OLIO: A smartwatch that looks smart

OLIO in Black and Gold
OLIO in Black and Gold, $1,195.

It’s one thing having a smartwatch that can access your email and text messages or do a host of other gadgetry tricks. It’s another thing having a watch that looks good. Unfortunately, the twain rarely meet.

That’s why we’re so happy to discover OLIO, a smartwatch that operates well with Android and iOS operating systems, but which is also compatible with many outfits. The NYTimes compared it to “a really oversize Cartier Ballon Bleu — it has the same curves — with the more hard-core aesthetic of a sports watch.” It’s a thick, oversized watch with sleek curves and attractive colors.

The company was founded by Steve Jacobs, a former Apple employee. He recruited from Movado and Google to combine glitch-less functionality with wearable style. It’s rare you see the pair combine so well.

Apple may have paved the way and opened the market up to more watch buyers, but eventually those gadget-freaks will realize what they really want is a watch that looks good.

To us, this is it. Prices start at $595, about twice that of the Apple Watch. (Our favorite, the Black Link, runs $775; the most expensive models retail for $1,395.) The San Francisco start-up raised $10.2 million for an initial run of 1,000 watches, so we may see those prices come down in coming months.

Visit oliodevices.com.

 

One thought on “OLIO: A smartwatch that looks smart

  • December 10, 2015 at 2:05 pm
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    This article must have been paid for. “Glitch less functionality”??? The Olio watch is beset with technical problems and bugs which make the product unusable. The rollout has been disastrous and for dozens of unlucky buyers who preordered this thing months in advance, the watch has been nothing but problems. Please check out their Facebook page or newly set up customer support FB page to see the carnage. As someone who bought the watch and is now waiting for my money back, trust me, the Olio is not the icon for the brave, it’s the icon for the stupid.

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