TECH

Best hybrid smartwatches 2019: Striking a balance between smarts and style
Smartwatches have come on leaps and bounds since they landed back in 2014 with Google's Android Wear (now Wear OS). But even after four years of refinement, leading to slimmer, more attractive designs, longer battery life, uprated power and new features, some consumers still feel like strapping a miniature computer to your wrist.
Take the new Apple Watch Series 4 and Samsung Galaxy Watch for example. They are the best smartwatches the world has ever seen, but they still have a battery life measured in days (or even hours), the Apple Watch does not show the time unless you interact with it, and both force you to adopt the slightly awkward pose of flicking at a one-inch touchscreen on your wrist to read an email, or an uber book.
Smartwatches have come on leaps and bounds since they landed back in 2014 with Google's Android Wear (now Wear OS). But even after four years of refinement, leading to slimmer, more attractive designs, longer battery life, uprated power and new features, some consumers still feel like strapping a miniature computer to your wrist.
Take the new Apple Watch Series 4 and Samsung Galaxy Watch for example. They are the best smartwatches the world has ever seen, but they still have a battery life measured in days (or even hours), the Apple Watch does not show the time unless you interact with it, and both force you to adopt the slightly awkward pose of flicking at a one-inch touchscreen on your wrist to read an email, or an uber book. 1-Withings Steel HR Sport Safe to say, Withings has an interesting couple of years. The French health tech company was bought by Nokia and turned into the Finnish firm's Nokia Health division in 2016. But, almost exactly two years later, Withings founder Eric Carreel bought his company back from Nokia, gave the entire product range its original name back, and launched the new Steel HR Sport.
An updated version of the (still on sale) Steel HR, the new Sport model is the most focused fitness wearable Withings currently sells.
The Withings Steel HR Sport features a heart rate monitor, is water resistant to 50 meters, and has a (rechargeable) battery life of up to 25 days. It also provides an estimate of your VO2 Max, the measurement of the maximum amount of oxygen you can use during exercise, and can track up to 30 different forms of exercise, as well as your sleep.
Connected GPS (where the watch uses your phone's GPS signal to plot its location) is used to track your rides and bike rides, and the Withings smartphone app can be used to combine data from the watch with other captured devices, like smart scales and a sleep tracker.
Phone notifications, plus health data like your heart beat, is shown on the circular digital display, while the second dial keeps track of your daily step count. 2-Mondaine Helvetica 1 Mondaine is most famous for producing watches which resemble its classic Swiss railways clocks, but the Helvetica range is different - and it includes this, the company's first hybrid smartwatch. The Helvetica 1 has a 44mm stainless steel case, with 20mm leather strap and a quartz movement.
Compatible with iOS and Android, the smart watch features include activity and sleep tracking, with data being sent to the companion smartphone app. There is also a second dial on the watch to show how much of your daily step you have completed. The Mondaine uses the same MMT smartphone app as hybrid watches made by Alpina and Frederique Constant, so there is detailed sleep data, an estimate of calories burned, and advice from the virtual coach. It is not a match for the fully-fledged smartwatch apps of Apple, Samsung and Google, but a nice set of extra features for buyers of traditional Swiss watches who want to dip their toes into the smartwatch waters. 3-Kronaby Sekel Many hybrids look similar to regular watches, but this thing Kronaby Steel 41mm is one that really keeps its smarts under wraps, thanks to its traditional face, strap, and buttons which to the untrained eye looks like mere chronograph controls.
But scratch beneath the surface and you'll find the technology. There is a battery which lasts up to two years, a vibration motor for alerting you to notifications on your phone and waking you up silently each morning, and of course a daily step count.
Additional features include a stopwatch and timer, a button that can be configured to control your phone's camera, and even IFTTT (If This, Then That), so the watch's location can be set to trigger smart home devices into life. For example, you could have your smart lights and coffee machine automatically switch on when you arrive home wearing this watch.

4-Garmin Vivomove HR Premium The Garmin Vivomove HR is one of the most comprehensive hybrid watches you can buy today, with a wide range of fitness and health-tracking features, a subtle digital display, and several different colors to pick from.
This hybrid has key features like constant heart rate monitoring, the ability to estimate your VO2 Max and fitness age, and wellness monitoring tools which kick in and suggest you take a moment to breathe when showing signs of stress.
