With all the hoo-ha surrounding the Samsung Galaxy Gear, we take another look at the other smartwatch – and one with a more obvious name too.
The Sony Smartwatch 2 is a device that doesn't attempt to do as much as the recently-announced Galaxy Gear, but manages to be a more sleek and focused beast as a result.
Shorn of the need to speak to your wrist, the Smartwatch 2 instead focuses on being a companion to the smartphone running Android 4.0 and above, offering more basic functionality.
The Smartwatch 2 is a decently-designed device – there are metal and rubber watch straps on offer, and without the camera that adorns the Gear you've got far more flexibility in the designs you can use, with most standard straps fitting the watch.
It looks far more like a watch than the Samsung version for one simple reason: it doesn't have to turn off. The now-iconic power key on the side is there for when you want to fire the display up a notch, but in general standby mode the display will revert to a low-power clock face.
It's a little tricky to hit that side button, but it's chunky and easy to find without needing to turn your wrist a rather unnatural way to see where you're pressing.
Otherwise, the design of the Smartwatch 2 ticks all the boxes we could have hoped for really, in that it's sleek, light enough to not be obtrusive, looks premium and most importantly of all: doesn't look like a geeky smartwatch… more something like a fashion house of Diesel's nature might have come up with.
The main draw of the Smartwatch 2 (Sony is keen to point out this is actually the third or fourth iteration of its wrist-based gadgetry, but the naming convention took precedence here) is the fact it's not only touchscreen based but runs a heavily cut down version of its Android overlay.
It's a very simple system to cycle through, with homescreens expanding as you download more apps for your watch. These are increasing all the time, and while there's no specific number to crow about, privately Sony is pretty chirpy about how far ahead it is of its South Korean watch-rival in terms of app numbers.
The screen, a 1.6-inch screen is a 220 x 176 resolution option, which is smaller and lower res than the Galaxy Gear. It's not high resolution either, and feels like a companion device when flicking through the apps rather than a more 'headliner' feel that you get with the Gear.
That said, at least Sony's Smartwatch 2 is water resistant, coming in with an IP57 rating to make it something you can keep on the wrist when washing up.
It's also got a much longer battery life, with 6-7 days apparently easy to manage if you only use it to get text notifications and call updates on the arm.
And the final kicker? It's only going to cost around £170, compared to the Gear being nearly double that.
Early verdict
The Sony Smartwatch 2 is the ideal foil to your Sony, or any Android Ice Cream Sandwich or above, smartphone, making it a much more universally appealing device.
It's got sleek lines, a lower price and a decent range of apps available at launch, making it a toy you can legitimately ask for at Christmas and then spend all day playing with.
It's not got the lag we've seen with so many other smartwatches, and a long battery life makes it much more of a proposition for the charging-naysayer compared to the Galaxy Gear.
Technologically speaking, it doesn't have the specs to match up to the Gear, nor does it have the functionality. But to some people, those looking for a simple device that quietly alerts them to text, call and Facebook updates, this could be an ideal candidate to replace the Timex.
Source : techradar[dot]com
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