SMARTWATCH AND FITNESS TRACKER REVIEWS

Sony SmartWatch 3 Review: The Best-Performing Android Smartwatch Yet

Sony’s been trying the smartwatch thing for years, but the original SmartWatch and the SmartWatch 2both…what’s the word I’m looking for here? Sucked? Yeah. But the SmartWatch 3 has solid performance and two nifty features you won’t find on any other Android Wear. It’s the first with built-in GPS and a screen you can read without backlighting.

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Android Wear watches are off to a pretty decent start. The Moto 360, the LG G Watch R, and the Asus ZenWatch are all lovely and useful in their own ways. So why might you buy a Sony smartwatch instead?

Because this year, Sony did something smart. It abandoned its own (train-wreck of a) smartwatch OS and opted to use Android Wear. Android already has hundreds of apps that are optimised to work with Wear, letting you do things like manage notifications, call a car, follow recipes or navigation directions, and sure-why-the-hell-not, right or left-swipe in Tinder. It’s actually very intuitive and easy to use, and it’s frequently easier to give your wrist a glance than to pull out your phone and unlock it just to see why it’s been buzzing.

Specifications

Display: 1.6-inch, 320×320 pixels, transflective display
Weight: 45g
Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0 LE
Storage: 4GB internal, no external
Water Resistant: Yes, IP68-rated
Processor: 1.2GHz quad-core ARM A7, 512MB RAM

The good news is that the Sony SmartWatch 3 lets Android Wear do its thing without getting in the way. (If only more phones were that way!) Android Wear runs fast and smoothly on the watch, which is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core ARM Cortex A7 and 512MB of RAM. That’s more or less standard for Android Wear, though some manufacturers have gone with older, slower, more power-hungry processors, and performance suffers. Not the SmartWatch 3: out of every Android Wear device I’ve tried — and I’ve tried them all — it’s the most stable.

But I don’t know if I’d call it handsome. It’s not unattractive, it’s just kind of there, which is ok. Basically, you’ve got a simple black rectangular body with notable bezels set in a black rubber watch band finished with a silver clasp. The clasping mechanism is definitely nice, easy to pop in and out of, but secure enough that there’s next to no chance it will fall off your wrist. There’s a single button on the right side for waking up the screen and quickly accessing settings. That’s about it. Definitely not nearly as handsome as the Moto 360 or Asus ZenWatch.

The utilitarian construction does give the Sony another benefit, though: it’s waterproof down to 1.5m for half an hour, which is more than than its Android Wear brethren. While I wouldn’t recommend taking it into the water because the screen freaks out like you’re pressing it with a thousand fingers at once, it’s nice to have that peace of mind.

The watch’s display is a rectangular, 1.6-inch transflective TFT LCD. So what the heck does transflective mean? Well, as the name suggests, it’s a display that can both transmit light and it can reflect ambient light. This means that in most lighting situations (i.e. outside use, or reasonably well-lit indoors) you can read the screen without having to wake up the backlight. It’s particularly useful outdoors. The sun still washes out the colours, but it’s pretty readable.

The SmartWatch 3 also has the biggest battery of any Android watch to date at 420mAh, narrowly besting the 410mAh pack in the LG G Watch R. That, combined with that transflective screen and an efficient processor gives it the best battery life of any Android Wear device so far. The G Watch R usually got me about 40 hours of usage on a charge, but the SmartWatch 3 routinely nets over 48 hours. That’s obviously a lot shorter than the Pebble smartwatch, which gets a solid week on a charge, but frankly, the Android Wear watches just do a lot more. Assuming you have an Android phone, of course.

So how about that built-in GPS? Combine that with a recent Android Wear update that lets watches locally store music from Google Play, and it means you can pair some Bluetooth headphones and head out on a run without having to tote your phone with you. There aren’t very many apps that can take advantage of the GPS yet, but the basic functions of Runkeeper worked without a hitch.

