View the Tissot
High-T photo album.

Up until now, I had reviewed SPOT watches from all the MSN Direct watch manufacturers
(Swatch, Fossil, Abacus,
and Suunto)
except Tissot. And now that I have finally had a chance to put the Tissot
High-T through its paces, I can honestly say that I have saved the best
for last. There are things about all the SPOT watches out there that I like, but
the Tissot High-T is by far the highest quality, most feature-rich, and best looking.
At $725 retail (and very few discounts to be found),
it’s also the most expensive, but this is definitely a case where you get what
you pay for.

Note: I’m not going to cover the MSN Direct service in detail in this review.
For a very detailed overview of the MSN Direct service (including screenshots),
see my review
of the Swatch Paparazzi.

Before I break down the features of the Tissot High-T, I’m going to lead with
a little watch-related anecdote. Part of my interest (some call it an obsession)
with watches is in some ways a search for perfection. I am much less interested
in the volume of watches in my collection than I am with the quality of those watches,
and how close each watch comes to my vision of perfection. So one day, I decided
to try to define my vision of perfection for several different types of watches.
In the bulky, digital, geeky category, this is what I came up with:

• Stainless steel or titanium construction. Plastic watches certainly
  have their place, but the perfect digital watch must be sturdy, and have at least
  a hint of class.
• Sapphire crystal. Synthetic sapphire is usually reserved for higher-end watches,
  which usually means automatic analog watches, while most digital watches have
  soft acrylic crystals. In the middle, you have your mineral crystal,
  but the perfect digital watch would need nothing less than the almost completely
  scratch proof sapphire.
• Renewable power supply (after all, who wants to worry about
  having to get a battery changed?). This usually comes in the form of a battery
  that is recharged either by plugging the watch in, or by solar energy.
• Automatic time calibration. The perfect digital watch should keep perfect time.
• Vibrating alarm. I’m really surprised this isn’t a bigger feature in digital
  watches. I’m ok with the fact that I like geeky digital watches, but there’s
  no need to advertise it to the world with constant beeps, chirps, and chimes.
  Just like I prefer a silent cell phone, I’d like a silent watch, as well.
• Water resistant. It doesn’t have to be suitable for scuba diving,
  but it should be able to withstand an unexpected downpour, and even a little recreational
  swimming.
• Countdown timer. I think countdown timers are probably the third most useful
  feature (behind time and date) on digital watches. How else will you know when
  your frozen pizza is ready to come out of the toaster oven, or when it’s time
  to feed the meter again?
• Multiple programmable alarms. That means one can set a date as well as the time.
  Just because I want my alarm to activate tonight at 8:00 to remind me to watch
  Lost doesn’t mean I want to watch something at 8:00 every single night. (Yes,
  I have a Tivo, but you get the point.)
• Stopwatch. It doesn’t have to record a million split times, but a
  few would be nice. Resolution should be 1/100th of a second.
• Backlight. On a digital watch, that usually means an electroluminicent
  backlight, though if we’re talking about a digital watch which also has an analog
  display (like several of the Casio G-Shocks), an LED light is very nice, as well.
• Visually appealing. Of course, this is pretty subjective, but the perfect digital
  watch shouldn’t be one which I feel compelled to keep concealed beneath the
  sleeve of a heavy sweater or parka.

So what does my vision of the perfect digital watch have to do with this review?
In all my hours of searching and testing, I have not been able to find a single
watch that comes closer to to my vision than the Tissot High-T. That’s not to say
it’s 100% perfect, but in terms of features, construction, and aesthetics, it is
probably the most complete and compelling digital watch I know of.

