk, and the data includes speed, distance, calorie burn. elevation, and heart rate zones. There are various workout plans provided by New Balance, all based around running, plus integration with Strava, Apple’s Health, or Google’s Health Connect.

Data is shown in the Tag Heuer app. During my tests, I haven’t had confidence in what it shows, as it differs a lot from data collected by the Oura Ring 4 and the Apple Watch Series 11, ranging from the number of steps to average heart rates during workouts. The software needs refining, as the algorithm doesn’t only over- or undercount, but can do both depending on the workout being tracked.

Like the rest of the software, the workout tracking menu and information screens look great, but the functionality is basic and the data difficult to trust.

Battery and charging

Good, but not what I expected

It’s a sizable 419mAh battery inside the 45mm Calibre E5, up considerably from the 300mAh in the 40mm model. During my use, over a single day with a 30-minute GPS workout tracked, the battery usually depletes to about 60%.

With general use like this, the 45mm’s battery lasts two days before it needs recharging. This is better than expected, as Tag Heuer only expects three days from a charge when using the Low Power mode.

The smartwatch comes with a charging plinth that keeps the screen mounted vertically, so it acts like a little bedside clock. It takes about 90 minutes to fully recharge, and gains about 40% in 35 minutes.

This performance is decent, but I’m surprised the Calibre E5’s battery doesn’t last longer, which is usually a key selling point for smartwatches that don’t use Wear OS.

This, or a non-smart Tag Heuer?

Something to consider

When I first saw the Calibre E5, the team told me it was the cheapest entry point into Tag Heuer ownership. Sure enough, a quartz 41mm steel Formula 1 on a leather strap is $1,700, while automatic Tag Heuer watches start around $3,000.

Browsing the catalog, I was reminded how much I like both the Formula 1 and the Aquaracer models. The new heritage-inspired Solargraph Formula 1 models look really tempting, and would scratch the itch left by missing out on the recent Tag Heuer x Kith collaboration.

A Solargraph costs $1,850, and if I had that figure to spend on a Tag Heuer watch, it’s probably the one I’d choose over the Connected Calibre E5. Wearing the Calibre E5 did work as the inspiration, though, and as with all entry-level products, it’s a great advert for spending a little more to get something “better.”

Should you buy the Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E5?

Considering different watches in the Tag Heuer family like this leads me neatly to a conclusion, but it’s not an easy one. I’ve enjoyed wearing the Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E5. It looks great, feels good on my wrist, and for the basics, the software and battery life are fine. I have got pleasure from wearing it, which is more than I usually do with a smartwatch.

However, I’m aware this isn’t really enough. Missing features, concerns over health tracking data accuracy, and no app support mean it falls behind the competition, all of which are much cheaper.

The thing is, I know I’ll miss wearing it when I have to return it soon. It’s not a very good smartwatch, but it is a very nice watch. This is important to understand. If you want a smartwatch that’s a lot more about the watch than it is about technology, but aren’t enamored by hybrids like the Withings ScanWatch 2, this could be the one for you.

6/10

Case Material

Steel / Titanium

Case size

45mm / 40mm

Display

1.39-inch / 1.2-inch

CPU

Qualcomm Snapdragon 5100+

The Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E5 is a desirable entry point into Tag Heuer ownership, and provided the “smart” side isn’t your prime reason to buy it, you’ll probably really enjoy it. Otherwise, a non-smart Tag Heuer or “ordinary” smartwatch will be the more sensible purchase.