Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Review of the Best Smartwatches: Sony MN2SW, Nike Sportswatch, Motorola MotoACTV, Pebble Watch, and LunaTik/iPod Nano Watch

There has been a lot of recent buzz regarding smartwatches. There are several promising alternatives, a couple of which are geared towards exercise buffs. Reviewed here are several top smartwatches for 2014: Sony MN2SW SmartWatch, Nike+ SportWatch, Motorola MOTOACTV, Pebble Watch, and the LunaTik Wrist Watch Strap for the iPod Nano 6G.





Sony MN2SW SmartWatch


The Sony MN2SW SmartWatch is a similar concept to the LunaTik/iPod Nano concept, reviewed next. The Sony SmartWatch looks a lot like the iPod Nano and has a clip that can be clipped to a wristband or clipped to clothes or a bag. It has a day long battery life and is able to receive call alerts and Gmail notifications using app that allows the Sony SmartWatch to connect to Android phones over Bluetooth, including the Sony Xperia. The smartwatch has multitouch capability where a pinch functions a back button press; this is different versus the Motorola MotoACTV, which has an actual back button. In the future, the Sony MN2SW might be able to be paired with Google glasses in the same way it is currently paired with Android smartphones; TechCrunch and ComputerWorld are already speculating on the possibilities of pairing a smartwatch with Google glasses, here and here.

LunaTik Wrist Watch Strap for iPod Nano 6G


While the iPod Nano was never meant to be a smartwatch, pairing the iPod Nano with the LunaTik definitely counts. The LunaTik wristwatch strap works with the 6th generation of the iPod Nano. The LunaTik quickly and easily allow users to pop in their iPod Nano, and it fits snuggly around your iPod Nano. The device gives the user full control of the iPod Nano, including all the buttons, port, and headphone jack. With the iPod Nano's built-in pedometer you can keep track of your steps. There are definitely elements of the LunaTik concept when compared to the Nike+ Sportswatch, MotoACTV, and Sony MN2SW smartwatches, the top picks reviewed here.

Nike+ SportWatch GPS Powered by TomTom


The Nike+ SportWatch can track your runs using GPS and keeps a history of your total miles, fastest mile and 5K runs, and longest runs making it great in case you're training for a marathon. It also keeps track of the calories burned and heart rate using the optional Polar Wear Nike+ Transmitter Set Versus the Motorola MotoACTV, the Nike+ Sportwatch offers many of the same features, but it doesn't feature a music player, like the MotoACTV

Motorola MOTOACTV


The Motorola MOTOACTV (pronounced MotoActive) is another great way to to stay motivated to exercise filling a similar niche compared to Nike+ Sportwatch by counting both number of steps and calories burned. MotoACTV can be combined with an optional wrist band or bike clip, and it is compatible with ANT+ accessories, such as the Garmin heart rate monitor. The MotoACTV is Android-based device and can receive call alerts and SMS notifications using Bluetooth similar to the Sony MN2SW. It has about a 1.4 inch touch screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio. The device comes with several built-in clock faces and an interesting feature of the Motorola MotoACTV is ability wake the device using gesture control by shaking it. It also has a workout mode that handles various activities, like running, cycling, walking, and even golf. The golf feature allows you to download course information over wifi connection. As mentioned before the MotoACTV functions as an MP3 player/FM radio and comes pre-loaded with music.

Pebble Watch


The Pebble Watch was originally funded as a hugely successful Kickstarter project. The watch is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. Unlike some of the Pebble watch alternatives featured here, the Pebble watch does not possess a touch screen. The watch itself starts up very quickly when it is turned on and comes with a very long battery life thanks to its minimalistic design and is charged via a magnetic port similar to an Apple laptop. The watch includes a backlight that becomes activated when the wearer shakes their wrist. The watch can pair with smartphones (Android and iPhones) to show notifications via Bluetooth. This functionality allows you to receive notifications from applications such as GMail. These notifications are automatically pushed to the watch from the Pebble phone app, and the watch will vibrate to let the wearer know an email has arrived; the display shows the sender and a part of the message. The wearer can also receive call and SMS notifications that include the caller's name; calls can be rejected directly from the watch. The Pebble smartphone app allows you to install additional apps for the watch, such as new watch faces. Additionally, the Pebble smartwatch has the ability to control music players on your smartphone. In the future, it is expected that the Pebble smartwatch will be able to display stats from exercise apps, and this is one of the strengths of the Pebble watch that allows smartphone app developers to display custom information from phone apps on the watch. While this is the hope, some of the Pebble alternatives here, like the Nike smart watch, can already display exercise related information and don't require pairing with a smartphone.

2 comments:

anonymous Indonesia said...

Thanks for review, it was excellent and very informative.

isha jain said...

Thanks for this review