Photo contribution by Thomas Hawthorne
The Sony SmartWatch 3 is sleek and snappy and has some appealing features for those on-the-go. The review committee used this watch during activities, at work, in the sun and on-the-go, here’s what we found…
Screen and Hardware:
The screen looks fine when in the car or inside, but when glancing at the SmartWatch 3 in direct sunlight it is nearly impossible to read the screen. We also came across some problems with the flick activation that wakes up the SmartWatch 3 as it didn’t always seem to work.
The Sony SmartWatch 2 was water resistant but with the 3 being waterproof, we didn’t worry about washing our hands with this one.
Software:
This is the first Android smartwatch based on the Broadcom system-on-chip (SoC) platform which includes a 1.2GHz Quad-core ARM Cortex A7 processor (BCM23550), an improved GPS and Sensor processing SOC (BCM47531) capable of simultaneously tracking five satellite systems (GPS, GLONASS, QZSS, SBAS, and BeiDou), the now popular Wi-Fi/BT/NFC/FM quad-combo connectivity chip (BCM43341), and a highly integrated power management IC (BCM59054).
Voice Recognition:
You’ll begin to love or hate the phrase “Hello, Google.” The Sony SmartWatch 3 has impressive voice recognition. The ability to recognize what you’re saying is very good, but with most devices if you lose satellite coverage it doesn’t work as well, this watch was no different.
Push Notifications:
A big change from the Sony SmartWatch 2 to the next-generation SmartWatch 3 is the addition of Android Wear. Now users have the ability to read a text message or answer a phone call directly on your wrist.
Fitness:
Sony SmartWatch seamlessly pushes text messages to your wrist and any Android user can easily adapt to the interior, but it’s the exterior that may irk a few depending on activity. The watch sits comfortably on the wrist when walking or jogging, but we noticed that the design would not be good for activities where your wrist is flexed such as lifting weights, yoga or stretching.
Active Lifestyle:
The Sony SmartWatch 3 is touted as an active lifestyle watch, but one main flaw was that the GPS feature drains the battery life extremely fast. We hope that improves over time.
We also found that the watch does not integrate well with fitness mobile apps other than the onboard Google Fit. While Google Fit is relatively new and not many people have adopted the mobile app yet, it would be a bonus to easily integrate ones’ current fitness program with ease.
Another thing we noticed about active integration was that, although you can play music, at this time it only works with a Google Play subscription.
Our review committee consisted of a software engineer and AZTB team members.
Available in 5 different colors the Sony SmartWatch 3 can be purchased for $249.99.
Read our other smartwatch reviews right here
