Technology

Slightly Upgraded: Sony Smartwatch 2

By Leo | Published on November 26, 2013

From Google Glass to the Nike Fuelband and Fitbit products, wearables are supposed to be the next big thing in technology. Smartwatches are one of the most coveted devices in the wearable tech arena and every major is either making a product or rumored to have one in the works. Sony, however, has been on the market with its Smartwatch since last year, and this year’s Smartwatch 2 promises major improvements. As reported by theverge.com:

“Last year’s SmartWatch was a disappointment. Clumsy, unintuitive, and just plain not good-looking, you had to be a real dyed-in-the-wool wearable connoisseur to even consider dropping the $149.99 Sony charged. This year’s SmartWatch 2 is even more expensive — it starts at $199.99 with a rubber band ($50 more than the Pebble) — but Sony claims that it’s learned a lot in the 18 months or so since the first iteration launched. The SmartWatch 2 has a larger display, improved design, updated interface, and other enhancements that Sony claims make it the smartwatch to beat.

Sony’s made a lot of headway with the SmartWatch 2 – it’s categorically better than its predecessor and better than any smartwatch Sony has ever released. But it’s still a number of steps away from being something that everyday people can wear, use, and enjoy. The hardware is greatly improved, and the design is probably the best of any smartwatch you can get. But the display is a bit of a letdown and the clumsy interface and difficult set up are frustrating and more than the average person is likely to put up with. Compound that with the notification system that doesn’t quite work and there’s very little reason for me to recommend a SmartWatch 2 over a Pebble to anyone. It’s the same story as many of Sony’s mobile devices: good hardware is let down by frustrating and clumsy software.”

The Sony Smartwatch 2 is a great upgrade from the first version. However much like the Samsung Galaxy Gear, the smartwatch category is still too under developed to be considered the next big thing like smartphones were a few years ago.

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