Tech may be fast moving, but Hublot sure took its time to launch a follow up its first smartwatch. It has been two years since its first, but now it has a successor to the original Big Bang, called Big Bang E.
As the product name implies, Hublot Big Bang E is based on the watchmaker’s well-received, if not iconic, Big Bang case design.
Available in a choice of titanium or black ceramic 42 mm case, Hublot Big Bang E features a 1.21-inch AMOLED touch display of 390 x x 390 pixels, protected by a scratch-proof sapphire crystal.
Under the hood is a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100, backed by a gig of RAM and 8 GB flash storage, and the watch is kept juiced by a modest 300 mAh battery that overs just about a day use. Nothing shocking here. It’s just how is it with Wear OS devices, or most smartwatches in general.
So, yes, it is a Wear OS device, which means, you get to enjoy every Google has to offer, including Google Play store, Google Assistant and Google Pay. Onboard microphone and NFC enables the latter two features.
At a glance, Big Bang E looks like a traditional timepiece – thanks in part to the crown, which is a rotary crown with integrated pusher for activating controls.
In addition to Time Only analog function, there are also watch faces that replicate traditional complications, such as Perpetual Calendar and GMT.
Speaking of watch faces… as part of the #HublotLovesArt movement, the first edition features eight dial faces created by artist Marc Ferrero that take turn to appear every three hourly.
Moreover, every hour is marked with an animation that will run for 5 seconds each time. Nothing much, just fancy stuff that sucks up battery life…
Other notables include Bluetooth 4.1 with BLE, 2.4 GHz wireless 802.11b/g/n, 300 mAh lithium-ion good for a day use, induction charging, water resistance to 30 meters (98 feet), and a suite of sensors, like accelerometer, gyroscope, Low Latency off Body sensor, ambient light sensor and optical tracking sensor.
The ‘optical tracking sensor’ here is NOT a heart rate sensor, btw. Hublot said it is for the rotary crown tracking purposes.
Having said that, this luxury smartwatch lacks key features of modern smartwatches, including GPS and heart rate sensor.
If you can live without GPS and heart rate sensor, Hublot Big Bang E may worth the consideration because, with a starting price of ‘just’ US$5,200, it is a steal when compare to Hublot’s traditional timepieces.
All images courtesy of Hublot.
