The rapidly expanding smartwatch market has brought with it a wide range of sports-centric features and designs. While many of these features, such as heart rate tracking, pedometers and calorie tracking, are useful for a wide range of activities, brands have also put a lot of effort into developing smartwatch suites tailored to individual sports. Golf is one of the most frequently represented sports in the smartwatch space, and TAG Heuer has been leading the development of smartwatches for golfers since introducing the original Connected Golf Edition in 2018. With the launch of the updated Connected Calibre E4 in February 2022, a new generation of golf-centric Connected models seemed inevitable, but as spring is in full bloom and golf season begins again, the brand has unveiled a sleeker, more high-performance golf-inspired design. The new TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 – Golf Edition offers a more streamlined and advanced package than previous models, offering both added smartwatch functionality and cleverly integrated physical touches designed with the golf course in mind.
Like the standard Connected Calibre E4, the TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 – Golf Edition’s 45mm matte black DLC-coated titanium case has a softer, more curvaceous shape than its predecessor. The 18-hole fixed ceramic bezel features a slimmer, simpler shape than the previous Connected Golf Edition model, while the case sides and lugs are both slimmer, with flowing lines and chamfers that are noticeably narrower in the images. The pushers at 2 and 4 o’clock reflect this new philosophy, eschewing the sharply faceted wedge shape of the previous model in favor of a slimmer, rounded shape and reinterpreting the original’s engraved green accent stripe as a wider, tapered, recessed green segment. As with the standard Connected Calibre E4, many of these new case design concepts are intended to make the watch visually more compact on the wrist, especially with subtle undercuts on the case sides. On the back, the Connected Caliber E4 – Golf Edition features a robust, modern caseback sensor suite, including a heart rate sensor, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, barometer, microphone and an NFC chip that allows for easy integration with touchless pay systems. TAG Heuer has rated the Connected Caliber E4 – Golf Edition’s water resistance to a reasonable 50 metres.
The OLED touchscreen dial on the TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 – Golf Edition has improved brightness and contrast over previous Golf Edition models, making it easier to read in direct sunlight on the golf course. The line’s golf-centric dial displays have also been expanded and improved. The 2D map dial now has a wider field of view and displays more than 40,000 golf courses around the world in real time. This 2D map also displays the current hole number, distance to the hole, current recommended club, and scoring information in a clean, easy-to-read package. Each golf-themed dial display works in conjunction with the 18-hole bezel to provide at-a-glance color-coded data on the golfer’s performance on each hole on the course. The new Calibre E4 – Golf Edition also improves efficiency and ease of use with a more intuitive menu interface and a focus on automation. For example, the shot tracking system now automatically starts when the first swing is detected on the tee area, meaning golfers no longer have to pause to manually track their drive on their wrist. This works in conjunction with other golf-focused features such as the Driving Range feature to provide a tracking map of each hole on the course, showing where previous shots landed. Automatic data collection also works with the Club Performance Tracking Suite, which accumulates information about the player’s clubs over time and recommends customized clubs for any situation based on the player’s past performance. At the end of the round, golfers can use TAG Heuer’s iOS companion app to review their overall performance and save 3D-rendered video clips of their best shots. Beyond pure golf telemetry, the Connected Caliber E4 – Golf Edition offers several popular Connected Dial options redesigned with exclusive green accents, as well as some unique all-new layouts. Simply named the Golf Dial, this new option is an eye-catching model with a clean three-hand Arabic numeral layout placed atop a golf ball textured dial surface. The Connected Calibre E4 – Golf Edition comes with the full range of standard smartwatch features of the standard Calibre E4, plus a chronograph, countdown timer, alarm and an additional sports tracking suite tailored for running, cycling, swimming and general fitness.
The TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 – Golf Edition features several hardware improvements over its predecessor and shares internals with the standard Calibre E4 model. At its heart is the robust Qualcomm Snapdragon 4100+ smartwatch processor, which is faster than its predecessor, the Snapdragon 3100, and offers 30% longer battery life. This allows the Connected Calibre E4 – Golf Edition to run for a full 24 hours on a 90-minute full charge, even after five hours of use with a power-hungry golf tracking app. With Bluetooth 5.0 integration, data transfer to and from the Connected Calibre E4 – Golf Edition should be twice as fast as the previous Golf Edition.
The TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 – Golf Edition also comes with a thin strap in black perforated rubber, while a contrasting white dimpled rubber strap adds unique golf-specific amenities to this design. In addition to its golf ball-like color and texture and vibrant green contrast stitching, the strap’s DLC-coated titanium folding clasp provides another talking point for golfers on the course. The clasp comes with an integrated magnetic ball marker engraved with the TAG Heuer shield emblem, which can be easily removed from the clasp when changing a player’s ball on the green, and then easily reattached to the clasp with a single touch.
With a sleeker look, improved hardware, more intuitive golf-centric tools and clever conversation starters, the TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 – Golf Edition is a stylish and capable smartwatch that thrives on and off the golf course. The TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 – Golf Edition is available now from authorized retailers. MSRP for the TAG Heuer Connected Calibre E4 – Golf Edition is $2,650 at the time of writing. For more information, visit the brand’s website.
