We have had the Sony SmartWatch 2 in-house for an entire weekend so far, and we will give you some first-takes before we put up the entire review later this week.
The SmartWatch 2 is Sony’s second stab at the smartwatch market. It comes with a aluminum body that is IP57 rated, supports Android 4.0 or higher, and sports a 1.6 inch transflective LCD screen with a resolution of 220 x 176 (176 ppi). It also has an ambient light sensor and three off-screen buttons: home, back, and menu.
First-takes
Screen: The screen may not have the most crisp display, but it definitely does its job as far as being a watch. Going from inside to outdoors, the watch does a good job of adjusting the display. It is easy to glance at the watch to get the time with out tapping the screen or pressing the lock button to brighten the display. We had no trouble seeing the time or other notifications in broad-daylight.
Battery: Battery life has been the big surprise for the SmartWatch 2. On the box, it says battery life is three to four days, and that is definitely on par. We are currently on the third day without a charge and are sitting at 57%. Although the it may not have the best screen, it definitely makes up for it with the extended battery life; especially when comparing it to the all-new Moto 360 that makes it around one or two days (the Moto 360 does have more features though).
Operating System: The big question on the Sony SmartWatch line has been the operating system. Sony hasn’t adopted Google’s Android Wear operating system because of the amount of time and research they have put into their own. This could be the downfall of the watch, but we’ll find out with more use and we’ll let you know in the full review.
Missing features: Some features that don’t come on the SmartWatch 2 is a mic and speaker. Without a microphone mounted on the watch, texting custom messages from the watch is impossible; minus the fact that you can send emoticons and pre-made texts such as “I’m in class.” While you can make calls from your watch, you better have your phone handy, because you’ll need it to talk and hear to the person on the other line.
That’s our first-takes on the Sony SmartWatch 2, be sure to check back later on in the week as we will have our full review up by then.
