Tag Heuer’s new Connected Calibre E5 isn’t just another luxury smartwatch — it’s a collab. The Swiss brand has teamed with New Balance to produce a limited-edition running-friendly model that looks like it fell off the set of an anime: bright violet and neon green accents, a sporty, flexible strap that nods to running shoes, and a personality that’s louder than most high-end timepieces. It’s a clear bid to marry haute horlogerie with street-level athletic cred.

The headline hardware is familiar to anyone who’s been following Tag Heuer’s smartwatch arc: a 40mm case in black DLC Grade 2 titanium, an AMOLED display, and the company’s usual obsession with material quality and finish. But the New Balance edition dresses that hardware in a distinct graphic language — the watch face and strap echo New Balance’s FuelCell running palette, and the collaboration even extends to a co-released FuelCell SC Elite v5 running shoe. It’s as much a style statement as it is a sports tool.

Tag Heuer is packing the Calibre E5 with the modern basics runners expect: dual-band GNSS for more accurate positioning, optical heart-rate monitoring, SpO₂, sleep tracking, step counting, and an array of motion sensors — everything you’d monitor on a training day and most recovery days after. The company also touts “outdoor-readable” screens and fast charging: Tag says a depleted battery can be refilled to 100% in about 90 minutes, and that the 40mm model is rated for up to roughly two days in low-power mode (the larger 45mm gets the longest run-time). For a luxury watch with a bright AMOLED and continuous tracking, those are respectable numbers.

Performance silicon: Qualcomm’s Wear 5100+ sits at the center of the experience — a sensible pick that promises smooth UI and decent efficiency without leaning on the older Wear OS software stack. Tag Heuer’s hardware and the 5100+ chip add up to a device that behaves like a contemporary smartwatch in speed and responsiveness.

Here’s the fork in the road: the Calibre E5 runs Tag Heuer’s own OS — a bespoke, in-house platform built by the brand rather than Google’s Wear OS. That’s a strategic move that buys tighter design control and full iPhone compatibility (yes, Tag Heuer makes a point of playing nicely with iOS), but it also means the watch sits outside the mainstream app ecosystems most users are used to. There’s a trade-off: better polish and direct integration of Tag Heuer’s features, but fewer third-party apps and an entirely new platform that hasn’t run the gauntlet of years-long user feedback. For buyers, that’s the biggest unknown.

If you’re buying this as a running partner, though, Tag Heuer leaned into practical utility: the watch ships with New Balance–created training plans — structured programs for everything from 10Ks to marathons — and in-watch coaching features that include visual “chasing diamond” indicators and post-run graphs the companies say will “transform data into clarity.” In short, if you want guidance, Tag and New Balance baked it in rather than pointing you toward a third-party app.

Price tags are, predictably, on the luxury end. The New Balance edition is listed at about $2,050, and Tag Heuer offers other Calibre E5 configurations in different materials and strap combos that can lower the entry point to roughly $1,600, depending on choices. That puts the watch in direct competition not with budget wearables, but with other luxury smartwatches and the higher echelons of hybrid mechanical-plus-digital timepieces. If you measure value in craftsmanship, exclusivity and a Swiss-made name, the math might work — if you measure value in apps-per-dollar, the picture is murkier.

The Tag Heuer × New Balance Calibre E5 is a deliberate hybrid: part performance tool, part luxury object, and part cultural drop. It’s perfect for someone who wants a distinct look, appreciates refinement in materials, cares about running-focused features, and is comfortable trusting a new software stack from a watchmaker rather than a tech giant. It’s less perfect for people who live in third-party apps and rely on large app ecosystems, or for bargain hunters seeking raw numbers for the money.

If you’re drawn to the idea of a premium running watch that looks like it belongs on a fashion shoot as well as at the starting line, this is interesting and thoughtfully executed. If you want the widest array of apps and the reassurance of long-term, widely supported updates, you might want to pause and watch how Tag Heuer’s OS matures.

Pros

• Premium materials and a striking collaborative design.
• Built-in New Balance training plans and running-focused features.
• Decent battery life for a luxury AMOLED watch and fast charging.

Cons

• New, proprietary OS with an uncertain app ecosystem and long-term software roadmap.
• Price sits squarely in luxury territory; not for budget-conscious runners.