Michael Kors never fail to make fantastic and stylish watches for both males and females. Their latest collection is the Access watches; gorgeous, modern smart watchers for users wanting to embrace the smartwatch world and still look fabulous! It incorporates the Bradway, Sofie and the Runway. Here, we’re focusing on the Michael Kors’ Access Runway.
Michael Kors Access watches are the perfect combination of style and next-evolution technology. Powered by Google’s Wear OS, users have waterproof protection, heart rate monitoring, and the ability to make payments.
The Access Runway watch initially released in the summer of 2017 and is now in its fourth generation. It provides a negligible streamlined appearance that looks elegant on the wrist while still sporting the oversized feature prominent in Michael Kors’ other designs. It has the latest Google Wear OS interface and packs, even more, features into a stylish smartwatch.
Design
The Michael Kors’ Access Runway has a 41mm stainless steel case providing a more wearable size for those with smaller wrists and avoids looking too chunky.
The watch also offers endless ways to customize the device. Users can change their dial as often as they wish and can even add a picture of a loved one as their new face if they have access to Facebook and Instagram! The Access Runway watch is purchased with a suitably stylish strap in either silver or gold tone stainless steel with silicone straps available to buy separately.
The 18mm strap is interchangeable with a clasp fastening and an extra buckle to switch between straps, allowing for more customizability. Both strap designs look equally elegant, albeit in different ways and can be changed to fit different occasions, whether it’s the annual office party or a trip to the shops with the family. The watch avoids the cheaper plastic look of other smartwatch manufacturers.
The Access Runway watch has a water-resistance up to 30 meters and is swimwear proof. However, it is not suited for diving or long underwater excursions. The fashionable stainless-steel watch strap is not ideal for trips to the swimming pool or the annual summer trip to the beach, but with the option to change to a silicone strap, users can feel more at ease taking their watch near water.
It has three buttons on the side of the watch with a larger rotating crown as the middle button. This larger button is the central operating option to use to open the apps menu with the ability to scroll through options or return to the watch home screen. The other two buttons are shortcuts and can be customized to suit the user’s preference.
When purchased, one button opens the Michael Kors Access app, and the other opens Google Fit, but these can be changed by going into the settings on the watch.
Display
The Michael Kors’ Access Runway watch is slightly smaller than previous designs. It features a considerable 1.19inch AMOLED screen with a much improved 390 x 390 resolution. Compared to other smartwatch brands, the screen is smaller, but it doesn’t have a significant impact on the functionality and remains aesthetically premium alongside the exterior shell of the watch.
The watch is set initially on an ‘Always On’ setting. The display in the watch face is always running, but the face darkens when it’s not being used. This feature avoids the awkward wrist movements to activate the watch, but the setting can be changed. The watch has several subtly interactive faces to enhance the functionality of the watch further and bear the resemblance of a standard watch by avoiding the continuous ‘poking’ at the device.
With the updated Google Wear OS, the functionality of the watch is easier to use compared to previous watches. All the watch features can be accessed with simple swipes rather than complicated gestures requiring a handbook to remember them all! There are also ‘quick setting’ tiles that can be toggled on or off to make using the watch even more manageable, but they are not customizable.
Notifications look more appealing and ordered chronologically, allowing readability and the option to scroll through them or view the entire notification by tapping on it to expand or close it. It supports a similar function to iPhones with the ability to swipe left or right to clear the notification.
Features
The Access Runway watch is a high-end smartwatch with lots of additional features. The standard features are all available as with any Wear OS device such as the pre-installed watch faces, music playback controls, and Google Assistant. This feature can be accessed by swiping to the right.
When Google Assistant is in use, users will see a personalized overview of their day, including any appointments in the calendar and smart suggestions based on the user’s activity. As with older Michael Kors designs, there is the Access app allowing features like switching between watch faces.
Fitness tracking features of Access Runway
Unlike other watches, the Access Runway offers built-in GPS and expanded fitness features. Users will be able to track their steps, and the distance traveled as well as the calories burned. Users can also monitor their heart rate throughout the day with all results being logged in Google Fit.
The heart rate can be tracked automatically throughout the day if a user opts-in to the feature, allowing the smartwatch to record the heart rate every 20 minutes but there is the option to manually measure the heart rate which may preserve the battery life.
The different watch face options enable the ability to include the BPM on display and with Google Fit heart rate measurements can be seen throughout the day in the form of a graph. Overall, it’s quite a good watch to use for fitness tracking for women, and also men who like designer watches.
With the addition of Google Pay, users can make payments without using their smartphones, although this option works best with android phone users.
Compatibility
The Access Runway allows users to use the watch if they have Android phones or iPhones. With IOS devices, the Wear OS app must be running in the background to support interaction and receive notifications. Unlike Android users, people connected with IOS devices will not be able to interact with iMessage or SMS messaging when paired with an iPhone and can only accept or deny calls.
Battery
The Michael Kors’ Access Runaway watch has a 300mAh battery which typically lasts a little over 12 hours, but with features like the heart rate sensor and built-in GPS, this is surprisingly adequate.
Turning off functions such as the ‘Always On’ display and automatic BPM tracking can sustain the battery life for a little bit longer. The device is charged by a magnetic puck at the back of the device, allowing for easy overnight charging.
Warranty
The Access Runway watch varies in price between $155 and $250 depending on the style and watches strap chosen at purchase. It comes with the standard 2-year warranty for any manufacturing defects but does not cover accidental damage.
Summary
The Michael Kors Access brand is a uniquely stylish collection of smartwatches. The Access Runway watch is a beautiful watch with a fantastically vibrant AMOLED display and packed with features suitable for many different occasions. It has the bonus of heart rate tracking, all condensed into a suitably fashionable casing.
The device runs smoothly with a Wear 2100 chipset and 4GB of storage and looks stunning on the wrist with its oversized but streamlined appearance which can be very appealing. Michael Kors Access Runway come in different versions for women and men with slightly different design features depending on which model version you choose.
Last Updated on December 14, 2020
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