Sony Launches Simplistic, Luxury Smartwatch

Ever since the unveiling of the Apple Watch last year, smartphone developers have been scrambling to create their own watches and integrate as many features as possible. In the quest to create the best watch on the market, many developers have unfortunately created clunky products crammed with too many features, robbing the user of the convenience a smartwatch can offer by overwhelming them.

Developers at Sony have recognized this issue, and partnered with Citizen, the luxury watch maker, to create a high-end, incredibly simplistic smartwatch. Dubbed the Wena Watch, the appeal of Sony’s offering is its simplicity; it looks to offer the essential convenient features of the smartwatch without overwhelming the wearer.

The Wena Watch is so simplistic, in fact, that its face is nothing more than a simple watch face. It features a simple analog display that is constructed in the same style as Citizen watches. In fact, at first glance, the Wena Watch looks simply like a high-end watch.

All of the technology integrated into the Wena Watch is found in the strap. Sony included several key features into the wristband, including an NFC chip that allows the user to make mobile payments in the same vein as Apple Pay and a pedometer that can track steps and average speed (the wearer receives the information in a paired mobile application). The clasp of the wrist watch will also illuminate and vibrate when its paired smartphone receives a notification.

Technology often develops in a pendulum-like manner, and the new trend of smartwatches is no different. Smart watches, since their inception, have grown more and more complicated as developers attempt to cram every possible feature into their products. Now, it seems, the pendulum is beginning to swing the other way, and developers are beginning to slim down and simplify their smartwatches, and the Wena Watch is currently leading the charge of simplistic smartwatches. The product is expected to hit retailers in the next year.