Withings ScanWatch Horizon Review | technological radar

Withings ScanWatch Horizon Review | technological radar

two minute review

I have drawers full of analog watches that haven't been worn since I adopted the Apple Watch in 2015. Their classic faces, complications, hands, and seconds are being lost to progress.

The Withings ScanWatch Horizon flips the dial in this design preview, taking me back to the design of a classic dive watch while keeping the future in the form of a small circular monochrome digital window.

Withings likes to call the approach, which we first saw in slightly lighter form in the Withings ScanWatch, a "hybrid" analog watch.

At a glance, the ScanWatch Horizon looks like an expensive dive watch. It has the same thick, polished chrome body, crown and rotating bezel originally designed to give divers a quick and visible warning that oxygen could soon run out (hardly used on this device). On the watch face are large hands and glow-in-the-dark analog dial markings.

However, he flips the watch over and it is revealed to be a smart wearable device. There is a range of sensors on the base for passive heart rate readings and for active blood oxygen and ECG readings. There are other freebies like the aforementioned display on top of the watch face and crown. The latter is not used to set the clock. Instead, it is the only navigation control for all of ScanWatch Horizon's digital features.

A simple push on the crown initiates a small transformation. Press and the clock hands will immediately rotate off the screen, staying at the '10' and '2' positions until you are done with the screen.

Withings has paired the watch with a rich Health Mate app to keep track of all the ways the watch silently collects your vitals. It can, among other things, read your steps, your altitude, your heart rate and your sleeping habits.

Withings ScanWatch Horizon

(Image credit: Future/Lance Ulanoff)

In all the years I've collected watches, I've never put one to bed and only reluctantly did so with the Apple Watch when they introduced sleep tracking. It doesn't come naturally to me. Since I'm a light sleeper, I wake up noticing this on my wrist. That was with the relatively thin Apple Watch. ScanWatch Horizon is a much larger and heavier device.

Somehow, though, I managed to sleep with him. What's impressive is the accuracy with which it reads your sleep and breathing cycles, and equally impressive are the clinically backed SpO2 and ECG reading reports.

The app does a great job of collecting everything and presenting it in a readable format. It can also be shared with the Apple Health app.

You can wear this watch continuously, according to Withings, for up to 30 days at no cost. I have been using it for over a week on a single charge. It's nice not to have to worry about putting the watch back in its charging cradle (although we didn't like this charger).

It could be the perfect smartwatch for those who don't really want one. It looks like a classic analog with the heart of a smart wearable device. At €499, it's expensive, especially for a smartwatch with such a small black-and-white screen. Still, it's a steal for a true dive watch with clinical-grade health tracking features.

Price and Availability

The Withings Scanwatch Horizon 43mm is available for €499.95 (€499.95). That's around €200 more than Scanwatch's original 38mm analogue hybrid.

After being on sale in the UK, France, and Germany since September, the watch will finally arrive in the US on May 17, as well as the rest of Europe on May 17.

Withings ScanWatch Horizon

(Image credit: Future/Lance Ulanoff)

Design and display

Let's just say everything else about the ScanWatch Horizon is bigger than the original SacnWatch, which was available in 38mm and 42mm. The ScanWatch Horizon is a 43mm wearable and measures 13,28 inches. thick (it's a little over half an inch).

While the ScanWatch weighed 58g (the smallest and strapless model), the ScanWatch Horizon weighs 72g. It's a substantial device, even more so if you use it with the default metal band. The product comes with a belt sized kit that includes a pin pusher and a small hammer to drive this pusher into the pins that hold the metal links together. There's even a plastic bracket that holds the watch and strap in place while you adjust them. It's an effective system, but no matter how I set up the segments, I couldn't find a combination that worked perfectly for me.

Also, since I knew I would sleep with my watch on, I decided the flexible fluoroelastomer strap would be lighter and much more comfortable (I was right).

