When Google launched Android Wear 2.0 in early February, it provided a list of existing watches that could be updated to the new version of the platform. The fact that the list did not include the Sony SmartWatch 3 was not an oversight by Google. Apparently, this Sony smartwatch will not be upgradeable to Android Wear 2.0, staying forever in the version Android 1.5 of the operating system.
Since it is an official confirmation, the owners of this popular smartwatch will be disappointed. In fact, on the product page of the Sony global website it is clearly written that the SmartWatch 3 SWR50 supports up to Android Wear 1.5. Android Wear 2.0 and later versions are not supported. The Sony SmartWatch 3 is a wearable released in early 2014, so it was likely that the device could not be updated to the Android Wear 2.0 version. We are more likely to see a Sony SmartWach 4, being unlikely, than a manufacturer update on its current watch.
The reasons of Sony
Sony, as a result of complaints received from some owners of SmartWatch 3 about the decision not to update the wearable to Android Wear 2.0, explained that, as a result of the tests performed, the hardware of the device is not able to support the new version of Android. Therefore, as in the smartphone market, the manufacturer prefers not to update its software to avoid post-upgrade problems, instead of limiting the user experience by updating without introducing all the new features that the new version brings with it.
In short, Sony SmartWatch 3 will not see any of the changes introduced by Android Wear 2.0. Over the past two years, the Sony SmartWatch 3 has established itself as one of the best-selling smartwatches based on Google's Android Wear platform. This is because it offers respectable hardware (voice input, touch and motion, microphone, ambient light sensor, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, GPS, 4 GB of RAM, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, Micro USB, Wi-Fi, and more). But above all, its affordable price (which is now $ 129.98 in the White variant), well below the average of other smartwatches of similar brands.
