It looks like smartwatches that put a premium on appearance are settling around a pricing neighborhood: $400 to $500.
Withings has started taking pre-orders for its Activé watch — an attractive timepiece that subtly measures your progress to a daily movement goal — and pegged the price at $450. That’s the same neighborhood as the Michael Bastian / HP watch, and in the low end of the spectrum being bruited about for the Apple Watch.
This pricing certainly has little to do with the technology; low-end fitness trackers now sell for $50, and even highly capable devices like the Jawbone UP3 comes in at $180 and the Fitbit Surge will sell for $250. But $500 is not an eye-blinker for a nice watch with a couple of extra functions built in.
Of course, that watch has to look nice. But the Withings is pretty elegant, if a little bland, the Bastian watch is a solid timepiece, and the Apple Watch is — well, we’re not sure about that yet. But $450-$500 looks like an OK price for this new segment.