The Low-Down

Among the early Swiss watchmaking companies to make its foray into smartwatches, TAG Heuer released its first golf-focussed Connected Golf Edition in 2018. After releasing its latest Calibre E4 smartwatch in February, it is now launching a variant especially for golfers, the Connected Watch Calibre E4 – Golf Edition.

The dimpled rubber strap could not be more golf-appropriate, and the 18-mark ceramic bezel communicates the Golf Edition’s intent upfront. In addition, the redesigned strap buckle features a built-in magnetic ball marker, with an extra piece in the box in case this is lost, and more can be purchased separately. However, it’s on the inside that TAG Heuer has thoroughly updated the watch to simply give golfers what they have asked for.

This begins with automatic shot tracking. Courtesy of its accelerometer and gyroscope, the E4 Golf Edition automatically detects a swing executed at the tee area and begins tracking the shot till a second stroke is detected. At the moment, only the first shot for each hole is tracked. In Driving Range mode, this feature is able to generate data for every hole, showing where shots have landed on previous rounds. Besides refining their game and strategies by keeping golfers more informed about the effects of their shots and choice of clubs, all this data is also employed towards more intelligent club recommendations by the app.

For iOS users, with the watch paired to an iPhone, simulated videos of the shot can be generated for one’s one pleasure or shared among friends.

With global travel starting to awaken, it’s timely that the Golf Edition contains 2D maps of 40,000 golf courses around the world, with redesigned user interface to efficiently show hazards and distances, in addition to club information, scores, and hole numbers. In use, wearers can can scroll up/down to view more of the maps by working the crown, and access pertinent hole information such as par, and distance to start and end of greens by pressing on the distance on screen. At a glance, colour-coded segments aligned with the 18-mark bezel reveals the state of play, whether one is on, above or below par.

The Connected E4 – Golf Edition features an OLED screen that is designed to be readable in bright sunlight, and battery life has been improved by 30%, allowing a full day’s use on top of five hours of golf functionality.

IMHO

TAG Heuer has been steadily building its ecosystem of sports-related apps. While the host of smartwatches have seemingly endless functionality only limited by the breadth of apps available, having a smartwatch that does all the usual stuff in addition to being focused on one sport – golf, in this case – better serves the needs of those who largely golf. According to TAG Heuer CEO Frederic Arnault, the company’s customers play golf more than any other sport; a calculated specialisation that golfers should welcome, as good caddies can’t be that easy to find.

Tech Specs

Movement: Mod Connect 45 mmc, full-day battery life, Qualcomm Snapdragon 4100+ processor, Wear OS by Google, heart rate, compass, accelerometer, gyroscope, NFC, microphone, barometer
Functions: 1.39-inch OLED display, 454×454 pixels (326ppi)
Case: 45mm grade 2 titanium case with black DLC, sandblasted finish, ceramic bezel, water resistant to 50 meters
Strap: Dimpled white rubber strap, titanium folding clasp with integrated ball marker, additional black perforated rubber strap