What makes the Vivomove HR stand out from the crowd is how it features a touchscreen display beneath its traditional hour and minute hands, giving you the best of both worlds. 5-Frederique Constant Hybrid Manufacturer The Hybrid Manufacturer by Frederique Constant is what happens when the traditional Swiss watch industry sits up and pays attention to Silicon Valley.
This is a traditional watch with the all-important Swiss-made automatic movement with seven-day power reserve, but with an accelerometer, processor and Bluetooth connection through the bargain.
The two sides of the watch - Swiss and smart - work independently of each other, so the watch still keeps time even when its (USB-charged) battery runs out. There is step-and-sleep-tracking, but also a section in the app to check up on the accuracy and performance of the mechanical watch, which is unique among the hybrids featured here. 6-Misfit Command A stylish watch in a range of different colors, the Misfit Command may have a confusing dial at first, but with it all makes perfect sense. The second dial shows how much of your daily step target you have completed, while buttons can be configured to control a range of functions on your smartphone - like playing / pausing music playback, and take a photo.
Misfit is owned by the Fossil Group, many of this watch's functions are similar to those of other members of the group. This includes the smartphone app, and how the watch can be configured to alert you to certain types of notifications by pointing to icons on the face. Throw in water resistance to 50 meters and a year's battery life, and the Misfit is a very capable - and good-looking - hybrid smartwatch.
7-Fossil Q Commuter Another member of the Fossil Group (obviously), the Q Commuter is one of many hybrid which together form the company's Q range. They all work in very similar ways - and use the same app - only the real choice to make is which design you prefer.
The 42mm Q Commuter takes a regular watch battery, which only needs replacing eleven a year, and much like the Misfit above there is a second dial for tracking your daily step count and alerting you to a range of notifications. It's also worth noting that Fossil Group hybrid watches work with iPhones and Android handsets.
Regarding this specific model of Q Commuter, we love the blue face and so-called luggage leather strap. 8-Alpina Seastrong Horological Smartwatch The Seastrong Horological is another example of a Swiss watchmaker, in this case Alpina, rolling up her sleeves and trying her hand at something with added smarts. On the outside you have a traditional-looking watch with 44mm fiberglass and stainless steel case, sapphire crystal, and rotating diver's bezel.
But on the inside you'll find Bluetooth and accelerometer for sharing activity-tracking data to the smartphone app. There is also sleep monitoring, notifications to alerts on your phone, dynamic alarms, and a 'dynamic coach' which provides health tips via the app.
As you may have guessed from its name, the Seastrong is water resistant to 100 meters, and the black rubber strap will not be phased by swimming or diving. This watch also has an impressive four-year battery life. 9-Breitling Exospace B55 Connected Yes, we know we said earlier that hybrid watches are generally cheaper than their smarter counterparts, but the hybrid sector is always where traditional watchmakers like to get involved. Hence this £ 5,000 hybrid from Breitling, which is made from titanium and carbon, measures a chunky 46mm across and 15mm thick, and generally looks like something Sir Ben Ainslie would use on a yachting adventure.
There is an electronic tachymeter, functions for recording flight and regatta times (it's aimed at pilots and skippers, naturally), two LCD screens beneath the hour and minute hands, and Bluetooth for connecting to the companion smartphone app.
This watch - which, by the way, is designed to interfere with night vision goggles - is not particularly smart in the Silicon Valley sense of the word, but instead uses its app for storing flight times and chronograph records, and setting how you 'd like the watch to notify you of calls, texts and other phone alerts. 10-Skagen Hagen Purchased by Fossil in 2012 (yes, another one), Skagen is a Danish watch company which produces a wide range of hybrid timepieces. This model, the Hagen, features the familiar hybrid design of a second dial for step progress and notifications, plus three buttons for control your phone.
The Skagen Hagen uses a regular watch battery, has a 42mm stainless steel case which is 12mm thick, and uses regular 20mm straps which are easy to swap out when you fancy a change of style.
The watch is waterproof to 3 ATM and has a battery life of up to one year - although, with all hybrids, this will vary depending on how much you use it and how many notifications you route through the watch from your phone. Alistair Charlton