The Burg 17 Android watch is another offering from Burg that combines smartwatch capabilities with the ability to make and receive phone calls via a SIM card. It made quite a stir when it was released and was a very exciting piece of tech back in 2014.
Sadly, Burg has since gone out of business but the watch can still be found for sale at selected sellers.
At the time of release in 2014, the Burg founder said that the Burg 17 smartwatch was going to change the watch industry.
It used the Android 4.0 operating system and Burg claimed it was the first smartwatch to be fully Android powered.
Other features included a 1.54 inch screen, a voice recorder, Wi-Fi, GPS, and a 2 mega-pixel camera.
The main selling point however, was the inclusion of a SIM card. This enabled the Burg 17 to function just like a phone.
See how the next iteration in the line, the Burg 18 fared next. Or learn how the line has developed and see what the Burg 13 had to offer.
This was in the days before the Apple watch (it was rumored to be in development at the time of the Burg 17 being announced) which makes it even more of an amazing piece of tech for its time.
Smartwatches were still very uncommon and very few actually existed. Burg certainly had very bold and ambitious aims. Sadly, smartwatches never really exploded into the mainstream like many had envisaged at the time.
Technology still holds them back now, even though they are vastly superior to the watches of 2014. But, they still aren’t perfect and we outline the technological aspects that are holding them back from try mainstream adoption in this article.
The Burg 17 was revolutionary for its time and though full of amazing features, it was plagued by shortcomings related to the hardware of the time. Touchscreens just weren’t ready for the intricate level of communication needed and batteries weren’t powerful enough (they still aren’t!).
These are just a couple of flaws in what can be considered quite an expensive watch. It was close to 400 Euros at launch which even these days would be a pretty expensive watch. That price tag would align it with big players like the Apple Watch.
But, even this price is small in comparison to Tag Heuer’s new golf watch which will retail just shy of $3,000.
Curious to see what else Burg has to offer? Check out our review of the Burg 16A smartwatch.
Did you own this watch or know someone that did? What did you think about it? We’d love to hear about your experience in the comments section.
