Smartwatch Skagen Falster in the Review: sexy and good

The first thoroughbred smart health watch from Skagen was developed together with Fossil and presented at the CES earlier this year. We tested the Danish manufacturer's touchscreen model for several days and revealed how the watch performs in its simple design in everyday life.

scope of delivery

The scope of delivery of the Skagen Falster is limited to the actual smartwatch and a suitable induction charger. The magnetic holding adapter also requires a USB power supply, which is not included.

Depending on the power source used, the Falster takes between two and two and a half hours to fully recharge the battery. By the way, Skagen does not recommend using a power bank or a USB hub for charging. On the Manufacturer's website says: "To avoid damaging the watch, only use the charger included in the scope of delivery. Do not use a USB hub, USB splitter, battery pack, USB-Y cable or other peripheral devices for charging. ” We couldn't explain how to do this when there is no charger. In response to our inquiry, Skagen answered the question bypassing: “The term charger used on the product page here means the charging cable. A conventional USB adapter can be used for charging via the socket, as is also known from smartphones. The output of the USB adapter should have a maximum of 5V – 2A." 

design

The Skagen Falster is very puristic and looks sexy. No-frills watch case, simple leather strap and metal clasp: you don't need more to look good.

The round case has a push button and the quick-release fastener for interchangeable wristbands known from Fossil smartwatches. The stainless steel case measures 42 millimeters in diameter and is 12 millimeters thick. The Falster is not bulky despite the rather high weight and sits comfortably on the wrist. We like the comfort and the workmanship. The pre-installed dials are as simple as the watch case itself. If you like it more eye-catching and colorful, you can add your own skins at any time and customize them according to your ideas.

The Falster is IP67 certified and therefore dust and waterproof. However, the smartwatch is not suitable for swimming.

hardware

A Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100 processor works inside the Skagen Falster. This ensures sufficient computing power and enables smooth and smooth operation using the touchscreen. The watch, based on Android Wear 2.0, has a battery with a capacity of 300mAh. According to the data sheet, the battery life is up to 24 hours. However, we do not achieve this value in our Review; we also used the watch relatively heavily. In our application scenario, however, the clock lasts from early morning until late at night; even if they are used a lot and occasionally to play was misused. For communication with iPhone or Android smartphone, Skagen uses Bluetooth 4.1 and the energy-efficient standard Bluetooth smart.

The Skagen is intended as a smart, fashionable accessory and not as a fitness watch. There are no GPS receivers or heart rate monitors. Only a pedometer is installed for power measurement.

Technical specifications

Display

The round 1.19 inch display has a resolution of 390 x 390 pixels and fills the entire clock face. The flattened black border at the bottom of the display ("Flat Tire", called flat tire), which the early round displays had, is no longer available here. The panel has an automatic brightness control and is still easy to read even in direct sunlight.

The touch sensitivity is good, the display responds reliably to every touch. Only the use of the touch keyboard is frustrating. The individual letters are so closely lined up that it is almost impossible to touch the right one with your fingers. Typing with a touch pen works only marginally better.

In order to work as energy-saving as possible, the watch only shows a graphically stripped down and darkened surface without second hand when not in use. Thanks to the OLED-based panel, this actually saves electricity, because unlike LCDs, OLED displays only require luminous pixels.

As soon as you move your wrist to look at the watch, the display automatically switches to normal brightness and the preset background. It works very reliably. At first, the automatic change of the dial is irritating, but we quickly got used to it.

The display resolution is decent, but it would have to be significantly higher so that you don't recognize any pixels even when you take a closer look.

Tried out

Smartwatches are also an interesting addition to smartphones for non-watch wearers: check the diary, read SMS or see who is calling: all this works without any problems with the Skagen Falster. However, the smartphone must always be nearby, without a Bluetooth connection and thus the way to the Internet is not much.

We find the remote control functions particularly practical. If you like to move your smartphone, you will be delighted, for example, with the phone search app. Equipped with suitable software, the smartwatch also controls the camera or the music player on the mobile phone.

The Falster is less suitable for orientation on a map or reading longer texts. The representation on the small display works; it is not comfortable. Typing texts or numbers is also theoretically possible, but it's not fun. On the contrary: typing on the mini-display is frustrating.

That is why there is also the option of voice input. This works well as long as the background noise is not too loud.

variants

The Falster is currently only available with a black stainless steel housing. The buckles for fastening the bracelet are available in different colors. Our Review model with black leather strap is equipped with black buckles, the variants with brown leather or silver metal strap have silver buckles. The model is most feminine with a rose gold bracelet and buckle of the same color.

The straps are 20 millimeters wide and, thanks to the quick-change lock, can be replaced within a few seconds.

black leather

brown leather

silver metal

rose gold metal

Conclusion

The Skagen Falster is one of the smartest smartwatches we have ever had in our hands. If you mainly need the watch as a supplement to your smartphone, you will be very satisfied with the Falster. The good workmanship, the bright, well-functioning touchscreen and the generous battery life speak clearly for the Skagen model.

The greatest benefit is achieved with an Android smartphone. Android Wear and Android OS work perfectly together. The Falster is also compatible with the iPhone, but it only forwards the notifications to the display. Comprehensive control is not possible due to the lack of interfaces.

Those who are active in sports should better choose another model with an integrated heart rate monitoring and GPS receiver.

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AB SMART HEALTH REVIEW