Officially unveiled at IFA 2014, more than a month ago, Sony SmartWatch 3 has finally found its way to Google’s Play Store, sporting a $249.99 price tag.
Sony’s smartwatches might not be exactly revolutionary, but the fact that they’re still around means that plenty of people are buying and enjoying them. The Japanese company already has a lot of experience in building wearables under its belt, having reached now the fifth generation of smartwatches.
The waterproof SmartWatch 3 SWR50 comes with a 1.6″ 320 x 320 transflective LCD display. Unlike its predecessors, the 5th-gen Sony SmartWatch by Android Wear, which explains why Google has decided to feature it on Play Store.
In terms of technical specs, Sony SmartWatch 3 comes with a 1.2GHz quad-core CPU, 512MB of RAM, and 4GB of internal storage. Had this been a smartphone, the specs would have been mediocre, at best. However, these numbers are more than enough for a wearable. The 420mA battery should keep the device up and running for up to two days of normal use.
As far as the sensors are concerned, SmartWatch 3 comes with all the usual suspects: ambient light sensors, accelerometer, compass, gyro and GPS. This makes the wearable quite versatile and will give app developers a lot of flexibility when creating software for it.
Sony SmartWatch 3 is available with vividly colored exchangeable wrist straps. Four colors are offered (black, white, green and pink), for a variety of occasions. However, I wouldn’t call this a dress watch, as the strap makes it obvious that it was built for fitness. For that purpose, it works either as a smartphone companion or as a standalone device. When working out, this wearable should be great if used in tandem with Bluetooth headphones, as you no longer have to carry around your heavy smartphone.
Even though it is available on the Play Store, Sony has not disclosed the official launch date for the other retailers. Considering that the Play Store is not available everywhere, it’s hard to believe that Sony would make this wearable exclusive there. To be frank, the device is underwhelming, so the $250 price tag really seems unjustified. Why are Android Wear devices getting more expensive, instead of becoming more affordable? They don’t seem to be built differently from their cheaper alternatives, so that certainly doesn’t explain it.
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