The new Sony wena watch strap will turn any watch into a smartwatch

This new take on the smartwatch by Sony is rather clever, if one can look past its awkward acronym, which stands for "wear electronics naturally". The Sony wena is a 20mm Bluetooth-enabled band that will fit 18-, 20- and 20mm watch heads using bundled end piece accessories.

There are two versions to pick, i.e., the wena wrist pro and the wena wrist active.

The wena wrist pro is made from stainless steel and comes in silver or black. With custom components and mounted boards, the strap is kept slim despite housing an OLED display. According to Sony, both straps are able to hold the charge of their Li-Ion batteries for up to a week.

The wena wrist active is made from silicon and comes only in black. Its features include GPS and heartbeat sensor, making suitable for sports and outdoor activities. One unique feature of wena wrist active is its function as a activity tracker once the watch head is removed.

The Sony wena is supported on both Android and iOS platforms, and once paired with a smartphone, it's able to get phone notifications and monitor its status. It also supports wena contact-less payment.

Sony is also releasing a wide selection non-smartwatch heads alongside the wena straps; this is meant for users who don't own any compatible watch heads yet.

Sony wena is currently available in the United Kingdom, and their prices are very exorbitant. The Sony wena wrist pro costs £399 (~S$700) and the wena wrist active will set you back by £349 (~S$610).

Therefore, based on online conversion rates, the Sony wena is more expensive than most regular smartwatches like the Apple Watch Series 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch. Click here for more details of the Sony wena.

This article was first published in Hardware Zone. 

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