Sony Smartwatch 3 – initial impressions

So, I have always used my phone for tracking my runs, but recently decided to branch out and see if there were better solutions, that still allowed me to track my runs the way I like (aka – use runkeeper.)

After looking online, I saw that the Galaxy  Gear S,in theory, would do everything I wanted and more! Heck,its even a phone on your wrist!  Then I saw the price tag for verizon.. ($400), ok.. moving on…

The Sony Smartwatch 3 on the other hand has a gps chip in it, and can store up to 4 gb of music.. So it can track my run AND play my music? BONUS!!!!!

I watched ebay, and found one for $110 bucks.. Significantly less than the $400 of a Galaxy Gear S on Verizon.  Reports online were favorable- so I took the plunge!

I had briefly tried the Moto 360 as a watch, and was sorely disappointed with battery life.  I also found that AndroidWear was not the easiest to use.  The great news – is they have drastically improved the AndroidWear operating system!  It was no where near as frustrating to use AFTER I did 3 system updates.

So, I started out by going out without my phone, and just using the runkeeper app on my watch, while I was out of range of the phone.  IT seemed to track the run, and showed my numbers.  I have to be honest,I didn’t really watch it much, I was running with some other folks and chatting.   Then I got back to my car, and somehow lost everything.

Frustrating..  I do understand that with new technology there is a learning curve,but the lack of ANY information/instructions on what to do to track the run, with all our stats saved to runkeeper was frustrating.  Luckily I am stubborn.

So, I tried it again,only this time – I was connected to my phone when I started it, and didn’t allow it to come off my screen or hit stop until i was reconnected to my phone.  This time it DID transfer to runkeeper!

So.. While it did transfer, the Map wasn’t there.  Further, I did NOT run an average pace of 7:24.  IN fact, the watch showed me in the high 8-minute range before it sync’d.   I haven’t done another run yet, as I have only had the watch two days.

I do like the watch as a watch so far.  While the battery life doesn’t compare to my pebble (obviously), i was still at 25% at 11 at night yesterday, even after using it to track a run via GPS in the morning.  I’m good with that.  From my research online, there is a program called ghostrunner that is supposed to work well with the watch AND imports into runkeeper.  I am going to mess with the runkeeper a few more times before trying it.

I will keep you informed!

About Robinson

I run, because I am a runner. Having realized that I have always "been a runner" - even when I went years with out running, I am learning how it has integrated itself in all aspects of my life. When I started running in highschool, my perspective on life changed. Funny that I didn't realize how much it had affected it until just recently.