What do you want from a smartwatch? It’s an important question to ask in an increasingly fragmented wearables market, and for a certain group of people the Michael Kors Access Grayson could represent the ideal answer.
As with previous Android Wear smartwatches from the American fashion brand, the focus is on style rather than the spec sheet.
There are a couple of pretty basic functions missing as a result, but maker Fossil appears to have focused on nailing the core essentials - with considerable success.
Michael Kors Access price and release date
- Price: $350/£349 (around AU$589)
The Michael Kors Access Grayson hit US and UK shops in September, with a fixed price of $350/£349 (around AU$450). It’s available direct from the Michael Kors website, as well as from House of Fraser here in the UK.
That price makes the Grayson considerably more expensive than other fashion-forward Android Wear watches such as the $249/£230 (around AU$320) LG Watch Style and the $255/£259/AU$399 Fossil Q Venture.
Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to see where the extra money has gone.
Design
- Looks and feels like a proper fashion watch
- Pretty hefty on the wrist
- Three hardware buttons, including a rotating crown
The Michael Kors Access Grayson is an undeniably handsome watch. Note that we didn’t use the term ‘smartwatch’ there.
Kors and watch maker Fossil have clearly shot for that real watch feel with the Grayson, and the results are impressive.
Don’t take that to mean that this is a dainty piece of equipment, though. This is a hefty, chunky, 47mm ion-plated wrist-piece that’s unapologetically aimed at the traditional Men's (with a capital ‘M’) market.
There's a more slender model called the Sofie, which is both more compact and considerably blingier, so if you’re skinny-wristed you might want to consider something a little more subtle.
Despite its heft, the Michael Kors Access Grayson is relatively comfortable to wear. All models come with a beveled bracelet strap which, once you’ve had it adjusted appropriately, fits snugly.
This rugged real-watch design isn’t just a facade either - with an IP67 rating, you don’t need to worry overly about exposure to water or lint.
In terms of controls, there’s a rotating crown button that acts as a home button and a Google Assistant prompt - just press and hold. It also acts as a pleasingly tactile scroll wheel that’s not too dissimilar to the Apple Watch 3 equivalent. It’s ideal if you want to minimize fingerprints on the touchscreen, and is just plain pleasant to use.
Flanking this crown are two extra buttons. By default, the top button provides access to Michael Kors’s own suite of apps, which are My Social, My Looks, and My Modes. The bottom button launches the Google Play Store, though both of these shortcuts can be personalized.
Display
- 1.39-inch AMOLED, 454 x 454
- One of the larger, sharper smartwatch displays
- Perfectly round this time
Compared to its predecessors, the Michael Kors Access Grayson has made the sizeable leap up to AMOLED technology, which has all sorts of benefits for a smartwatch.
It means you no longer need a ‘flat tire’ section at the bottom of the display, while the lack of a back light makes it more energy efficient when you just want to quickly glance at the time.
True, it’s not the brightest display in direct sunlight, but you shouldn’t struggle in most conditions.
Besides being more vibrant, the Michael Kors Access Grayson display is just plain big. At 1.39-inches it’s up there with the Asus ZenWatch 3 - and it’s sharper, too, at 454 x 454.
All of this pays off when dealing with detailed watch faces, text, or image-heavy notifications. Which essentially represents the bulk of most people’s smartwatch interactions.
Specs
- Snapdragon Wear 2100 CPU with 512MB RAM par for the course
- Android Wear 2.0 still has app performance issues
- Lack of fitness and LTE understandable, NFC not so much
The Michael Kors Access Grayson runs on a Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. This means that it’s mostly spec'd like most other recent Android Wear 2.0 smartwatches, such as the Huawei Watch 2 and the LG Watch Style.
However, there are several key supplementary components missing here in keeping with the watch’s fashion focus.
There’s no heart rate sensor, NFC, GPS or LTE. We’ll discuss a few of these omissions more in the fitness section, but essentially it means that the Michael Kors Access Grayson isn’t at all suited to those seeking a more active smartwatch.
In a way that’s fine. You really wouldn’t want to take such a hefty, dressy watch out on a run through the woods.
Once again, Michael Kors has targeted its latest watch at a very specific segment of the market, and as a result it’s no all-singing, all-dancing hybrid in the mold of, say, the Apple Watch 3.
However, if we were to home in on one particularly disappointing omission here, it’s the lack of NFC. This means you can’t use the Michael Kors Access Grayson for Android Pay payments.
