Hot on the heels of the Fossil Gen 6 Hybrid, Fossil brand Skagen has launched its own Gen 6 hybrid smartwatch, which offers the same big new features wrapped up in a range of typically minimalist Skagen watch looks.
The Android and iOS-friendly Skagen Jorn Gen 6 Hybrid comes in five different version, with the option of silver tone, rose gold tone, charcoal and black case colors.
There's 38mm and 42mm case size options up for grabs and all offer the same combination of e-Ink screen and mechanical hands to merge a traditional and smart watch worlds.
The larger 42mm watch is partnered up with 20mm removable straps and the 38mm Hybrid uses smaller 18mm ones. You can take your pick of stainless steel mesh, silicone or leather straps.
Read this: Best hybrid smartwatches to buy right now
Those added smarts include Amazon Alexa integration, which is possible through a new onboard microphone, letting you set timers, reminders and get answers to questions. The lack of a speaker means those responses will be displayed as opposed to being spoken back to you.
There's the promise of an upgraded heart rate sensor to improve continuous heart rate monitoring tracking accuracy, while a new SpO2 sensor will let you keep tabs on blood oxygen levels for the first time.
Along with improvements on the watch, the companion phone app is getting a makeover too with a new interface, the ability to customise dials on that e-Ink screen, view tracking stats on an activity dashboard and assign different features to the physical pusher buttons.
All the features included on the Skagen Jorn Hybrid HR remain here, so it's a hybrid smartwatch that can track outdoor workouts using connected GPS, count steps, monitor heart rate, display smartphone notifications, weather reports and use it to track your phone down when it goes missing.
Battery life promised is up to two weeks, which is the same battery life numbers tied to Skagen's last hybrid smartwatch, which we found lasted a week with all smart features in use.
Pricing for all versions of the Skagen Jorn Gen 6 Hybrid comes in at $215/£209, which comes in slightly more expensive than the $195.95/£189 launch price attached to Skagen's Jorn Hybrid HR. That is cheaper than Fossil's own Gen 6 Hybrid, so you could save yourself some money to pick up those new smart features.
While we loved the look of the last Skagen hybrid, we didn't share the same love for some of the clunky software we experienced in our testing time.
It's definitely great to see that big features like Alexa and sensors like SpO2 will give Skagen's hybrid more smart powers, but we hope it's managed to sort out some of those software issues as well to make their inclusion worthwhile.
How we test
By Michael Sawh
Michael Sawh has been covering the wearable tech industry since the very first Fitbit landed back in 2011. Previously the resident wearable tech expert at Trusted Reviews, he also marshaled the features section of T3.com.
He also regularly contributed to T3 magazine when they needed someone to talk about fitness trackers, running watches, headphones, tablets, and phones.
Michael writes for GQ, Wired, Coach Mag, Metro, MSN, BBC Focus, Stuff, TechRadar and has made several appearances on the BBC Travel Show to talk all things tech.
Michael is a lover of all things sports and fitness-tech related, clocking up over 15 marathons and has put in serious hours in the pool all in the name of testing every fitness wearable going. Expect to see him with a minimum of two wearables at any given time.