Withings’ ‘Brilliant’ alternative to Apple Watch

Withings has released a new hybrid smart watch, taking its cues from classic Swiss-made watches. But can it replace a Garmin?

The Withings ScanWatch Brilliant has 30-day battery life but no built-in GPS.

Withings has released a new hybrid smart watch, taking its cues from classic Swiss-made watches – but selling them for a fraction of the price.

The French health device manufacturer has been on a roll as it leaps from making scales, body scanners and blood pressure monitors to watchmaking.

The ScanWatch Nova was a hit, emulating vintage dive watches, with a rotating ceramic bezel. (Although, admittedly I used the bezel for ensuring my tea isn’t over-brewed rather than deep sea dwelling).

Now it has released the ScanWatch Brilliant. And it looks familiar. It features a fluted bezel like the big Rolex clock at the Australian Open or the late Pope John Paul II’s Datejust.

It comes in two-tone silver and gold or just plain silver and is priced at $799.99. But enough about its looks, how does it perform as a smart watch?

 Pros

• Classic design, appealing to those who want invisible tech.
• Medical-grade health monitoring.
• 30-day battery life.
• Tough scratch-resistant case.

Cons 

• GPS function only works when carrying a smart phone.
• Small screen.
• Getting the perfect fit with the metal bracelet can be tricky.

Unboxing

The Withings Scanwatch Brilliant in gold and silver.

The watch comes with a nice piece of extra kit – a hammer and frame that you can use to remove or add links on the metal bracelet.

And it’s needed because getting the right fit can be tricky. You don’t want the watch too loose, nor too tight that your hand starts to turn a delicate shade of purple.

The Brilliant has smaller links than the Nova, which allows a more precise fit. But if you really want it tailored to your wrist, you can replace the band pretty easily, thanks to its quick-release mechanism.

Its casing is tough, featuring sapphire glass and its dial measures 39mm – 3mm less than Nova.

Features

Withings offers an alternative to people who don’t want to stare at a screen on their wrist. At first glance, it looks like a normal watch with mechanical hands (although the lack of a second hand may annoy some). But in the top half of the dial, between 10 and 2 o’clock, there is a round screen.

On the black Nova, this screen is almost invisible, until you press the crown to access its smart features. Whereas, the Brilliant has a white dial, so the screen is more pronounced.

The Brilliant also features a luminous dial like the ScanWatch Nova.

The first press of the crown, shows date, including the day of the week, and time digitally. Turn the crown once, you can access the heart rate measurement. In subsequent turns there are other features, including step count, body temperature, sleep measurement, and the ability to perform an ECG and measure blood oxygen.

Withings says its ECG is medical-grade and can detect atrial fibrillation. It takes about 30 seconds to measure and a PDF of the reading can be accessed on the Withings app to share with your doctor if you have any concerns. I had an ECG at a pathology clinic and it generated the same reading as the watch. It’s very good.

The body temperature function is designed to indicate potential onset of various illnesses by tracking fluctuations day and night. Withings says it combines heat flux sensors with “high-accuracy temperature sensors” to provide top-tier temperature variation assessments. Measuring body temperature can also assist with workout recovery.

The Brilliant takes some design cues from the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust.

Can it replace my Garmin?

While the Withings can be used as a running watch, this is not its best feature because you need to run with a GPS-enabled smart phone that syncs to the watch via bluetooth. This is a shame. Hopefully Withings can include a GPS in future models.

The screen is also a bit small to monitor your splits while running. It also doesn’t have other sports features like Garmin and Apple Watch such as monitoring training load – although Withings does say that its body temperature function can be used to manage performance and workout recovery.

The Withings Scanwatch Nova evoked vintage dive watches.

It can also automatically recognise more than 40 daily activities such as walking, running, swimming (it’s water resistant up to 50 metres) and cycling. The Brilliant can detect fitness level via VO2 Max, which measures the heart and muscle’s ability to convert oxygen into energy during physical exercise.

Bottom line

The Brilliant is a statement piece for those who want accurate health monitoring but don’t want to display too much tech.

It can be worn day and night – and its 30-day battery life is fantastic compared to other smart watches that need to be charged every day or so.

It might be clunky as a sports watch, but for everyday use it does a great job in a classic-style watch package.

Originally published as Withings’ ‘Brilliant’ alternative to Apple Watch