While the lack of GPS and a heart rate monitor makes a certain amount of sense, being able to buy goods from shops with a flourish of your wrist would seem to go hand-in-hand with this device’s more urbane trappings. It’s a shame.
As for the lack of a 4G LTE, it’s one of those dropped features that looks bad on a checklist but doesn’t prove that much of a big deal in practice. You’re not going to want to make any phone-free calls from your surfboard with this glorious paper weight on your wrist.
The vast majority of Grayson users will almost always have their smartphone within a matter of meters from their watch - whether those devices are on their person or not.
Performance and interface
- Solid general performance but slow apps
- Google Assistant works well
- Included apps are inessential
General performance here is decent, as you’d expect from a watch running on Snapdragon Wear 2100. This chip has been custom-made for smartwatches, and the benefits have been clear to see in the smooth running of the LG Watch Style and the Asus ZenWatch 3.
Android Wear 2.0 has taken more of the load off your smartphone and placed it on the watch, and the Snapdragon Wear 2100 generally copes with the added load well - particularly when it comes to navigating through watch faces, bringing up notifications, and moving between menus.
But this is Android Wear we’re talking about here, and it still doesn’t feel like a fully optimized OS with all the kinks ironed out.
Navigating through the core menus and notifications on the Michael Kors Access Grayson is speedy enough, but accessing native apps still takes an age. Most of the time, you’ll probably just pull out your phone to start a music track or get directions rather than navigating to the option through Google’s own native apps.
One effective sticking plaster over Android Wear 2.0’s sluggish app performance and the limitations inherent with the smartwatch form factor is Android Assistant. It’s arguably more useful on Android Wear than Android proper.
Why struggle with the Google Play app (or rummage around for your phone) when you can just bark "play some Bicep" at your wrist?
It feels very well integrated on the Michael Kors Access Grayson too. Pressing and holding the prominent crown button accesses Google’s voice-activated tool, while the watch’s built-in mic is capable of picking up your voice even when speaking relatively quietly - always handy when you’re talking to your wrist in public.
As mentioned, there’s a button dedicated to jumping you to a small suite of custom Michael Kors apps, which are stylishly presented (of course) but inessential.
My Social lets you link in your Instagram and Facebook accounts, granting direct access to any images you have on there for custom watch face purposes.
My Looks breaks down your watch faces by color, where you can then set about customizing the various elements. My Modes lets the watch switch between different watch faces depending on whether it’s day or night. All pretty inessential stuff.
Fitness
- This isn’t a fitness watch by any stretch
- Basic Google Fit compatibility is good for casual step-tracking
As already stated, the Michael Kors Access Grayson is not a smartwatch for fitness fanatics. In fact, it’s not even a smartwatch for fitness part-timers.
That’s a combined result of the Grayson’s hefty, dressy design and its lack of GPS and heart rate sensor. Needless to say there’s also no barometer like the one found in the LG Watch Sport.
What you do have is the standard accelerometer setup, which enables the Grayson to carry off basic step-counting tasks. This means you can still make use of Google Fit’s entry-level fitness programs, such as being active for 30 minutes per day or going for a run three times per week.
On the one hand it would be churlish and faintly absurd to criticize a fashion watch for failing as a fitness tracker. On the other hand, there are good-looking smartwatches out there that contain some combination of these missing functions - the Apple Watch 3 and the Samsung Gear S3, most notably.
The Access Grayson slots neatly into the current Android Wear scene, which seems split down the middle between multi-functional sports watches (the LG Watch Sport, the Huawei Watch 2) and more fashion-forward fare like the Asus ZenWatch 3 and the LG Watch Style.
Some Android Wear fans might pine for a proper Apple Watch equivalent - a dress watch and a fitness watch in one - but at least the Google ecosystem gives you options.
Compatibility
- Compatible with Android 4.3 and above
- Also compatible with iOS 9 and above, but limited
The Michael Kors Access Grayson is compatible with phones running Android 4.3, which should mean pretty much every Android phone in regular use today.
Being an Android Wear 2.0 watch, it also works with iPhones running iOS 9 or above - so again, that should be the vast majority of iPhones in use today. However, the iOS compatibility is decidedly more limited than with Android.
You won’t be responding to WhatsApp messages from within notifications here, while app support is very spotty indeed. That the watch won’t play nicely with iMessages, in particular, is a major drawback.
There appear to have been some reported connectivity issues with Android Wear 2.0 and the first few iterations of iOS 11, but that just drives home the simple point in all this - iOS users are much better served by an Apple Watch, while Android users are much better served by an Android Wear watch.