But I’m a little sceptical that anyone would want to run with the watch alone. For starters, the Runkeeper watch app is pretty limited. It couldn’t do any of the audio voice coaching as I ran. The UI that lets you browse through music is somewhat limited, and you’re stuck with whatever you’ve already downloaded (which is limited to just a few gigs). Plus, if you turn your ankle or encounter some other kind of emergency, it’s much safer to have a way to call for help. There are so many good, secure ways to attach your phone to your body that it doesn’t feel like much of a selling point.

Like

Best battery life for an Android Wear watch yet, and the transflective screen is nice for quickly checking the time of day.

I love that the charging port is just a plain old micro USB, which means it’s really easy to charge it anywhere.

The watch itself doesn’t catch your eye so much, which is generally a good thing, though fashionistas may find it boring.

The clasping mechanism feels nice and strong and yet easy to get on and off.

No Like

The SmartWatch 3 doesn’t have a built-in heart rate monitor, which is become a key feature for wrist-worn devices for people who are serious about their health. The Moto 360, Fitbit Charge HR and Basis Peak constantly monitor my heart, giving me a much better estimate of my real caloric burn and heart health. If I had to choose between HRM and GPS, I’d take the HRM in a heartbeat. Yes, that was a pun.

The screen isn’t quite as pretty as the Wear watches that use AMOLED displays.

While the band feels strong, it’s a bit on the thick side where the clasp is on your inner wrist, which can get annoying while you’re typing.

The micro USB port is covered by a little rubber gasket that feels like it will eventually break off.

The pre-installed watchfaces are more than a little lackluster, but there are loads of gorgeous ones you can download from the Google Play Store.

Should You Buy It?

Sony Smartwatch 3

Price: $

HOW WE RATE & REVIEW

Best Sony smartwatch yet.
Great clasp.
Best-in-class battery life.

Don’t Like

No heart rate monitor.
Thick band.
Unimaginative stock faces.

It’s a tough call. It many ways, it simply performs better than any of the other Android Wear watches. But on the other side, it looks a bit plain, and looks matter when you’re talking about something you’re going to be wearing all day, every day. The lack of heart rate capabilities is the biggest ding, and it’s up to you how heavily you weight that. If health and fitness are priority for you, the Moto 360 — even with its godawful battery life — is probably the smarter buy. Even though the SmartWatch 3 lasts more than twice as long on a charge, and operates more smoothly, it’s the one for me. That said, if you like the way it looks and tracking your daily burn isn’t a big deal, I think you’ll be happy with the Sony.

The SmartWatch 3 sells for $US250, which ties the Motorola for second-most expensive Android Wear watch, behind the $US300 LG G Watch R. It ain’t fancy, but it’s a solid performer, and it’s the first smartwatch from Sony that might actually be worth your trouble. [Google Play]

