At Baselworld 2015, Alpina introduced the first connected Swiss-Made Smartwatch, thereby creating a new sports watch category – a combination of luxury sports watch aesthetics, integrated with smartwatch functionality. Each year since the release, the functionality of watch improves as the sensor and software technology gets better. This is our first time presenting a smartwatch Flieger.
To celebrate the last edition of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship which took place in Chiba, Japan on the 7th and 8th of September 2019, Alpina collaborated with Michael Goulian to launch a new AlpinerX limited edition sports smartwatch. Michael is an American aerobatic national champion aviator, who races in the Red Bull Air Race World Series under the number 99.
The AlpinerX features a 45mm lightweight fiber glass case with a 360-degree bi-directional compass bezel. A digital multifunction screen is integrated very well with the traditional analog sports watch dial, which is powered by a quartz movement. The yellow skeleton hands are filled with SuperLumiNova, and Michael’s number 99 is prominently visible at 2 o’clock. The yellow outer chapter ring and silicone band complete the sports watch look. The domed sapphire crystal and screw-down crown give this watch a decent 100-meter water resistant rating.
Conceived for folks with active lifestyle, AlpinerX uses the dedicated Alpina companion application, available on iPhone and Android. The application tracks your heart rate while exercising, records and analyzes your sleep patterns. It notifies missed calls and messages on the watch, and enables you to easily configure the parameters of your watch. The new companion app offers substantial improvement over the previous version with an easier overview of all your data via a dedicated dashboard. The multifunction display also indicates Worldtime (2nd Time Zone + Local 24h Time), smart alarms, phone calls and message notifications.
The Activity Tracker keeps track of your daily steps, calories burned, and total distance achieved. You can also define your own objectives. A UV Indicator lets you know when to protect your skin and eyes. A feature pertinent at altitude where the UV rays are less filtered by the atmosphere. The connected GPS records your courses, walks, runs, etc. By starting and stopping the GPS from the watch, you can see your course on the map, with altitude and activity data while using the app. The Barometer sensor regularly measures atmospheric pressure to give you the weather trend. You can also quickly check any pressure change by looking at the graphs displayed in the application. Temperature is measured at regular intervals by the embedded sensor. The companion app visualizes variations of the temperature on a graph. Dynamic Coaching feature gives you specific advice based on all the correlated data. Finally, wear your watch at night or put it under your pillow to record your sleep. The Smart Sleep alarm and the resulting analysis, will wake you up bright and refreshed.
Each function is measured in real time by the watch and streams data to the user’s smartphone to analyze activity and identify areas for improvement while allowing the AlpinerX to receive smartphone notifications on its digital screen. The smartwatch functionality is powered by MMT-283-1 movement. MMT (Manufacture Modules Technologies) is a platform developed with a partnership between Swiss watch companies and Silicone Valley tech. Peter Stas of FC/Alpina and Philippe Khan of Fullpower and MotionX technology are behind the MMT wearable devices. Unlike Fitbit and Apple Watch, the battery on AlpinerX lasts over 2 years.
AlpinerX Michael Goulian Edition is limited to 250 pieces, and the retail price is $995. Overall, a good sports watch packed with lot of smartwatch features, especially beneficial if you are an active outdoors person.