Montblanc Summit: Another feature lacking but expensive timepiece

Not to be outdone by Tag Heuer unveiling the second generation of its Connected Android Wear smartwatch, equally fancy French brand Montblanc has jumped into the Android Wear game.

The Summit is Montblanc’s first proper smartwatch and comes after that weird OLED watch strap failed to take off. If you’ve been waiting to drop over £800 on a clever watch then your time might be now.

Even though it costs a load more than the LG Watch Sport or the Huawei Watch 2, the Summit doesn’t really offer anything extra.

There’s no NFC for Android Pay – a big feature in Android Wear 2.0 – and even though it’s a thick wearable there’s no GPS. To be honest, I couldn’t see myself running more than 20 meters in this thing but it’s still a missing feature. The only basic fitness feature is a heart-rate monitor on the bottom.

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It’s clear that Montblanc intends to sell this on its brand alone, but I’m still a little at a loss for who would buy it. From a distance I admit it’s looks like a classic Swiss watch. It’s chunky and clearly aimed at a man in a suit, with a thick build and 46mm size. But the allure of a stunning watch disappears when you get close and actually wear it. First of all, it’s shockingly light, but not in a good way.

A good watch has a heft to it, a dense and expensive feeling, but this doesn’t. The titanium face is a step above the plastic Huawei Watch 2, but it’s not noticeably better looking than the LG Watch Sport.

It also feels really odd that while there’s a crown on the side of the watch, it does absolutely nothing except act as a button. Scrolling with the dial is another big part of Android Wear 2.1, and it works great on LG’s devices, but it’s missing here. You’ve built a crown, why don’t you use it for something more than non-functioning visual flair?

I tried on a number of versions of the Watch with a of bands all of which range in price starting at £890. A fabric one felt at odds with the metal shell and was a bit cheap, while a number of leather choices were clearly of a much higher-standard. You’ll be able to purchase extra straps after the fact from Montblanc, but thanks to the standard 22mm strap connector you’ll be able to use any third-party band too.

The build might be a bit flashier than your average Android Wear option, but the internals aren’t. There’s the typical Snapdragon Wear CPU, 512MB RAM, 4GB storage and a 300 mAh battery that I was told should last a day. That doesn’t really fill me with confidence, but hopefully it’ll last from morning until bedtime without a struggle.

The 1.39-inch 400 x 400 AMOLED display is crisp and sharp, but that’s to be expected. The Android Wear 2.1 OS is the same, but there’s a couple of specially designed watchfaces that look suitably exclusive.

First Impressions

I’m clearly not the target audience for the Summit, but I still can’t really see who’d buy it.

It doesn’t have the neat modular aspects of the Tag Heuer Connected nor does it have the dedicated Android Wear 2.1 features like NFC and a rotating dial.

Even the design and build lacks something special; the one aspect where I would expect the Summit to really succeed. This is one tough sell.