Misfit has unveiled a designer touchscreen smartwatch with a round screen and waterproofing. But, best of all, it doesn't have a "flat tyre".

Our quick take

Vapor looks like a slick, minimalist watch. It could be a little slimmer, though it feels pretty light to wear. It’s a surprisingly full-featured, advanced offering, especially given the company’s history of making passive activity trackers for the wrist. It's not the first connected watch to come from Misfit since it was acquired by Fossil, which sells other high-end luxury watches from the likes of Michael Kors, Kate Spade, and other designers, but it is a drastic departure from Misfit's typical analog-style, touch-less watches.

From what we can tell, Vapor runs a forked version of Android Wear. The company won’t reveal specifics on the software, so it could be something Misfit/Fossil developed in-house just for this device.

Misfit Vapor smartwatch is expected to ship in late 2017 and will cost $199. The case itself is available in black and gold.

Misfit Vapor p

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Misfit Vapor

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The Fossil Group-owned company, which is known for making low-power wearables, showed off Vapor at this year's Consumer Electronics Show, and we got the chance to play with it on the show floor. To be clear, this is Misfit's first fully touchscreen watch, and it's a beaut. It looks like other round-face watches, complete with a stainless steel case and interchangeable straps, but it lacks the "flat tyre" eyesore.

Round watches like the Moto 360 were among the first to burst onto the smartwatch scene, and they were heavily criticised for including a black-out bar in their display design. The 44mm Vapor features a 1.39-inch AMOLED display (326 ppi) that is fully touch. From our brief demo with it, we quickly realised interaction with the product mostly happens on the outside of the screen. To switch  menus, drag your finger around the edge, sort of like Samsung’s twisting bezel. There are transition animations that make interactions feel smooth.

Some of the interactions have a vaporising effect - hence the name. Vapor also features built-in GPS, optical heart rate sensors, a two-day battery life, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100, and 4GB of onboard storage, the latter of which you'll use for listening to music without a phone. You also get an accelerometer, altimeter, and water resistance up to 50m, meaning you can swim or take a shower with this thing on. 

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