Sony Smartwatch

The concept of ‘wearable tech’ is slowly but surely gathering speed, thanks largely to Google’s Project Glass and its uncanny ability to capture the imaginations of geeks the world over.

But while Google’s flight of fancy is still some way off being a commercially viable proposition, companies like Sony are already pushing devices onto the market that follow the same basic objective: to offer users an entirely new way of digesting information when they’re out and about.

The Android-powered Sony Smartwatch isn’t the first product of its type. In fact, it’s not even the first attempt at one by Sony - that honour falls to the abortive LiveView, which launched in 2010.

Also, it’s important to remember that companies have tried and failed to make a success of watch/phone hybrids: LG’s GD-910 sank without a trace.

However, the Smartwatch concept is different from what LG tried to achieve. Rather than transferring all of your phone functionality to your wrist - thereby limiting the experience (small screen, terrible for text input, etc) - Sony has decided to make its watch a window on your connected world.

In other words, it works in perfect harmony with your handset - provided that your handset is running Android, of course.

In fact, without your phone, the Smartwatch is just a watch. To work its magic it needs to be within Bluetooth range of your handset.

This is because most of the actual legwork is done by special applications installed to your mobile, and the results are merely transmitted to the watch.

Before you can start using the Smartwatch you have to pair it with your handset, then install a set of custom apps which allow you to control and interact with it.

One such app allows you to alter the clock style on the watch in real time, as well as decide which special ‘Smart Apps’ are installed and how they manifest themselves on the Smartwatch’s small 1.3-inch OLED display.

These apps are downloadable via the Google Play market and cover a wide range of functions, such as text messaging, email, music playback control, and caller ID.

Although you can’t do anything too complex - there’s no way of conducting a conversation via your watch, Dick Tracy-style - the level of functionality is still impressive, and, what’s more, genuinely useful.

For example, you can have the Smartwatch vibrate every time you receive an email. Instead of pulling your phone from its snug position in your trouser pocket, you merely need to glance at your wrist to see the content of the message.

This might seem pointless, but if you’re stuck on public transport and sandwiched between two particularly portly passengers, not having to extract your handset from your pocket to read an email is something of a blessing.

Similarly, the Smartwatch makes it easier to screen phone calls. If you’re in a meeting and your phone starts to ring, you can instantly see who is trying to contact you and reject the call if it’s not urgent - all without having to lay a single finger on your phone.

Another useful feature is the ability to contract your phone’s music player, which almost makes up for the shockingly poor in-line remote controls that most Android phones come with.

So the principle behind this product is sound - as the packaging so clearly states, it allows you to discreetly keep up with all your essential mobile notifications.

Sadly, there are a few caveats to report, some of which are likely to limit the Smartwatch’s appeal for many.

The most obvious shortcoming is the touchscreen. While it’s a step up from the one on the LiveView, which employed touch-sensitive edges rather than a proper touchscreen, it’s still far from perfect.

Taps and prods often go unheeded, and the pinch gesture required to move backwards through the UI is annoying inconsistent; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Speaking of the UI, it’s frustratingly counter-intuitive. Navigation through the various sections of the Smartwatch is clunky, which is a real shame because a product like this could really benefit from a tightly-controlled and simplistic interface.

Another glaring problem is that some of the Smart Apps are anything but smart - the Twitter client, for example, lacks even the most basic notification customisation settings. Unless you want your wrist to vibrate every quarter of an hour to tell you a new tweet has been posted to your timeline, you’ll want to avoid installing it altogether.

Putting the software to one side for a moment, there are some irksome issues with the design of the Smartwatch, too.

It’s an improvement over the bland LiveView, but the clip-on design is misguided. Few people are going to be brave enough to clip a £100 product to their outer clothing - the chances of it slipping or being knocked off when you’re out and about are too great.

Because of this spring-loaded clip, the Smartwatch is bulkier than it needs to be, and it’s not as secure a fit as we’d like. We noticed that during use we would often accidentally knock the watch and cause the clip to open. While it was mercifully never in any danger of falling off, it’s annoying all the same.

Battery life is another concern - if you’re the kind of person that gets riled by the thought of having to change a standard watch battery every few years, then you’re going to positively detest the Smartwatch.

Although some users have reported stamina at around a week, we struggled to get three days out of our unit. To be fair, we had a fair few apps running at once, forcing the Smartwatch to constantly sync with the phone, but even so it’s a pain to have to remember to not only charge up your handset each night but your watch as well.

Annoyingly, Sony has decided to ditch the industry standard Micro-USB connector which featured on the LiveView and go with a proprietary charging cable. This means you have to carry it around with you when you’re away from home.

For all of its failings, the Smartwatch remains an interesting product. If you can live with the poor battery life, awkward design, and slightly unresponsive touchscreen then you just might discover that it makes a real difference in your life.

While Sony needs to work on the concept a little longer before it really hits the nail on the head, the Smartwatch gives a tantalising glimpse of a possible mobile future in which devices become so seamlessly integrated into our lives that interaction is effortless and natural.

The Smartwatch may be a work in progress, but it’s an exciting one all the same.