Due to the high price of attendance, many watch brands and several technology brands as well have skipped this year’s Baselworld. Nonetheless, a handful of new hybrid feature watches did debut at the show and will contribute to the growing feature watch market. For smartwatch coverage, please see our Baselworld 2018 Day 1 blog here. 

We define feature watches as those connected timepieces without a high level OS and not capable of running third party apps.  These tend to fall into three primary categories: hybrid watches (with analog movement), sports watches (with touchscreens and some smart functionality, but no third party apps), and child/elder tracker watches.  Several notable hybrid feature watch releases from the show floor include:

• Skagen has always kept it simple and stylish when it comes to hybrid watches, and has announced their 3^rd hybrid watch, the Holst at Baselworld 2018.The Holst’s casing is made of titanium, providing an extremely light and comfortable feel catering toward those not accustomed to regularly wearing a watch.It offers activity tracking, discrete notifications, and sports 3 buttons on the side for controlling music or taking a photo.

• Swedish brand Kronaby, who made their debut at Baselworld 2017, has released their 2018 hybrid collection, announcing 11 new models across their Apex, Sekel, and Nord ranges.While smart features will remain the same as in previous versions, an increased variation of sizes and finishes will be offered, catering to a wider audience.Additionally, Kronaby teased a new contactless NFC payment feature set to be the highlight of another new model later this year.

Kronaby 2018 hybrid collection:

As consumers demand more full-featured smartwatches over fitness bands, it is expected that hybrid feature watches will help bridge the gap for those traditional watch wearers who have yet to take the leap toward a touchscreen timepiece.