What you need to know
- Puma's first smartwatch is fitness-focused and powered by Snapdragon Wear 3100.
- MKGO is the first Michael Kors fitness watch, running on the same platform.
- Michael Kors Access Lexington and Bradshaw also updated with new platform internals
Puma and Michael Kors are both announcing their first fitness-focused smartwatches, and in the case of Puma its first ever smartwatch for the brand. Additionally, Michael Kors has refreshed its popular fashion-minded Lexington and Bradshaw models.
Both brands have their smartwatch lineups handled by Fossil, which is a good thing for us — all four of these new watches are based on effectively the same platform as the Fossil Gen 5. That means you're getting longer battery life thanks to new battery modes, a Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor, new speaker, more storage and memory, GPS, NFC, heart rate monitoring, and 5ATM water resistance.
Puma isn't introducing any sort of additional branding here — this is literally just "the Puma smartwatch" which makes plenty of sense when it comes to leveraging this instantly recognizable brand. The watch has a 44 mm aluminum case with textured accents and a silicone strap, which comes in three different color combinations, and the screen measures in at 1.19-inches.
The Puma brand will draw people in, and the Fossil internals will keep them around.
There's just a single rotating crown/button on the side, unlike most other Wear OS watches, and the casing looks plenty tough to handle whatever activities you could get yourself into. Puma has loaded up unique watch faces that are fitness-focused and complement the sporty styling of the watch.
The Puma smartwatch will be available in November for the solid price of $275, directly from Puma and also at "select retailers" — you can bet it'll be available widely, if Fossil's other brands are any indication.
The first Michael Kors fitness smartwatch is a looker, and its lightest ever.
Michael Kors Wear OS smartwatches have been available for a good amount of time now, but the MKGO is its first fitness-focused model. This is the lightest Michael Kors smartwatch yet, and like the Puma smartwatch the MKGO is sleek and simple with the same 1.19-inch display and a silicone strap — though the MKGO has a standard three-button array on the side.
Four bold color combinations and prominent Michael Kors branding will appeal to the MK fans out there. Pricing is set at $295 for when the MKGO goes on sale in October, and you'll be able to get it anywhere other Michael Kors smartwatches are sold, including the Michael Kors website.
Alongside the MKGO, Michael Kors is also refreshing its existing Lexington and Bradshaw models to get up to speed with the latest platform updates. The Lexington 2 is a 44 mm case with 20 mm lugs, and comes in four different design combinations. The Bradshaw 2 is also a 44 mm case, but with 22 mm lugs, and comes in five design combinations. Aside from the design tweaks, both models are identical inside, and are built around a larger 1.28-inch display.
Both will be available starting in October and pricing starts at $350 for both models and goes up from there depending on the color and band combination.