The watch itself is beautiful. With its stainless steel body, it really does look like a classic dive watch in the mold of, say, a Rolex. Beneath the clear sapphire crystal is a green enamel face. This color scheme continues through to the thick rotating bezel (which serves no discernible purpose). There are the large but refined hour and minute hands (there is no second hand) and the dial markings, all of which glow in the dark. There's also a smaller activity dial that tracks your total progress towards your activity goal.

Sitting at 12 o'clock is the only digital display of the watch. It's a half-inch monochrome LCD screen with enough resolution to pack a surprising amount of detail into that small space, but more on that later. Since the analog watch hands sometimes move on this screen, they will automatically move away (towards 10 and 2) as soon as you press the Digital Crown.

The back looks nothing like an analog watch. There are three sets of sensors for heart rate, SpO2 levels, and electrodes for ECG (there's also a hidden ECG sensor on the front of the watch).

The setting of the watch is important because the sensors need skin contact to work. As I noted, even with the fluoroelastomer band, I'm not sure I've found the perfect fit. Fortunately, the watch never stopped giving me health readings.

Switching bands, by the way, is quite easy. Both the metal band and the flexible band have quick-release pins (essentially tiny handles attached to spring-loaded pins that hold the bands in place). I simply removed them, slid the metal band on, and then attached the quick release pin bars to the fluoroelastomer band in place.

Withings ScanWatch Horizon

(Image credit: Future/Lance Ulanoff)

The crown and the small digital display really do form a complementary pair. You activate the screen by pressing the crown, then scroll through on-screen menus and features by turning the crown. When you find a function or activity you want to use, press the crown again.

In the case of training options, I scroll down to the main training menu, press the crown to see the training options (running, swimming, cycling, walking, other), press to select what I want, then I pressed the crown again to start, pause or stop the workout.

That might seem rudimentary compared to the Apple Watch's rich and colorful menu system and yes, those workout options are weird too. ScanWatch Horizon can't even automatically detect a workout as if I could trust my Apple Watch.

Still, there's something to be said for the simplicity, the lack of a ton of options and a highly designed watch-eating screen might be too much for some, especially those coming from the world of Fitbit where they can buy a device like the Fitbit Inspire, which also keeps display information to a minimum.

Withings ScanWatch Horizon

(Image credit: Future/Lance Ulanoff)

Commissioning and monitoring

Getting started with Withing Scanwatch Horizon is easy. I started by fully charging the laptop on the included charging cradle. I'll admit I'm not a fan of pin based dock charging systems. You need to make sure you put the watch on the pins correctly or it will not charge. It doesn't even stay in place with strong magnets.

While the watch was charging, I installed the Health Mate app, which is the same app used by all of Withing's health-related devices. He walked me through the Bluetooth pairing process and once the watch was fully charged (around 2 hours) he walked me through a long series of steps to activate all active and passive health features.

You must allow information sharing between Health Mate and Apple's Health app, which gives Health Mate the ability to update any metrics it collects data for. Reminds you how to wear the watch and where to place it on your wrist to get the best readings. There's advice about the ECG and also a note that the device, which is FDA-approved, can't detect heart attacks and other medical conditions.

With all that done, the watch is ready to wear and track your health and activity. I scrolled down to the heart rate monitor and found that it was beating at 68 beats per minute.

I took an SPo2 test, which required me to stay still and place my hand on the watch face. When I felt a vibration about 30 seconds later, the test was over. At 94%, it was "below average." Further reading put me at 96%; I think he'll be fine.

ECGs work almost exactly the same, except the first time I did it, the app informed me that Withings partner Heartbeat Health needed to review my personal information to "provide medical clearance to activate the ECG on your watch." Fortunately, this only happens once.

In case you care, my sinus rhythm is normal.

Of course, the ScanWatch Horizon doesn't just connect to my iPhone for health and fitness-related activities. As long as you give it permission, it can send all kinds of notifications that, yes, appear on that small screen. I read text messages (single line scrolling), calendar alerts, heard about incoming calls. All of them were accompanied by a noticeable vibration of the device.

Everything was quite discreet and I quite liked it,

At night I would roll around in my bed and still without changing the settings or touching the crown, the...