Skagen Hagen Connected - deceleration for the wrist
25.3.2017
Translation: machine translated
The watch should be stylish, accurate and also smart. That is the aim of the Skagen company with its smartwatch, the Hagen model. Skagen Hagen. The watch is one of those hybrid watches that looks analogue but has smart components. The risk of producing a botched product is high in this sector. A test.
I like analogue watch faces. Marketing manager Julia Dürr is right when she says that a classic watch is a great piece of jewellery. I'm currently wearing a Samsung Gear S3 for testing purposes and although the device is great, the Skagen Hagen appeals to me more visually. Therefore, I quickly and gladly agreed to test the Skagen Hagen.
Skagen, the brand from the USA named after the northernmost village in Europe, has been making watches since the late 1980s. These watches are minimalist, have no glitz or glamour and impress with their simplicity. With the Skagen Hagen Connected, the company, which was acquired by Fossil in 2012, is making a hybrid smartwatch. A hybrid smartwatch is basically nothing more than a smartwatch without a screen. A hybrid smartwatch uses LEDs or mechanical elements to display advanced notifications to the wearer.
The Skagen Hagen Connected only has hands.
Smartwatch for slowing down
Of course, the Skagen Hagen cannot be operated via Android Wear or Samsung Gear or Apple's software, as the operation of the analogue smartwatch is fundamentally different from smartwatches with screens. Fossil has therefore launched an app for Android or Apple iOS in the app stores.
The Skagen Hagen has a very limited number of message options, only one hand apart from the main time display. The app is therefore primarily there to filter the flood of information coming from a smartphone. In this way, the Skagen Hagen makes a valuable article for so-called deceleration.
I'm not one to constantly get worked up about this oh-so-bad flood of information and overstimulation from the media and the demise of Western civilisation that this is sure to cause, but I think it's time to take a break now and again. I don't necessarily have to know everything all the time and you are welcome to leave a text message or a message unanswered. No problem. It's not the end of the world and I don't feel any additional antipathy because I don't reply. But I have a little more relaxation in my life because I've actively chosen to do so.
The Skagen Hagen Connected is a tool for this. It has an extra hand on the dial that is responsible for notifications. This points either to numbers or to one of four coloured fields. These coloured fields can be assigned to contacts. So if my team colleague Alina writes a message and I have told the app that Alina will receive the dark blue field, then after receiving the message I can only say that Alina was looking for me, but not say what she wanted from me. Depending on how much influence Alina currently has on my life - less after work, more during working hours - I can pay attention to the notification.
The big advantage of the watch's minimalist design is that the battery lasts forever. Another piece of quality of life. Okay, admittedly, without a smartwatch the problem would be moot anyway, but as a compromise between a smartwatch and no watch on the wrist, the Skagen Hagen Connected is a really nice piece.
How on earth does the bracelet work?
As well thought-out as the dial of the Skagen Hagen Connected is, the watch has its weak points. My test device has a really nice-looking and wonderfully cool-feeling metal strap, obviously inspired by chain mail. It looks chic. But the clasp is a bit complicated. I haven't yet figured out how to fasten it. There are two latch systems. The lower one is the one that worries me, the upper one I can simply close. That's perfectly adequate, because the top latch holds extremely well. But every time I put my Skagen Hagen Connected on or take it off, I wonder how it's supposed to work. Somehow something doesn't click together properly.
So if you have a Skagen Hagen Connected and have figured out how the clasp works, let me know in a comment. Because I'm pretty sure I'm doing something obvious wrong.
As I mentioned in one of my first smartwatch reviews, I'm not a fan of things around my wrist, mainly because I often rest my wrist on it while typing and it gets uncomfortable. As a journalist, such considerations are quite appropriate as I tend to write more rather than less and so a sore wrist can really ruin my day. So it's nice to be able to say that the Skagen Hagen Connected didn't bother me. So if you're like me, the Skagen Hagen Connected is a watch you can strap on for testing purposes. Hopefully you'll be like me.
The only weak point in the design, because I really like the look of the Skagen Hagen Connected, is that the case of the watch is relatively high.
The conclusion
I like the Skagen Hagen Connected. Very well, in fact. It may be a bit clunky, but it offers a nice mix of information and calm. I do miss the feature of being able to control my music from my mobile - that's the one feature I really appreciate on very smart smartwatches - but I can overlook it when I consider that I don't always have the annoying trembling on my wrist followed by the urge to stare at my watch.
I also like the fact that at least I have the ability to control my music from my mobile.
I also really like the fact that I have at least temporarily cast off the yoke of the miserable pedometer. Because even if I consciously don't pay any attention to it, I still spend a stress-filled half second thinking about how I can make up for the steps I've missed today.
So: if you're looking for a watch that's great for slowing down but still has smart functions, then the Skagen Hagen Connected is the watch for you.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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