Gerry Palmers Tech 06.23.2022 01:Jun AM EDT

Montblanc Launches Summit 3 Smartwatch, the First Non-Samsung Smartwatch to Offer Wear OS 3

Luxury pen and watch maker Montblanc may be the first to rollout a non-Samsung smartwatch to carry the Wear OS 3, Google's latest operating system for wrist-worn devices.

The Montblanc Summit 3 will join the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic as the only smartwatches to run on the Wear OS 3, The Verge reported. Promised benefits of Wear OS 3 over Wear OS 2 include better battery life, improved load times, and smoother animations.

Montblanc Summit 3 to Offer Typical Android-like Features on a Smartwatch

Montblanc's Summit 3 offers a typical set of smartwatch features. This includes support for step tracking, sleep monitoring, blood oxygen measurement, and workout tracking. Google Maps supplies directions, Google Pay offers payments, and Google Play is available to download additional apps. The Summit 3 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus processor.

Two types of straps are available for the Summit 3: silver titanium (with a black leather and blue rubber strap) and black titanium (with black leather and rubber straps), and another strap that comes with a combination of the two with a green leather strap and black rubber strap.

By the looks of it, the Summit 3 seems to be a nicely put together smartwatch. It however costs twice as much as an Apple Watch Series 7.

Montblanc, however, has not provided too many details on what the software experience has to offer, only boasting support for turn-by-turn directions in Google Maps - which is the app's new version only supported on Wear OS 3 - as well as support for Google Pay, Android Central reported.

Montblanc Summit 3 Pricing and Availability

Pricing for the Montblanc Summit 3 is at $1,290, and the smartwatch will be available on July 15. Buyers will be able to purchase it directly from Montblanc's website. Montblanc is shipping this watch in "sustainable paper packaging" an announcement read, noting further that the watch will come with "a broad range of support tools to maximize the full lifecycle experience, as well as battery replacement by Montblanc Service."

As for the directions of Wear OS 3, Google previously announced a list of smartwatches that would be eligible for an upgrade to Wear OS 3. These smartwatches use a Snapdragon Wear 4100 or 4100+ chipset. But as of Wednesday, there is still no word on when any of those updates are coming.

With the Montblanc Summit 3 expanding Wear OS 3 past Samsung, though, this means updates are coming soon

Wear OS 3 was announced at Google I/O 2021 that is being co-developed by Google and Samsung, the latter of which has adopted Wear OS to replace its long-time Tizen platform. It brings some notable changes compared to previous iterations of Wear OS, which should provide a better option for smartwatch users compared to both Google and Samsung's offerings in the smartwatch space, combining the best of both companies.

One of the biggest changes is that the platform will offer an Android-like user interface, wherein OEMs can alter the appearance of the UI to provide their smartwatches a unique style. This would benefit smartphone OEMs by allowing them to match UI elements with their smartphones for a consistent branding and user experience. Samsung was the first to present this with One UI Watch, and we can expect that other OEMs are expected to follow.

Google also presented an updated launcher with pill-shaped apps, similar to the layout seen on newer iterations of the Wear OS Play Store, Google Messages, and other apps that have been updated to adapt to the Wear OS 3 platform. Google Maps is also getting updated with a new features, making it less dependent on a connected smartphone.

Wear OS 3 will also have a new task switcher, which can quickly cycle through in-use apps by double-tapping a navigation button on the side of the watch. The home screen will also be able to display icons for apps running in the background.