Sony announces SmartWatch 2, its third generation Android smartwatch
The smartwatch segment is heating up, and Sony is actually one of the veterans in it, with two watches under its belt. I have both, with the Sony Smartwatch MN2 (the second of the two) being the one I use with Tasker. Now Sony has announced a successor to the MN2, called the Sony SmartWatch 2, and it’s aiming to address a lot of the issues with the current generation model.
From the looks of things, the new watch is mostly evolutionary. The design is better and less toy-like, with an aluminum body, and the plastic clip is gone- thankfully. The screen is bigger and higher resolution, the battery lasts longer, the side button is bigger, and that horrible creation of a proprietary charging connector is replaced with a standard microUSB port. It can be paired using NFC, has a more intuitive interface, and it can work as a standalone watch without a connection to a phone. With the clip gone, a standard 24mm watch band is all you need to use a strap of your choice. The watch is also water resistant,
Feature-wise, however, it’s pretty much the same. It can receive notifications and control basic features on the phone, with third party app support in place to help expand the functionality. That third party app support is what made me buy an MN2, as there’s an app that allows you to use any Android widget on the watch, and since that app has been abandoned by the developer I’m curious to see if the new watch will get something similar. Without it, Sony can frankly keep the thing.
The new watch will be launched in September, but the price point isn’t known. The current SmartWatch is actually cheaper than the competition, so if Sony can keep that up, it might be able to grab a piece of the market. While I like my watch, it has a lot of issues, so if Sony’s third attempt at this type of product doesn’t hit home, I think the battle is lost for them for good.
[Engadget]
