Pinifarina Sintesi Hybrid review: Style over substance

Pininfarina isn’t a family title in smartwatch phrases, however for those who love vehicles, then it’s a design model chances are you’ll recognise for being intently related to the likes of Alfa Romeo, Rolls-Royce Royce and Cadillac.

The Pininfarina Sintesi Hybrid is the agency’s newest hybrid wearable that’s constructed by Hong Kong-based smartwatch maker Globics and desires to supply up a viable various to the likes of the Withings ScanWatch and Garmin Vivomove, providing options like coronary heart fee monitoring, notifications, sports activities monitoring wrapped in an analogue watch design.

The variety of hybrid smartwatches stays small, particularly after Fossil’s exit from the smartwatch area, making room for the Sintesi Hybrid to offer followers of this type a substitute for the large manufacturers.

Design & Construct

• One measurement choice
• Waterproof as much as 50 metres
• Elective straps accessible

The largest attraction of carrying a hybrid smartwatch is that it appears to be like, at a look, such as you’re carrying a daily watch. So, how effectively does the Sintesi pull that off? I’d say fairly effectively general.

Very similar to the Withings ScanWatch 2 and ScanWatch Nova, there’s an exercise dial on the backside of the face and a small digital display screen on the high.

For starters, you’ve received the sort of supplies you’d count on to see on a dressy analogue watch. There’s a 316L stainless-steel case that could be a little on the chunky facet, so will not be the sort of heft these with slimmer wrists will all respect.

It solely is available in a 44mm case measurement and all the 4 color choices and designs scream that this can be a watch made predominantly for males.

I had the leather-based model of the Sintesi Hybrid, which will get you a real Italian leather-based strap to match as much as that chunky case. It’s completely a high-quality leather-based strap, however was a bit too large for my skinny wrists. Fortuitously, it’s simply detachable and meant I might swap in a spare strap instead for a greater match, significantly when carrying it for train.

You even have the choice of choosing up different straps that allow you to swap that leather-based for one thing extra workout-friendly or switching to a metallic bracelet look.

Mike Sawh

As a bundle, it’s waterproof as much as 50 metres, which implies you’ll be able to take it for a swim and bathe, although it received’t observe the previous.

I’m pleased to say it did survive a dip within the sea and my native swimming pool however I might counsel preserving the leather-based strap away from water if attainable.

Show & Controls 

• AMOLED sub-display
• Sapphire crystal glass
• Rotating crown

The best way the Sintesi Hybrid shows its smarts is in a really related trend to most different hybrids. You’ll discover a small sub-display planted onto the standard watch face.

There are literally two sub-displays right here, with the underside being an analogue dial that’s capable of exhibit your exercise monitoring progress simply as Withings does.

Mike Sawh

The one up high is a monochrome AMOLED show the place the decision isn’t specified by Pinifarina. It’s comparatively brilliant and is activated whenever you press the center crown button on the fitting facet of the watch case.

That crown button will also be rotated to maneuver by means of screens with push buttons above and beneath to let you choose modes and settings or skip again a display screen.

Just like the watch case, the crown and pushers are additionally created from metal. The underside button will be customised to supply a shortcut to key options, so for those who don’t wish to scroll by means of screens to remotely snap an image, there’s a faster and simpler solution to get there and do it.

Software program & Options 

• Works with Android and iOS
• View notifications and climate forecasts
• Take smartphone footage and management music playback

Like different hybrid smartwatches, the Sintesi is about supplying you with some however not all of what you’d count on to get on a Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 or a Google Pixel Watch 3. If you’d like funds or the power to obtain apps, that’s not what you’re going to get right here.

Core smartwatch options lie in supplying you with the power to view app and name notifications on the show, although issues understandably really feel a bit cramped. You’ve received climate forecasts, the power to remotely take footage out of your paired smartphone and play and pause music enjoying in your telephone.

There’s additionally an at all times helpful discover my watch mode whenever you’ve forgotten the place you’ve taken your watch off.

One challenge I’ve with how smartwatch meets analogue watch is that, not like Garmin and Withings rivals, the Sintesi doesn’t shift the analogue arms out of the best way from the show.

Mike Sawh

That’s a rookie error and makes for a clumsy expertise when both hand is across the 11, 12 and 1 marks, not to mention each arms.

Outdoors of that, issues labored as marketed. I used it primarily with an Android telephone and spent a while paired to an iPhone as effectively. Notifications popped up in a speedy trend, the distant digicam characteristic was simple to make use of and the beautiful fundamental music playback controls labored fantastic as effectively.

Nothing right here is exclusive, so it’s actually about sticking to a lot of the options we already see on different hybrids.

Health & Monitoring 

• Tracks sleep and steps
• Optical sensor for coronary heart fee and SpO2 monitoring
• Linked GPS accessible

The Sintesi does behave like a health and normal wellness tracker and may provide some sports activities monitoring whereas leaning in your telephone to benefit from that added assist.

There’s an optical PPG sensor like most smartwatches to trace coronary heart fee all through the day and provide on-the-spot measurements of SpO2 (blood oxygen) ranges. It’ll observe day by day steps, monitor energetic durations of your day and provide up estimate day by day energy burned. There’s sleep monitoring to supply knowledge like period and sleep levels out of your most up-to-date evening’s sleep that may be considered on the watch.

