This is Sony’s SmartBand 2. And guess what? It still doesn’t tell time. But other than its lack of screen and a new heart rate monitor, there aren’t many surprises on Sony’s official page for the new wearable — since info about its specs were accidentally published on the Play Store in June.
Much like the old SmartBand, the wearable will buzz for notifications when paired with an Android or iOS device, and yeah, it can still do all that step and sleep tracking, too. So, it’s basically one-part fitness tracker and one-part reminder that you own a phone. Sony also decided to ditch the screen completely for this new version, which means that aside from the buzzing, the only way to know what’s up will be to look at your phone.
That new heart rate monitor also seems to be ravaging the device’s battery-life. This year’s model is only looking at two days, according to Sony. That’s a huge step down from the first Smartband, which got around five, and even that was a far cry from the battery life of other activity trackers from Fitbit and Withings. It will be holding on to waterproofing, though.
Sony is dubbing the SmartBand 2 “a multi-sensor lifelogger”, because it gives people a more data-driven view of fitness, stress levels and “well-being.” I’m not really sure how one measures well-being, but Sony seems to think its Lifelog app should do the trick. That app works much like other fitness apps do, the biggest difference being that it also tracks data tied to when the band’s owner takes pictures, listens to music, watches TV and even plays games on the handset.
Um… OK? That sounds a little creepy, but we won’t know exactly what level of creepy until the SmartBand 2 launches in September for €120 — or roughly $180 — meaning Sony may be upping the price from last year’s wearable.