The newly announced Smartwatch 3 makes the switch to the more widely accepted Android Wear, so we made sure to try one on and see if it has what it takes to beat stiff competition from Samsung, LG, Asus and Motorola. Sony’s CES event last year featured its SmartBand lifelogging wearable, along with its Lifelog companion app for Android.
The Lifelog software is now accessible via the web, thanks to a HTML5 version which uses Sony’s new open API. The Lifelog app is accessible via your existing Sony Entertainment Network credentials, and the site is responsive, so it’ll work with whatever device you use to access it.
Sticking with a square display, rather than experiment with a circular screen, the Smartwatch 3 is a safe, if slightly plain-looking wearable. The stainless steel rear is a nice premium touch, but it's a shame it's covered by the rubberised plastic strap, which surrounds the watchface entirely. It's a shame as Sony has used metal for the clasp and it looks rather sleek, but sat side by side with the competition we can't help but think it looks a little cheap. At least it's ideally suited for getting wet, and as the entire watch is IP68 water-resistant you won't have to take it off when getting in the shower or going for a swim.
The Sony Lifelog open API will allow other developers to build apps that use the data gathered by your compatible Sony wearables, so that tracking can go beyond basic reporting and move into more practical feature sets. Some examples of what will be possible with the Lifelog API include upcoming IFTTT recipes, Habit Monster routine improvement and development, and Withings Smart Body Analyzer integration to add weight, BMI and body fat percentage information to Lifelog’s data set.
The stainless steel SmartWatch 3 otherwise boasts the same specs and features as its predecessor, including a 1.6-inch square 320×320 display, IP68 water-resistance rating, built-in GPS and standard microUSB port charging. And, since the SmartWatch 3 is a modular device, users should be able to get their hands on the strap as an aftermarket option.
Speaking of those, Sony has also launched a new SmartWatch 3 holder gadget, which will let it work with any standard 24mm width watch strap that uses standard pin-based mounting. Vertical-specific head-mounted devices might be the best way to help this new category of gadgets gain more traction in the general consumer market – Google Glass is also having more luck with industrial and other very specialized uses, and a runner-specific pitch is definitely targeting a group that’s very motivated to purchase gear and accessories to begin with.
The 1.6in transflexive LCD display is virtually unchanged from the SmartWatch 2. It's designed to be legible even in bright sunlight, but we aren't convinced LCD is the way forward for wearables; power-saving OLED technology makes much more sense when battery life is critical, but Sony is sticking to its guns for the foreseeable future.
It was perfectly legible inside under bright lights, and the 320x320 resolution is ideally suited to Android Wear's short and simple notifications, but we'll have to wait until we take one outside to see how it copes in direct sunlight. A button on the side enables and disables the screen, which should help reduce battery consumption when you aren't looking at it. The 420mAh battery should be capable of up to two full days of use on a single charge, according to Sony, even when powering that LCD display and the 1.2GHz quad-core processor, but we'll withhold judgment until we've been able to give it a proper test.
At least Android Wear felt perfectly smooth, with screens swiping without stuttering and notifications dismissing as soon as we swiped them away. According to Sony, the Smartwatch 3 will gain a dedicated Walkman app for playing back up to 4GB of music with a Bluetooth headset, even when you aren't paired to a smartphone, as well as a remote app for controlling playback on another device. While this should help it stand out from other Android Wear smartwatches, neither feature was available for us to try out at IFA, meaning we walked away fairly nonplussed.
Android Wear is what you make it; with the ability to add apps, customise watch faces and come up with novel uses for a screen strapped to your wrist, it has plenty of potential, but without these tweaks the Smartwatch 3 felt all but identical in use to LG's G Watch and the Samsung Gear Live.
Even so, it has the edge in terms of looks over LG's watch and Sony seems to be concentrating on Android Wear, unlike Samsung which is splitting its time between Google's operating system and its own Tizen OS. If Sony can deliver a set of unique Wear apps, the Smartwatch 3 could still be in with a shot as your first/next wearable. The Smartwatch 3 is available at Amazon with a price tag of USD 240.
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