Mike Sawh

If you wish to observe what number of cups of water you drink or regulate your weight, that is data you’ll be able to manually add to the Pininfarina companion smartphone app. There are additionally guided respiration workout routines on provide that ship vibrating nudges to immediate you when to inhale and exhale to get your self again to a extra relaxed state.

Digging into the exercise monitoring, I didn’t see something to counsel knowledge like day by day step counts and energetic minutes had been wildly inaccurate. It was usually 200-500 steps inside related monitoring from two different health trackers. Calorie burn estimates nevertheless, had been considerably decrease than what these different units reported.

Coronary heart fee knowledge tended to report greater common readings than I’d count on to see, whereas resting coronary heart fee was inside 5-6 bpm of two different dependable coronary heart fee trackers I wore it alongside. Most coronary heart fee readings typically trended greater for the day, which leaves some query marks over the reliability of the guts fee monitoring typically.

Mike Sawh

Delving into sleep knowledge and there’s fairly a pleasant breakdown of your evening’s stats with sleep scores, sleep levels and it typically reported longer durations of sleep, roughly 45-50 minutes longer than two different sleep trackers. Sleep scores typically painted an analogous image of our sleep as effectively. It was usually the sunshine sleep stage the place it tended to report longer durations spent in that specific interval of sleep.

There are some extra normal insights on provide revolving round sleep cycles and sleep phases that assist to offer the expertise of monitoring sleep a extra rounded really feel.

Sports activities monitoring extends to letting you observe a spread of actions, together with working, strolling, biking with profiles for sports activities like cricket, soccer and actions like yoga additionally accessible. The related GPS assist helps to make out of doors monitoring extra dependable and that helps for actions like working and strolling.

You do have the power to share knowledge with Strava and Google and Apple Well being, so your knowledge isn’t locked in a single place. I’d say the efficiency of that monitoring is in step with different hybrid smartwatches.

You’re not getting sports activities watch-level of efficiency, however for an off-the-cuff run or experience, it’s as much as the duty.

Mike Sawh

A much bigger challenge for me was the frequent cases when the sub-display turned off and the watch motion stopped, usually throughout sports activities monitoring, however it additionally occurred at different instances as effectively. Usually, placing the watch again on the charger solved the problem, however that’s hardly a superb answer, significantly whenever you’ve left the home.

When you received’t discover the sort of coaching evaluation you’d affiliate with a extra totally fledged smartwatch or sports activities watch, it does delve into a brand new wellness metric we’ve seen on different smartwatches. That’s analysing your readiness to deal with your day.

It’s taking a look at stress, sleep high quality to generate. It doesn’t really feel vastly personalised and once more is extra normal steerage to remind you to get sufficient sleep and preserving stress ranges low at essential elements of the day, like earlier than heading to mattress.

Battery Life & Charging

• As much as 30 days battery life
• Awkward charger

One of many largest appeals of proudly owning a hybrid smartwatch over a full smartwatch is getting (loads) extra battery life to play with.

There’s the promise of as much as 30 days of battery life, although that’s going to depend upon how heavy your utilization is or whether or not you’re turning on options like steady coronary heart fee monitoring and utilizing health and sports activities options frequently. 

Mike Sawh

I discovered that day by day drop off was up across the 10% mark and in a single day it was round 4-5%. That will point out it’s shorter than the utmost 30 days promised, however nonetheless exhibits it has the aptitude to go greater than every week, which I can get on board with.

What I didn’t actually get on board with was the USB-C charging cradle. It may be a bit awkward to clip on and I’d favor an easier solution to energy issues again up once more.

Value & Availability

The Pininfarina Sintesi is accessible in 4 totally different appears to be like, with all fashions costing the identical £329/$329, making it barely cheaper than choosing up an Apple Watch Sequence 10 for comparability.

You should buy it from the official retailer in addition to retailers like Amazon and Amazon US.

It’s after all higher to check with different high-profile hybrid smartwatches and on that entrance, you’ll be able to choose up the Garmin Vivomove for lower than £200/$200 or simply below £300/$300 within the case of the Vivomove Pattern.

Elsewhere, the Withings ScanWatch 2 prices barely extra at £319/$349, whereas the cheaper ScanWatch Mild sits at £229/$249.95.

You possibly can undoubtedly spend much less on a hybrid smartwatch elsewhere, however the value of the Sintesi is basically in step with different hybrids.

Must you purchase the Pininfarina Sintesi Hybrid?

The Pininfarina Sintesi largely ticks the important thing bins so far as what you’d count on from a hybrid smartwatch. It appears to be like nice, affords a pleasant mixture of smartwatch in addition to health and wellness-focused options and received’t have you ever charging it each couple of days.

So far as bettering the competitors, whether or not that’s on the mixture of analogue and related components, options and providing an app that’s a step up on its rivals, I believe it has a bit of labor to do. Particularly on the software program entrance, whereas the problems I had with the show randomly turning off and the watch face freezing are removed from best.

I’d say going for a Withings hybrid will get you extra unisex design attraction together with a a lot sleeker software program expertise. Garmin’s hybrids additionally do a nicer job of bringing smartwatch and analogue design collectively.

General, it simply doesn’t do sufficient as a bundle to suggest it over rivals.

Specs

• 44mm Stainless-steel
• Sapphire glass 
• AMOLED sub-display
• As much as 30-day battery life 
• Linked GPS
• PPG sensor for coronary heart fee, stress, SpO2 monitoring
• Waterproof as much as 50 metres
• Works with Android and iOS