so the liveview is $25 on amazon, the second gen sony smartwatch is $94, and the pebble is $150. I have preordered the pebble, but have yet to pay. I wanted to ask if the liveview is worth it in comparison, for the price being so cheap..i may just buy it to try it out since its so cheap. i have an htc one s with android 4.2, also does liveview have push notifications?.... any suggestions..thanks
Sony Liveview wort it? Vs. Pebble and newer sony smartwatch
- Thread starter andrewt328
- Start date
When a Google search brings up the suggestion "Sony Liveview don't bother", you know you'll be wasting your money.
Those Amazon reviews paint a very negative picture.
See what kind of reviews the Pebble gets and decide from there. You'll likely get what you pay for.
Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk 2
Those Amazon reviews paint a very negative picture.
See what kind of reviews the Pebble gets and decide from there. You'll likely get what you pay for.
Sent from my Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk 2
got to respectfully disagree. For 20$ this thing is awesome.
I'd sort the reviews by date.
Also, consider the technical sophistication of your average user.
If you are posting on xda - you are the top 1% generally.
This thing is awesome.
There's a new firmware and client software out from sony that obviates pretty much all of the old problems.
AND there's an Open Live View reverse engineering effort that is 90% functional already!
This thing is badass!
imho.
I'd sort the reviews by date.
Also, consider the technical sophistication of your average user.
If you are posting on xda - you are the top 1% generally.
This thing is awesome.
There's a new firmware and client software out from sony that obviates pretty much all of the old problems.
AND there's an Open Live View reverse engineering effort that is 90% functional already!
This thing is badass!
imho.
yea i ended up getting it for $27 off amazon with expedient shipping. so i should get it soon and im hoping it works well with my htc one s...and for that cheap why not...much better than spending $150 on a pebble that ill get in like 6 months
i got my liveview, and id say its worth the money...it does what it says it does, though it sometimes disconnects...im glad i bought this and didnt spend 150 on a pebble, since its kinda of a gimmick... i mean its basically a pager on your wrist, but 27$ for it, i cant complain
For $20-30, it is a steal. Unfortunately they don't ship to my country, otherwiser I would have ordered an extra one as well. 
I saw the Pebble, and frankly, I miss a two quite important functions from it that the liveview has: volume up and down as a music remote. Yeah, most likely someone will figure out how to add them to the 3-button-only interface (long press track skip would be ok) but till then, I'll go with my Liveview. Even if the connection is still not rock solid. Yeah, it is much, MUCH better than it was, but still not 100% if you are skipping music tracks left and right.
Another thing to watch out for: the frames are extremely fragile. Yes, even the metal clip-on frame. My wristwatch frame has a holding clip broken off (so it is useless as the LV falls out of it quite easily) and the clip-on is broken at the microUSB connector part. I actually had to attach the LV with a piece of masking tape to the frame so it won't fall out. I'm thinking of supergluing it there.
I saw the Pebble, and frankly, I miss a two quite important functions from it that the liveview has: volume up and down as a music remote. Yeah, most likely someone will figure out how to add them to the 3-button-only interface (long press track skip would be ok) but till then, I'll go with my Liveview. Even if the connection is still not rock solid. Yeah, it is much, MUCH better than it was, but still not 100% if you are skipping music tracks left and right.
Another thing to watch out for: the frames are extremely fragile. Yes, even the metal clip-on frame. My wristwatch frame has a holding clip broken off (so it is useless as the LV falls out of it quite easily) and the clip-on is broken at the microUSB connector part. I actually had to attach the LV with a piece of masking tape to the frame so it won't fall out. I'm thinking of supergluing it there.
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i found sony liveview a good smart watch but this is depending of what you demand from it
i found that it offers me the basic functionalities with cheap (really cheap) price
may be you found it a little bit dull (its look is not that great for some people), but who cares
i found that it offers me the basic functionalities with cheap (really cheap) price
may be you found it a little bit dull (its look is not that great for some people), but who cares
It all depends on what you want to do with it, for me I wanted to use it as a cycling computer that worked with my phone using the my tracks app which worked perfectly so I love it for that and it only cost me $25. If you buy it just for the hell of it and don'd really know what is available for it then you might hate it, also I haven't encountered any issues with it disconnecting with my phone as others have had but it can be difficult to set up at first.
