Sony SmartWatch review

The watch uses Bluetooth 3.0 to connect to your phone, and is designed solely for use with Android handsets, specifically with Sony’s Xperia line, though a smattering of phones from other manufacturers are also supported — a full list is available on Sony’s website. Out of curiosity, I tried using the SmartWatch with my HTC Desire running MIUI (admittedly not one of the handsets listed as recommended) using the apps available from Google Play, and found that it couldn’t maintain a reliable connection with the watch.

I also tried connecting it to the Sony Xperia S, one of the phones described as a "perfect partner" to the SmartWatch. Having charged the watch, I paired the handset via Bluetooth, followed the prompts to install the software needed, and upgraded the watch to the latest firmware. So far, so simple.

Here’s where it gets frustrating: configuring and adding apps to the SmartWatch is an unnecessarily laborious process. The only preinstalled app is the Events widget — an aggregator of everything else sent to the watch. To install more apps, you’re directed to the Android Market (now the Play Store) to download and install each and every one. Once you’ve added an app, you head back to the SmartWatch configuration pane, which is present in your Android notification tray whenever the watch is connected. From there, you can configure the downloaded watch app’s behavior, what accounts to use, whether it should show as a widget, and so on. The whole process is just needlessly complex. Since it’s a totally proprietary system, it seems strange that Sony hasn’t created its own method of adding apps to the device, when offering one-click installations would be much simpler. It's worth mentioning that I was using a preview version of the watch, so this software might be updated by launch, but as things stand it's overly complicated.

Once you’ve gotten past the configuration process, you can finally use the watch itself. There’s a moment of real geeky glee when you first start using it — anyone who grew up watching Star Wars or Power Rangers is bound to have images of using the SmartWatch as a communicator as you see data beginning to appear on the device. Over 40 apps are available for the watch (mainly from third-party developers), offering the core functions you’d expect like call handling, text messaging, music controls, Facebook, and Twitter. There are also a few surprises: the remote viewfinder app is especially impressive, showing the output of the phone’s camera on the tiny display and allowing you to focus and trigger the shutter. It's a neat trick, though I can’t imagine too many situations where it’d come in useful.

Most watch apps have two views: a full-screen mode and a widget, the latter offering the most recent piece of information at a glance. Full apps generally offer more depth — you can read whole tweets or Facebook status updates, for example — though any input from you is limited to one preset, which you edit from the phone.

Apps alert you to notifications by vibrating the device and displaying a logo on the screen showing which app has something new. It’s not as interactive as you might expect, though — tapping on the notification doesn’t send you to the latest tweet or missed call, leaving you to navigate through the menus to get to whatever needs your attention.

The interface itself has a definite learning curve. Navigation is far from intuitive, with some of the gestures to control the device and the logic behind the system feeling almost arbitrary. The primary view is a digital watch face with date in one corner — tap that and you’re taken to the most recent screen. Tapping with two fingers will take you up a level in the menu system. These taps and swipes eventually become second nature, but I was left confused for a few minutes as I tried to find the apps that I’d just installed — your widgets are the default view.

One area the device has obvious potential in is sports, though the only fitness-related app right now is Google Tracks. Sony's promised that a partner app for Endomondo Sports Tracker is on the way, which will offer your time and calories burned, and is aiming to have it available when the SmartWatch launches. A big issue for almost any Android user is also the lack of Gmail integration — a third-party app will notify you if you get an email, but won’t show you the sender or subject. This is a limitation of the Gmail app itself, but it definitely affects the usefulness of the watch.

The SmartWatch is still able to tell the time even if it loses connection with your phone, a critical upgrade from the LiveView. Following an initial sync, the time is memorized for as long as the watch has power, and you’re no longer left with a useless weight mounted on your wrist when your phone isn't connected.

Sony claims that the watch can manage 3-4 days in constant use before recharging, or up to two weeks while on standby. My testing gave me no reason to question this, and your phone’s battery will undoubtedly die long before the watch.