MWC 2016: Juxt watch is the latest designer addition to the HP family
HP is approaching smartwatches in a very clever way. Just as the PC giant did with the MB Chronowing and the Movado Bold Motion, it’s leaving the watch design to the professionals while it focuses on what turns the dumb watch smart.
The Titan Juxt sees HP team up with one of the biggest watch companies in the world and the result is an analog timepiece that looks the part and adds features like the ability to view phone notifications and count your steps in a very discreet way.
Essential reading: The best wearables of MWC 2016
It’s undeniably a watch built for men with its chunky chronograph-style design and bulky look on the wrist. There’s some real nice touches here that make it such an attractive watch. The leather strap feels luxurious while the honeycomb-style finish on the dial and mineral glass display means it retains those traditional watch traits.
It’s going to be available in stainless, titanium and rose gold finishes. I managed to get my hands on the stainless and titanium models both of which are waterproof and do carry the allure of an expensive designer watch.
There’s no touchscreen controls here, but there’s a sizeable OLED display that gives it the smarts. It’s similar type of approach of turning a dumb watch smart that we’ve seen on watches like the Guess Connect. Once you’ve paired it with the iOS or Android app, it’s here where you’ll see calendar appointments, reminders and notifications.
You can also view global time zones and get some basic activity tracking like step count and setting daily step goals. One of the three physical buttons down the side of the watch will let you scroll through a message. The screen is big enough to give you a flavour of the message, and the built in vibration motor gives you a nudge when the alert comes through.
There’s definitely a market for smart analog watches like the Juxt. You only have to look at what Withings is doing with its Activité range to know that some prefer smarts to be integrated in a more subtle way. There’s nothing subtle about the Juxt’s design or its built-in OLED screen, which might be bigger than what watch traditionalists would prefer.
It’s currently only available in India with prices starting at Rs15,995 ($235). That’s not cheap, but if you like Titan watches and you want something that plays nice with your phone, then it could well be a good fit.
