MF TESTS: WITHINGS SCAN WATCH HORIZON

This smartwatch feels like a well-built, premium, classical timepiece. Until the screen lights up, it's easy to miss that there's anything smart about it and that's a big part of its appeal

£499.95 / withings.com

If it isn't a smartwatch and it isn't a fitness tracker, then what is the Withings ScanWatch Horizon? The classically styled timepiece looks very traditional, giving us Omega Seamaster energy with a digital twist. Inside its stainless steel body, though, there's an advanced fitness tracker, complete with sensors you would more typically associate with an Apple Watch.

Pair the ScanWatch Horizon with your smartphone to unlock its heart rate, SpO2 and ECG monitoring, as well as exercise, step and sleep tracking. It can also piggyback off your phone's GPS to track runs, cycles and other outdoor sports more accurately.

At just shy of £500, Withings' pricing might not phase classical watch buyers, but it's in the upper band for smartwatches. Missing out on smart features like an app store for third-party services and a colour display, though, is the ScanWatch Horizon a perfect blend of smart and traditional, or is it a marriage of compromises?

WHAT IS IT?

To look at, the Withings ScanWatch Horizon is a watch first and foremost. Its confidence-inspiring stainless steel body houses all the watch brains. There's a rotating bezel, a brass dial for step tracking, hands that glow in the dark and the screen's made of tough sapphire glass. It's also 10 ATM waterproof, making it handy for tracking swims.

Like a fitness tracker, the Withings ScanWatch Horizon can relay notifications from your Android or iOS smartphone. When you get an alert, the watch vibrates and displays it in a ticker-style, scrolling across the small, monochrome PLED screen in the top half of the watch face.