Features of the Tissot High-T

• MSN Direct support. As you are about to see, the Tissot High-T
  is an excellent watch even without SPOT capabilities, but throw in the MSN Direct
  service, and in addition to all the other great features, you have constant access
  to all kinds of useful information, along with automatic time calibration. (I’m
  not going to review the MSN Direct service itself in this article because I want
  to keep it focused on the High-T, but for a detailed description of MSN Direct,
  see my review
  of the Swatch Paparazzi.)
• Touch crystal. The Tissot High-T is part of
  Tissot’s Tactile line of watches which means you can tap on different parts of
  the crystal rather than pressing buttons to operate various functions. I have
  two other Tissot Tactile watches (the T-Touch,
  and the new Navigator 3000), and I really like this feature. The High-T is the
  only MSD Direct watch with a touch crystal, which I believe makes is slightly
  easier and more comfortable to use.
• Vibrating alarm. SPOT watches have a tenancy
  to be noisy. I find I’m constantly receiving news alerts, instant messages, and
  appointment reminders. And then, of course, you have your hourly time signal,
  alarms, and countdown timer. The Tissot High-T is the only SPOT watch with a discrete
  vibrating alarm. In my opinion, this feature alone makes it the most compelling
  choice.
• Sapphire crystal. I’ve put enough scratches on crystals that
  I have really come to appreciate synthetic sapphire, and the Tissot High-T is
  one of the few digital watches outfitted with one. Sapphire is a must, in my
  opinion, for watches with touch crystals so you never have to worry about wiping
  off smudges on whatever material happens to be nearby. As long as you don’t use
  a diamond, ruby, or another sapphire to try to polish your High-T, the crystal
  is not going to scratch.
• Very bright backlight. The Tissot High-T and
  the Swatch Paparazzi have the brightest, nicest backlights of any of the MSD Direct
  watches. Not only can the watch be easily read in the dark, but it can be easily
  read in the dark from across the room.
• Shortcut screen. The Tissot is a very feature-rich watch which
  means navigating to the specific screen or channel you want could take
  some time. That’s where the shortcut screen comes in. Touch the right side
  of the crystal for about two seconds, and the shortcut screen appears, allowing
  you to jump instantly to any one of four of your most frequented channels. Brilliant.
• Programmable alarms. The Tissot High-T has two programmable
  alarms, which means you can specify a date in addition to the time. You can also
  choose an audible alert, vibrating alert, or both.
• Countdown timer. No digital watch is truly
  complete without a countdown timer. The Tissot High-T adds a nice touch to an
  otherwise standard timer by gradually filling up the screen line by line from
  the bottom as time counts down which allows you to get a quick visual indication
  of how much time is remaining. Very unique and useful.
• Stopwatch. The chronograph on the Tissot High-T is nice and
  large and easy to read and operate. It supports up to 99 splits and will go up
  to 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds before flipping. The resolution is 1/100th
  of a second.
• Stainless steel case and buttons. The High-T’s case is heavy,
  thick, and sturdy. The buttons feel firm and satisfying, and provide excellent
  feedback. SPOT watches generally require a lot of button pushing (not as much
  with the touch crystal, but still a fair amount), so you want a set of buttons
  like those on the High-T that provide a good user experience. The Swatch Paparazzi,
  Tissot High-T, and the Suunto line of SPOT watches all have excellent buttons.
• Large, readable LCD. The LCD on the Tissot High-T is one of
  the best I’ve seen. It is large and readable with plenty of contrast. The only
  SPOT watch that can compete in terms of screen size and contrast is the Swatch
  Paparazzi which makes perfect sense since they probably have the same
  components inside (Swatch Group owns both Swatch and Tissot).
• Rechargeable battery. The battery on the
  High-T is impressive. I found I only needed to plug it in for a couple of hours
  about every five days or so. If you’re not actively using the alarms and the
  backlight, it will go even longer than that. It comes with a very compact and
  convenient USB recharger for people like me who are seldom away from their
  computers, and a wall charger, as well.
• Water resistant. Although the touch crystal won’t work under water, the High-T
  is water resistant to 30 meters, or about 100 feet.

What I Like About the Tissot High-T

Almost everything, but especially the two things that really set this watch
apart from just about any other digital watch out there: the vibrating alarm function,
and the sapphire touch crystal. Even without those two features, I think the Tissot
High-T is the nicest SPOT watch, but throw in a silent alarm and an extremely innovative
and practical navigation system, and you definitely have one of the coolest digital
watches in the world.

What I Don’t Like About the Tissot High-T

I could say price, but I won’t because watches (like almost everything else in
the world) are worth what people will pay, and if you want the top of the line
MSN Direct watch, and one of the most versatile digital watches around, you will
probably pay. And in the overall scheme of things, $725 is not a terrible price
for a watch, especially when it is in the top of its class.

I wouldn’t mind seeing the High-T a little less hefty, though. Tissot definitely
needed a pretty substantial case to cram all those features into. Personally, I
stopped worrying about watch size a long time ago, but if you have dainty wrists
and a delicate ego, the size of the High-T is something to consider.

The last thing I don’t like about the High-T is the fact that you actually have
to cut the rubber strap down to size. When
I retire a watch, I really like to be able to pass it along to friend who has been
drooling over it incessantly, or at least have the option of selling it if nobody
I know wants it, but once you cut the High-T down to your size, it may very well
be yours for life. Not such a big deal for a $200 watch, but it would be nice to
give a $725 watch a second life.

In Closing…

If you’re in the market for an MSN Direct SPOT watch, and you absolutely have
to have the best, look no further than the Tissot High-T. The other MSN Direct
watches are fine, and each one certainly has its place, but the High-T’s place
is clearly at the top of not just SPOT watches, but just about any other
digital watch you care to compare it to.

Additional Resources

• The
  Tissot High-T photo album
• The
  Tissot High-T product page
• The Tissot High-T
  User Manual (PDF)