That hasn’t changed with the Michael Kors Access Grayson - as handsome as it might look alongside your forthcoming iPhone X.
Battery life
- Up to two-day battery life, but realistically a day with ample head-room
- Charger snaps firmly to the watch
Unless you’re one of those habitual watch-fiddlers (you know who you are), you should find yourself able to stretch to the best part of two full days of use with the Michael Kors Access Grayson before you need to charge.
More practically speaking, you’ll simply get to bed time each day without worrying about the Grayson running out of juice, which means you’ll stop monitoring battery life altogether.
Until battery technology improves significantly, that’s the best we can hope for with current smartwatches.
The watch’s 370mAh battery might not be the biggest available - especially given the watch’s overall size - but it comfortably does the job.
That’s doubtless thanks to the provision of the energy-efficient Snapdragon Wear 2100 CPU, as well as the benefits of AMOLED display technology.
Michael Kors bundles in a compact puck-like charger that snaps to the rear of the Access Grayson with reassuring magnetic vigor. All in all, keeping the Access Grayson charged is a pretty pain-free experience.
Verdict
The Michael Kors Access Grayson is one of the most polished, desirable-looking smartwatches on the market - which it needed to be given the higher-than-average price tag.
It certainly feels like you’re getting your money’s worth given its sheer size and heft, while the rotating crown makes scrolling through apps and notifications a tactile joy.
A large and crisp AMOLED display shows off watch faces and notifications as well as anything, while this strong foundation is completed by solid performance and battery life.
This isn’t the most complete smartwatch though, with no heart rate sensor or GPS ensuring that fitness fans aren’t really catered for. No NFC is arguably an even bigger bind, as fashion-conscious urbanites won’t be able to Android Pay for their goods without whipping out their phones.
But being a jack of all trades really isn’t what the Michael Kors Access Grayson is all about. It’s about creating a fashion-forward watch that marries the Android Wear 2.0 experience with traditional watch design principles - and on that count it’s a winner.
Who’s this for?
The Michael Kors Access Grayson is aimed squarely at the fashion crowd - those who want a stylish timepiece first and foremost, but with the core smartphone-linked advantages that Android Wear 2 brings to the table.
In the same vein it’s also ideal for anyone coming across from a traditional timepiece who likes the concept of a smartwatch, but understandably hasn’t been impressed by the designs to date.
Anyone looking for a more fitness-focused smartwatch should really look elsewhere, like the LG Watch Sport. But if you want a smartwatch that will look as good with a sharp suit as your every day attire, the Grayson is tough to beat.
Should you buy it?
There’s no escaping the fact that $350/£349 is quite a lot to spend on an Android Wear smartwatch. But the Michael Kors Access Grayson offers something few of the established manufacturers can match.
It’s a smartwatch that actually looks like a watch - and a relatively classy one at that.
Its strengths are very specific, though. If you have even modest ambitions of using your new watch as a fitness tracker or for mobile payments, you should probably look elsewhere.
The Michael Kors Access Grayson is an impressive smartwatch, but at this price there's lots of competition, such as the following.
LG Watch Style
The LG Watch Style states its intentions up front - it’s a smartwatch that focuses on its looks as much as anything else.
True, it’s not as good looking or stylish as the Michael Kors Access Grayson, but it has its own more understated charm. Besides which, it’s considerably smaller and slimmer, which may be a consideration for some.
Despite that, the LG Watch Style packs the same core specs - much pokier OLED display aside - for a significantly lower price.
- Read our full LG Watch Style review
Samsung Gear S3
For its latest smartwatch, Samsung has managed to create a handsome watch that’s also pretty well equipped (albeit far from the best) for fitness fans. Battery life is also very strong.
It’s a really strong rival to the Michael Kors Access Grayson in many ways, and you can generally pick it up for a fair bit less.
There’s one major caveat. While Samsung’s own custom wearable OS is very slick and pleasant to use, it’s also scarcely supported by third-party developers, so the app supply is meager.
- Read our full Samsung Gear S3 review
Apple Watch 3
Of course, if you’ve got an iPhone instead of an Android phone, there really is no contest. The Apple Watch 3 isn’t just the smartwatch that syncs best with your phone - it’s the best all-round smartwatch in the business.
The recently launched Apple Watch 3 packs in much-improved performance, two-day battery life, excellent fitness-tracking potential, and now the option of LTE connectivity.
It’s a smartwatch that can be worn to any occasion, too, thanks to its understated square design and vast range of interchangeable straps.
- Read our full Apple Watch 3 review
First reviewed: October 2017
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