Sony Wena 3 smart strap for watches gains hear rate sensor, Alexa support

Sony unveiled a much-improved version of its Wena smart strap for watches – in case you haven’t seen it before, this is kind of like a smartband, except it replaces the strap of your watch. Any watch, you can have a classic mechanical watch with modern smarts.

The screen is now much larger – the Wena Pro had a tiny line display, this one fits several lines of text. It can display notifications from your phone (which you navigate by swiping) and has alarms and timers (which your watch may or may not lack).

You can now use Alexa too, there’s a mic for voice commands and a speaker so the Amazon assistant can answer your query. The built-in NFC supports several mobile payment systems (Japan specific for now).

Another new feature on the Wena 3 is the heart rate sensor, which can detect blood-oxygen saturation and calculate VO2 Max. The strap also estimates stress and recovery, it has the usual step counter and sleep tracker as well.

Since this strap is meant to be paired with with good-looking watches, it has to look good itself. It is made out of SUS316L stainless steel and the Premium Black version has been ion-plated (a physical vapor deposition process). This makes the exterior wear-resistant while also avoiding issues with nickel allergy.

There’s a silver version of the metal model if you prefer, as well as leather and even rubber options. You could wear this as a smart band too, though it’s really at its best when paired with a watch.

The strap is water resistant up to 5 ATM, making is suitable for swimming. Battery life is about a week and charging is done using a custom connector.

Sony Wena 3: Metal (Premium Black and Silver) • Leather (Black and Brown) • Rubber

The Sony Wena 3 will be released in Japan on November 27, it starts at JPY 24,000 before tax for the rubber option (€215 or so), the leather ones are JPY 30-32,000 while the metal ones go for JPY 33-35,000. Previous Wena models have made their way to Europe, maybe this one will too.

Source (in Japanese) | Via