Sony's Smart Band reviewed

It seems like all the cool tech addicts are into that whole "quantified self" thing.

In other words, they're using wearable gadgets to find out as much as possible about their physical activities and their lifestyles.

It's nothing new of course, with the likes of the Nike FuelBand and Fitbit trackers all garnering success.

However, Sony's effort tries to be a life-journal rather than a fitness tracker – so does it actually work?

What's it feel like?

What do you get in the box then?

For starters, you have the most important component, the Core Sensor, which is a flashdrive-sized gadget that features an accelerometer and other sensors.

Other than that, you have two bands in here, with one being for small wrists and the other being for larger ones. It's good to see two options in here, instead of simply trying for the one-size-fits-all approach.

Pop the Core Sensor into the wrist band and you're good to go, with the band clipping onto your wrist pretty easily.

As for aesthetics, the SmartBand isn't going to win any awards, looking like a thick rubber band.

We also found that it attracted dust and other particles pretty easily – so if you want your band to remain spotless, well... good luck.

But the device is comfortable enough to wear in many situations, I even wore it to bed a few times as well. 

Yes, the SmartBand is in fact meant to be worn at night too, and I quickly forgot it was there, until the vibrating alarm kicked in (but more on that in a bit).

So what can it do?

To connect your smartphone to the SmartBand, simply place it against the back of your phone, with the device first connecting via NFC, then Bluetooth Low Energy. 

And you really do want to connect to a smartphone if you want to get the most out of the device, as it's useless without a host phone. 

Okay, so you've connected the SmartBand to your phone - now what?

Well, you can tweak the SmartBand to your liking on the phone, and there are plenty of settings.

You can set a vibrating alarm, toggle vibrations for incoming calls, toggle vibrations for notifications, toggle vibrations for when your phone is out of range, remotely control your music player and control when the SmartBand goes into Night Mode (which logs your sleeping hours and turns off notification vibrations).

It's even possible to download a few extensions, like a remote camera shutter and slideshow remote - but there are only about three or four in the first place. So here's hoping that more developers get on the bandwagon.

But of course, as cool as this sounds, you should download the LifeLog app - this is where a lot more fun can be had.

You see, the SmartBand constantly feeds sensor information to the LifeLog, the app then interpreting said data.

So if you took 1000 steps in a day, the phone's LifeLog app will reflect this, while also spitting out how many calories you've burnt and for how long you've walked/ran.

So far, so fitness-tracker.

But the LifeLog keeps track of activity taking place on your phone too, such as web-browsing, media playback, reading and photos taken. 

All these activities are combined to form a neat graph in LifeLog, tracking your information throughout the day and night.

You can also scroll to any point on the graph and hit the plus icon to receive more information about your activities during that time, such as music tracks played, how long you ran and photos taken.

The SmartBand lets you bookmark events on the LifeLog graph too. Merely double-tap the SmartBand's button to place one on your graph.

The LifeLog will also keep track of how long you've slept, although this is actually a measurement of the night mode rather than anything else. A pity.

Not quite Smart

I can't help but feel that the SmartBand was missing a key feature in the form of a heart-rate monitor.

A heart-rate monitor would go a long way towards delivering accurate results, as right now, the accelerometer-driven approach is a rough estimate (shaking your wrist will result in the device counting steps, for instance). 

The monitor would've been great for other sports (such as jiu jitsu or judo), where steps aren't a measurement of fitness. Then again, economical movement is the name of the game in jiu jitsu anyway, so a well-conditioned athlete's read-out could be interpreted as resting. Ah well...

Still, a heart-rate monitor would result in the SmartBand's price increasing, so there's that argument. 

However, the other missed opportunity is Sony integration - how cool would it be if the app could spit out a breakdown of your PS3/PS4 gameplay for the evening? Trophies earned, amount of time spent and titles played would make for a great feature.

Hell, Sony TV integration would've been great too, as the SmartBand delivered statistics about what you watched and for how long.

Get it?

It might not have all the features of a smartwatch, but when it has a five day battery life and a R1500 price-tag from the Orange Store, who cares?

That's not to say the SmartBand is an automatic buy, as we'd like to see extra sensors to improve results, better Sony integration and more third-party apps.

But as it is right now, the SmartBand is a good start if you want to get in on the "quantified-self" phenomenon. Just don't expect a comprehensive breakdown of every moment.

Score: 7 out of 10