Reply With QuoteThank you for your review. How do you use the strap. Do you hold it against the card reader or swipe it over like a card? Are you charged by the app for using it?
While over on the Pistonheads forum I noticed that the watches subforum had a new sponsor – TapStrap. They had started a new thread to discuss all things watch strap related and have a related product ‘The TapStrap’. What is the TapStrap? It’s a leather strap with a contactless chip allowing you to make purchases as you would with a contactless card. Its linked to a PingIt account. I wont go into what that is as its easily googled
I thought that sounded like a good idea and was offered the chance to try one out.
For the last 10 days I’ve been wearing and testing the strap and wanted to and write a quick review as I know there has been some interest already from members on Pistonheads. I'm sure I'm not the only cross over member here. To be clear the strap was free but came with no strings attached and this post wasn’t a requirement or requested by them. I’m not connected to the company in any way and this is just my honest initial thoughts on the product. Hopefully its of interest or helpful to some of you. I thought it was a good product and wanted to share.
The strap arrived in the packaging below. The packaging is secure and functional but nothing to be excited about. Box contains the strap and a card explaining how to set up the strap. Pretty straight forward.
I choose the smooth brown leather 22mm strap but there are 3 other style options (smooth Black and then crocodile pattern black or brown) all available in 18mm, 20mm or 22mm. All priced at £49.99 with free delivery. Not a huge range but has the basics covered and I liked the tone of the brown.
I was impressed with the quality of the strap. If this was just a leather strap I wouldn’t be unhappy having paid £49.99, I don’t think it’s a bargain price but seems good for the quality and even better when you consider it has the contactless functionality. I paired this up with my Steinhart Ocean One and thought it looked great. The quick release strap made it very easy once I had my strap off.
Also tried on my other Steinhart, the Titanium GMT premium but thought it looked better against the black bezel.
The majority of the branding is on the inside of the strap so with the exception of the subtle buckle logo it just looks like a generic leather strap.
Next step was to set up a Pingit account, register/link the TapStrap and finally load some money on the account. This was really straight forward and took maybe 5 minutes.
Once money was loaded I was ready to spend it. I must admit I was a bit nervous at first so also had my wallet with me in case this was a complete failure. Fortunately there was no need to worry. Purchase made, no issues. I’ve made another 20 or so purchases this week and its been perfect every time. The strap is comfortable and I’m sure will get better once its broken in more.
So the tech works. Its easy to set up and the quality of the strap I think is right for the price. Now I know it works and I’m happy with the quality I might have to try my explorer on their 20mm smooth black version. If you think a watch strap with built in contactless tech is something you would use then I would recommend this 100%.
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Thank you for your review. How do you use the strap. Do you hold it against the card reader or swipe it over like a card? Are you charged by the app for using it?
This seems like a product destined to fail, and the review reads like an advert.
What if it gets wet, and what if you rotate watches? A solution that's looking for a problem IMO.
You hold it against the card reader like you would a contactless bank card or smartphone. The app is free and you load money onto it like a prepay card. The Pingit app is owned by Barclays I think, very well known, its not TapStraps own app.Originally Posted by Kaffe
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It's definitely not an advert.
Your right that being leather its as waterproof as any normal leather strap, so not very. It won't be for everyone, in fact I think the market is probably quite small but I liked it, it worked and the quality was good.
I like to read others experiences before buying things so trying to contribute myself.
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Thanks for taking the time to review this. I’m a Pistonheads crossover too, although it’s donkeys since I last posted there!
Genuinely interesting product but as has been said above, it does feel like a solution to a problem no one really has, along with a load of additional ‘problems’ of its own. The tech is good but I foresee another good idea in theory, going bump. Shame really.
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Thank you OP for your post. Interesting idea but seeing as I carry a mobile phone this is a bit defunct. But I have downloaded the app for instant payment that is a good idea. May think about the strap.
I generally have my phone with me too but it was easier with the strap as I don't have NFC turned on all the time on my phone so takes a few steps to get the payment ready. If I didn't need/want a new strap then I probably wouldnt buy this just for the payment feature but as I needed a strap it was a good upgrade over a normal strap.
As said I think the quality is good enough that I don't feel like you're overpaying for the contactless feature.
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The majority of people dont rotate watches, they have one!
We like to think it's normal to have a vast collection of watches and know the model numbers of them all
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