Sony SmartWatch 3 Unboxing and First Impressions

Smartwatches may have initially been considered a passing fad when Sony originally announced the Smartwatch range and Samsung introduced the Galaxy Gear last year but over the past twelve months, we’ve seen many manufacturers announce smartwatches; from multiple new Samsung Gears to smartwatches from LG, Asus, Motorola, Huawei and Microsoft there’s a lot of competition. To make things even tougher, Apple announced the Apple Watch (although it doesn’t go on sale until early next year) and arguably the most important addition to the lineup is the Android Wear OS but is Google’s wearable platform the answer?

Having used a range of smartwatches (from the Android-toting Galaxy Gear to the Tizen-based Gear 2 range and the proprietary Pebble and previous Sony Smartwatches), we’ve experienced a lot of different implementations yet the first thing I noticed with Android Wear is that it’s all Google. From Google Now-like cards to Google-backed voice input and a range of applications, Android Wear is Google’s answer to proprietary platforms. As someone who has previously experienced the poor range of applications available on other devices, Android Wear presents something of a revelation – given that Google are in charge of developing the platform, developers seem to have taken the new platform with aplomb.

For Android developers, the Wear platform makes things simple as if you have the Android Wear app installed on your device, your phone will automatically download the Wear app (if compatible) when you download a new application. For developers this doesn’t mean maintaining a different store or updating other applications and this could be an essential reason behind the uptake of Android Wear development; at present there are 170 applications showing on the Android Wear store and this number continues to grow offering promise of a plethora of apps in the near future.

One area where Android Wear really tackles the small display is through Google’s voice input; since using the Smartwatch 3, voice input has proved to be incredibly useful in performing tasks ranging from making a phone call and replying to a message to navigating home and replying to a WhatsApp message. The integration with the Android OS is such that not only can you read a conversation on WhatsApp on your watch (with the sender receiving the blue-tick read notification in the process) but you can also use Voice Input to reply to the message directly from your watch.

The Smartwatch 3 supposedly offers two to five days battery life even with the Always-On feature but in four days, the Smartwatch 3 has required charging three times. During this time, the watch has had between 7 and 19 percent remaining after 18 hours of usage which is average but we’d have hoped the 420 mAh battery would have performed a little better. It’s quite likely that disabling the Always-On feature will improve battery life but given that this is one of the key features of Android Wear (the same effect as Nokia Glance on Windows Phone handsets), we were hopeful of better battery life.

Overall the Sony Smartwatch 3 offers a refreshing take on a modern smartwatch and Android Wear has been a revelation compared to the somewhat-limiting rival platforms (the exception being the well-founded Pebble smartwatch platform). Although the smartwatch certainly isn’t perfect, it has the makings of one of the best units on the market but whether it lives up to this promise remains to be seen – you’ll need to join us for the full review to find out.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU2FVHhtKaQ

Here’s our Sony Smartwatch 3 Unboxing Gallery: