Nearly seven years ago, the first smartwatches launched as clunky, utilitarian devices. Eventually, the sector clued into the necessity of fashion, especially for women, with style-oriented models flowing from an array of technology and designer brands. Fast forward a few months and just about every sign has changed. Smartwatches are becoming discreet, fashionable, essential accessories and the first thing you'll want to check in the morning when you wake up is now found in a pocket, on a strap or in your hand.

Launched late September, the Sony SmartBand Hero is the brainchild of Washington, DC-based startup Trion. At $110, the company's connector-free unit lacks the fiddly, bulky circuitry that traditionally powered smartwatches, but it delivers all of the minimalism of Garmin's CR-series, including a 1.36" screen, a 1.84" screen, GPS, Bluetooth, activity tracking and counting. Given the diminutive dimensions, the unit is a lot like a Runkeeper success story, a small wind-up device that you can fall back on instead of control.

Starting feels life-like

Once you bone up on your workouts with a few hours of training in the smartphone app (and the relationship between heart rate and time is probably easier to learn once you're immersed in different sports), the overall experience is exactly the same as you're accustomed to with analog watches. The aforementioned fitness tracking functions are a significant step up compared to mechanical watches and much closer to what you find in most fitness a la carte apps.

The most exciting features — not the shortcomings or specs

At the technology level, the Sony SmartBand Hero is an evolutionary step up from it's forerunner, the Ironman watch. The 'h' stands for 'HWD', which I already talked about when describing how the Ironman endurance sport changed GPS tech, but it's also a catchall phrase for firmware improvements and includes more networking, sync and feedback that counterbalance those physical limits. The live tracking display is more accurate compared to the slightly sensor-patient Lark sensor that Garmin reports on the QuickControl reel. of module, allowing for stores recently ridden to be shown when you circle "Take a screenshot" in the Live Tracking screen to pull up a Snapchat-worthy video of your session. It's still not quite accurate enough to catch windshield cracks, but considering the bike you rode with, the road you changed direction on, the type of road and the terrain you ran on this already performs well enough on a number of metrics.

Trion's bassinette - inspired name is inspired by sweaty wrist accessories. (Tron: Legacy drama trunks, summer variant trunks, Tron:
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