Guess was an early mover in the fashion smartwatch market. Its starting point was the popular men’s Rigor collection, which sells for around £150, to which it added a notifications panel to the face at 6 o’clock. The resulting Guess Connect hybrid looks like a traditional watch, but connects to a smartphone.
The unisex collection is available in a 41mm or 45mm stainless steel case housing a Japanese quartz movement. The smartwatch features are powered by Martian technology.
Customers can choose either a silicon or leather strap and an ever-growing range of colours, materials and design options. Right now there are ten SKUs.
In terms of the smart features, the Guess Connect has notifications sent to the watch on the OLED window, music and camera control, phone calls using the microphone and speaker and RGB LED light on the display. The current collection does not have a fitness tracker.
The watch has two batteries. A lithium polymer rechargeable battery powers the Smart Alerts for 300-400 charge cycles, and a replaceable button watch battery the runs the timepiece for up to two years.
The watch works best with the GUESS CONNECT app by Martian which is on both Android and Apple devices. The app allows you to choose which smartphone apps trigger alerts on the phone.
The Guess Connect has been given the CES 2015 Innovation Award Honouree and is a 2016 nominee in the Global Mobile Awards ‘Best Mobile Handsets and Devices Category: Best Wearable Mobile Technology’.
The Blue & Rose Gold 45mm version retails for £299.
