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SKAGEN Falster Smartwatch Pairs Modern Style With Android Wear 2.0

01.19.18 | By
SKAGEN Falster Smartwatch Pairs Modern Style With Android Wear 2.0

With an extremely limited amount of time to walk the floors of the Consumer Electronic Show this year, we had to rely on a hurried pace, quick note jotting, and shoot-from-the-hip snapshots to remember even a portion of the enormous technology on display this year. Even in this rush, Danish watchmaker SKAGEN made us stop to admire what we think might be the best execution of a smartwatch today: the SKAGEN Falster Smartwatch.

Skagen’s catalogue of smartwatches is already well represented by a selection of stylish hybrid analogue watches – designs where the form and function of a smartwatch are kept divided between timepiece and a connected app. But with the announcement of the Falster, SKAGEN pushes all chips in, betting on a digital display future with an Android Wear 2.0 powered wearable.

Outfitted with a fully digital touchscreen display and interface, the Falster Smartwatch offers a high degree of simplicity and modernity at quick glance; the interface incorporates typography and a fresh amount of negative space as the hallmarks of its user experience. The Falster presents a positive impression for those normally unenamored by smartwatch aesthetics. Even so, the Falster is engineered with an edited amount of smart features accessible with the turn/press of its crown. Features include:

  • Smartwatch notifications, to view incoming calls, texts, and emails.
  • Activity Tracking
  • Customizable Watch Faces, to personalize mode, color, and apps.
  • Voice Commands, powered by the Google Assistant
  • Music Control, through third-party apps like Google Play

“One of our goals with SKAGEN’s smartwatches is to make technology feel more familiar and approachable. We do this by simplifying and editing our products, but also by humanizing the experience of using them: the dial layouts and the movements are designed for calm and pleasant interaction,” says Frederik Thrane, Creative Director of SKAGEN.

The push for a more humanized experience between watch and wearer is also represented by the inclusion of a new digital assistant (or “mascot”, as SKAGEN describes the feature) named “Dan”. Dan’s purpose is motivational and informational, a sort of Siri or Alexa for the wrist.

Designed to work with both iOS and Android smartphones, the SKAGEN Falster will retail for $275-$295, and will be available by the end of this month.

Gregory Han is a Senior Editor at Design Milk. A Los Angeles native with a profound love and curiosity for design, hiking, tide pools, and road trips, a selection of his adventures and musings can be found at gregoryhan.com.