Sony SmartBand 2 goes official: fitness and sleep tracker equipped with heart

The SmartBand 2 is a fitness tracker first and foremost, with a skinny 9.5mm and super-lightweight 25g design.

Thankfully the SmartBand 2 also boasts smart watch features such as call and message notifications, alerting you with vibrations and three flashing RGB LEDs. It works in conjunction with Sony’s own Lifelog app, which offers up insights on the data alongside what the maker says are “motivational prompts”.

Sure enough just like what the FCC filing revealed, the SmartBand 2 will come with a built-in heart rate sensor, so if tracking your heart rate is important to you, then the SmartBand 2 is an option you can consider.

Unsurprisingly, the new entrant is called the SmartBand 2, and comes packing a host of upgrades and new features. You will also be able to use the gadget safely when you wash your hands as the wearable is IP68 certified, meaning it is dust-protected and can withstand submersion in fresh water as deep as 10 feet (3 meters) for as long as 30 minutes. An alarm clock function will gently wake you up at the best time during your sleep cycle. You can also tap on the wearable to quickly pause music and switch between tracks. In addition to the lights, you also get a gentle vibration to inform you of incoming notifications.

The new SmartBand is compatible with any phone running Android 4.4 (KitKat) onwards, or iOS 8.2 onward.

Its battery life is claimed to last up to two days and the device can be fully charged in around one hour. The bands will come in black and white at launch this September with pink and indigo to follow – as it’s modular, you can pop the SmartBand core out and use it with previous Sony bands too.

Better still, the SmartBand 2 is fully waterproof and that’s even with an uncapped USB charging port. Wear it on a run in the rain or in the shower without any worry about damage.