This is the Xperia store by Memo Express in SM North Edsa Metro Manila, I've been searching for a Sony Smart Watch - 2 in the Philippines since December 2013 and to my frustration there are really none. Last Feb the website Expansys made the Sony Smartwatch 2 "In-Stock", but I'm really skeptical to buy at their store, especially since they dont reply to personal emails. they have a FB page which a pinoy responds but with very little info and interaction.
Expansys has a Pebble Smartwatch on stock, and Im really hoping since Feb that they'll get a hold of Pebble Steel, but I'm not waiting any longer.
This is the store price of the Smart Watch 2 in the Philippines Xperia Store, In the Philippines its priced initially at P8,990 and is not available in the Typical Sony Stores.
Packaging is really complicated, but it is awesome and cool!
I didnt get a chance to buy a screen protector, but the watch' screen itself is scratch proof and the hardware is waterproof, so running around under a storm would just ruin the cool watch with a wet screen protector.
Once you've started the watch it will search for a pair-able device. Now; my phone is a Samsung Galaxy s3 LTE, which by the way Xperia will consult buyers not to use or buy the watch for iphone users. bwahahaha!
Here's some steps how to pair your Sony Smartwatch2 to your Android Phone
Turn on your NFC in your smartphone's settings.
Remove the watch! you're too excited! you cant configure it while wearing it.
I paired my phone using NFC, sorry; if your phone doesnt have NFC then I wouldnt know how to help you get started. but I guess the watch will be available in bluetooth for pairing, but you would need to manually download the pairing app and the watch apps in playstore manually.
once your google playstore app opens the watch will look like this. it means you have successfully leveled up the phone! hehehe.
Using the NFC will automatically open your phone's google play and the app you need to download. and by the way, Pairing via NFC is not easy, you need to tap the phone and watch back to back and find the NFC chip of your phone to pair it 100%
This will load once you've downloaded the first pairing app for the watch.
Continuing on with the pairing app, it will show a bunch of other apps for the smartwatch, you need to download them one by one by choosing each one; choosing one will open your google playstore, download the app and go back until you've downloaded all of the available app.
Just a disclaimer to those who are interested to buy this watch, Runtastic is an app that reports your fitness progress, but you need a phone as a gyro-sensor or accelerometer to measure your run. the watch doesn't have this feature to measure your steps.
For me I dont want the social media notifications, but Im sure gonna love the Power point remote app.
The watch has a lot of faces but you can update to have more watch faces.
This is the watch's face when in standby mode. it looks like its in e-ink (e book) or low light mode. which will save battery for you. Smartwatch2 boast a standby time of 7 days before you need to charge the watch
It is colored, it vibrates if you have any alarms or notifications.
the flashlight - will just all-white-out your screen hehehe.
Pairing the watch is really easy and auto does it forever. just turn on your bluetooth and no more configurations. here's a sample of my inbox which displays on the watch. contacts are also written.
Sample of the missed call app. contacts do appear.
Here's a sample of; when you receive a text message. the number will appear on top, the message is below the phone number or contact, and this notification will stay on in 15 seconds until it goes back to the standby clock face mode.
One of the things im concerned of is that I've seen a lot of episodes of "Person of Interest" to think that this device is so easily hackable. the bluetooth might be a gateway for hacking; which is also one of the reasons why Im not gonna sync my social media account to this device. but for text messages and Email; I really wanna use the feature but it could become a risk!
Compared to other Smartwatches
GalaxyGear is really cool, but I dont like the idea of charging it every 1.5 days, I dont really need a camera, but the built in mic is really a good idea.
Pebble Steel - Pebble is not launching physical stores for the moment, so its hard to think of warranty for their models. although for me Pebble is really more superior than Sony's SW2, but Sony really seals the deal for me to buy their smartwatch as they offered a 1 year warranty.
I'll try to update my blog for battery performance soon.