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DISCUSS

9 COMMENTS | REPLY

Marty Guest
FEBRUARY 16, 2015 11:03 AM
From a lot of different articles that I have read. Optical HR is still a fairly new technology and is not exactly accurate a lot of the time. For me not having optical HR is not a deal breaker. I would rather have the reliability of a HR strap over an inconsistent optical HR sensor.
Though the smart watch 3 appears to be a much better alternative to the pile of watches that samsung have released of late (all of them ranging from bad to very bad!)
Reply 0
- soldant @soldant
  FEBRUARY 16, 2015 12:40 PM
  I'm glad somebody else pointed this out! These optical sensors are basically little pulse oximeters, which are actually looking at red light reflected off red blood cells to determine pulse rate and oxygen saturation. Their accuracy depends on a lot of different factors, such as external light getting into the sensor and confusing it, positioning, how much skin it has to travel though, and movement. ECGs meanwhile use the electrical activity of the heart (thus getting a more accurate reading) but require two monitoring electrodes to work (which you can't really get with a little smart watch).
  Most pulse oximeters are placed on the fingertips, toes or even earlobe, where the reading is much more accurate. These smartwatches are taking a guess at best. They don't really classify as HR monitors.
  Reply 0
Inquisitorsz @inquisitorsz
FEBRUARY 16, 2015 11:21 AM
That really is quite unattractive. But I guess it's more of a sports watch like a Fitbit than a pretty Smartwatch like a moto360.
Not being able to change/replace the strap will annoy a lot of people. I'd prefer to take the GPS out in favor of a heart-rate monitor.
As stated the USB cover looks terrible. Why not have wireless charging or exposed contacts (ala Pebble). A USB plug just takes up too much room and is hard to seal. Nice that you don't need a special cable/device but I think in this case it's not the best option.
Reply 0
phoniclynx @phoniclynx
FEBRUARY 16, 2015 11:52 AM
I'm not so sure why everyone disses the Moto 360's battery life.. I find it more than adequate. Just put it on the charging dock (no plug required) when you go to sleep.. It lasts the whole day without any dramas even with heavy use. Nothing hard about taking a piece of "jewelry" off when you go to bed.. who wants to ware it anyhow when you go to sleep?
If you're wanting a HRM and it's such a big issue to you as opposed to the GPS.. Moto 360 kills it.
LAST EDITED FEBRUARY 16, 2015 11:52 AM
Reply 0
- scarnon @scarnon
  FEBRUARY 16, 2015 1:48 PM
  I get the same thing with the Gear S - It gets a full day I just charge it at night alongside my Note 4 and all good to go each day
  how are you finding the Moto 360? I only went with Gear S as I use Sammy everything but it does fall short with a few things. HRM is shoddy as all Samsung ones are, and my call forwarding when out of bluetooth range of my phone is hit and miss. Apart from these factors though the notifications, messaging and calling are fantastic, which is all I wanted to get out of it. I just want to leave my phone on my desk or on the couch at home and not worry about missing a beat lol
  Reply 0
jaedee884 @jaedee884
FEBRUARY 16, 2015 12:31 PM
The only real improvement here was the built in storage and GPS. I've owner the last three generations of the Sony smartwatches and I'm still using my 2 until I can get a steel band 3, the 3 is all well and good internally. But it looks terrible, and going back from the industrial design to the fitbit wannabe was a bad design choice.
My people I know like my 2 because it looks like a watch. And its not till I start tapping and swiping do they realise otherwise. And that's what the general consumer market wants.
Reply 0
grim @grim
FEBRUARY 16, 2015 1:16 PM
I recently picked up a silver Moto360 with the metal band when I was in the US.
The Moto 360 gets ragged on pretty badly, but I am more than happy with it.
-All metal version looks really stylish, so much better than the leather band
-I get pretty decent battery life out of it. A day of moderate to heavy usage from ~7am until 10pm and I still have over 50% left in the tank.
-Never have to shake to get the screen to turn on, the gesture of raising your wrist and twisting is pretty natural and works probably 8/10 times. When it doesnt you just tap the screen and it lights up.
-Heart Rate monitor is great and pretty reliable
- I dont notice the "flat tyre" look on the round face, it's really only noticeable when you have a light coloured watch face on.
Reply 0
jsdesign @jsdesign
FEBRUARY 16, 2015 1:30 PM
I'm waiting for a decent smart watch that I don't have to worry about wearing in the shower or jumping in the pool with, or going for a surf. You know, like a good watch should be able to handle. I know I don't take my phone with me in those situations, but then I don't usually need to make a phone call, or browse the net, facebook etc when I'm doing those things. I still need to tell the time though...
Reply 0
- jaedee884 @jaedee884
  FEBRUARY 16, 2015 1:37 PM
  Sony smartwatch 2 and 3, I dont take my 2 off when I go for a swim and my 2 gets about 3 days. Only really use email notifications for work. So not using it as a smart watch non stop.
  Forgot to mention also use the timer a lot at gym. Can leave my phone in the locker and has enough range for me to go into the weights and cardio rooms and not lose connection. But aside from timer and email its just a watch.
  LAST EDITED FEBRUARY 16, 2015 1:39 PM
  Reply 0