The Olio Model One: A Stylish SmartWatch That Saves You Time

Any old watch can tell the time; the Olio Model One wants to give time back. This new smartwatch is designed to help you deal efficiently with the glut of information streaming into your phone, saving you time while looking good doing it.

Right now there are two kinds of smartwatches: Geeky models like the Apple Watch or Samsung Gear S that are essentially wrist-borne computers, or fashion watches from Alpina or Mondaine that have a smidgen of technology inside.

Olio, a startup whose founders hail from Apple, Google, Pixar, and NASA, hopes to create a third kind of smartwatch that combines both style and smarts. I got an early look at its first effort, the Olio Model One, and I was favorably impressed.

The Model One will initially be available in two collections, Steel ($595) and Black ($795), with a choice of two analog-style displays. (That’s a few hundred dollars more than competing watches from Apple, Samsung, and LG.) Both of these watches, however, are flat-out gorgeous, with a pleasingly simple interface and some unique features. For example, lines radiating from the center of the watchface visualize the volume of messages and notifications you’ve received over a 12-hour period. Why? Because it’s cool.

The Olio Model One not only relays messages, calls, and notifications from your Android or Apple phone, it also gives you an intelligent way to deal with them, says CEO and founder Steve Jacobs. Swipe from left to right on the watchface to see messages you’ve missed; swipe right to left to see what’s coming next on your schedule; tap on each entry to expand it. Likewise, you can swipe left to dismiss messages, and swipe right to act on them or send a canned response.

The Black and Steel versions of the Olio Model One smartwatch will be available this summer (Olio).

Swiping up from the bottom allows you to control apps on your phone, so you can crank the tunes or get a weather report with a couple of taps. Swiping down from the top lets you access the Olio’s settings.

The Olio works with a cloud-based personal assistant, called Olio Assist, that helps you deal with incoming messages and can learn your preferences. For example, it can look at your schedule, detect when you’re in a meeting, auto-reply to texts and send all calls to voice mail without bothering you. Later it can show you a digest of the messages you missed.

The Olio’s scratch-resistant glass is two and a half times thicker than your average glass watchface. Combined with the polished steel case and band, it makes a weighty addition to your wrist. You probably won’t be running any half marathons with this one on, though the Model One will also available in lightweight suede bands that give it a retro 1970s look.

(Olio)

Jacobs says the Model One will run for a couple of days on a single charge and recharge in under an hour, using a rapid wireless charger. The charger is also magnetized; set the Olio down on the coil and it automatically clicks into place, so you never have to worry about setting it down wrong and discovering – too late — that it’s out of juice.  

Unlike the Apple Watch, and several competing smartwatches running Google’s Android Wear software, the Olio will not run its own apps, measure your heartbeat, or count your steps. Instead, Jacobs says, it will integrate with virtually any data service you receive on your phone via the mobile app; you may even be able to use it to control devices in your home such as the Nest Smart Thermostat. We’ll have to take his word for that; the mobile app was still being designed as this article was being prepared.

In an increasingly crowded smartwatch market, the Olio hopes to stand out by being both simpler and more sophisticated than the rest of the pack. If the company makes good on its claims, it may well succeed. Olio is taking “reservations” for the watch starting today and hoping to ship the first batch of 1000 watches sometime this summer