+1i found sony liveview a good smart watch but this is depending of what you demand from it
i found that it offers me the basic functionalities with cheap (really cheap) price
may be you found it a little bit dull (its look is not that great for some people), but who cares
I just got my liveview so far so good I bought one when it first cam out switch to an HTC amaze and it didn't work at all so I got rid of it, switched to a samsung note 2 and since I rarely had a problem with my old nexus s and t959 I figured it was worth getting it over the pebble I synced it about 2 hours ago and no disconnects and everything seems to be working fine
Sent from my SGH-T889V on the WIND network
Sent from my SGH-T889V on the WIND network
Mine frequently disconnects, and I also had issues with the clip not holding, so I was a little disappointed. That being said, I only paid $22 for it, so I can't be too upset. I only need it to be able to discreetly check text messages at work, so it serves its purpose.
Sent from my HTC Flyer using xda app-developers app
Sent from my HTC Flyer using xda app-developers app
Hello,
I was in a position like you at one point here's my take on it:
I considered the Liveview when it came out, but the reviews were horrible. Personally felt it looked a bit cheap for a wach... I saw the price drop, but since I can't get the US deals, I gave up on that one.
I then saw the pebble, but missed the kickstart. Noticing that the shipping date was so far away (and the price of $150 seemed too high), I looked elsewhere.
I found a nice balance with the Sony Smartwatch. It's cheaper than the pebble, and the general reviews are better than the previous liveview. I also like how they bundle the 20mm watch strap adapter so you can make it look better with other straps. This is what I ended up getting and I'm quite happy since all I really need was for my notifications to show up on my watch (free app for that!). Cost me about $100 AUD, but I've seen it cheaper in US sites.
I was in a position like you at one point here's my take on it:
I considered the Liveview when it came out, but the reviews were horrible. Personally felt it looked a bit cheap for a wach... I saw the price drop, but since I can't get the US deals, I gave up on that one.
I then saw the pebble, but missed the kickstart. Noticing that the shipping date was so far away (and the price of $150 seemed too high), I looked elsewhere.
I found a nice balance with the Sony Smartwatch. It's cheaper than the pebble, and the general reviews are better than the previous liveview. I also like how they bundle the 20mm watch strap adapter so you can make it look better with other straps. This is what I ended up getting and I'm quite happy since all I really need was for my notifications to show up on my watch (free app for that!). Cost me about $100 AUD, but I've seen it cheaper in US sites.
just purchased one last night and i should be getting it on saturday. will post my thoughts on it. not expecting too much for $22 but im still excited!
I kickstarted the Pebble. I had another Android smartwatch on preorder until I realized the Pebble is the only waterproof one. I dreaded the thought of washing my hands wrong, or getting caught in the rain and ruining my $300 watch. The $115 Pebble seemed like a no brainer, all things considered.
With that said, the Pebble SDK still isn't public yet, so there's currently a severe lack of functionality. The Pebble has piqued my interest in smarter watches though, so I've been keeping my eyes peeled for better alternatives.
I think the year of the smartwatch is coming soon. Especially if the rumors of an Apple iWatch are true.
With that said, the Pebble SDK still isn't public yet, so there's currently a severe lack of functionality. The Pebble has piqued my interest in smarter watches though, so I've been keeping my eyes peeled for better alternatives.
I think the year of the smartwatch is coming soon. Especially if the rumors of an Apple iWatch are true.
Have mine for a half year now. I use it almost every day. It's pretty useful if you are listening to music via your phone in car and want to skip a song etc. . Also the Camera Watch function is pretty funny
i can only speak about the liveview since i have not bought a smartwatch yet.
as you can see within this thread and on openliveview.com, custom firmware developement and a liveware manager replacement is in developement.
the custom liveware manager replacement you can find here, has all the functionality the liveware manager has, except plugin support (wich is currently in developement)
besides, it has a notification implementation that is pretty similar to how custommessagenotifier works.
the firmware is yet not for daily usage since it does not put the watch into deepsleep yet and has no bluetooth support yet.
a big minus would be that you need to kindoff break your wristband holder to charge the liveview.
overall i'd say, the liveview is currently extremely customizable since the custom manager and the custom firmware are opensource.
to the smartwatch:
it has bluetooth 4 instead of 1.1 (liveview) wich makes the bluetooth battery drain pretty small and it could theoretically even be ported to iphone.
the screen is the same except it has multi touch instead of 4 tap keys.
it has more internal storage than the liveview so a custom firmware would be more awesome on it.
overall i'd say, its better than the liveview but unless we devs get our hands onto it, there will mostly not be a custom manager / rom soon, so you will need to stick to connection issues and sony's creepy try to write software.
as you can see within this thread and on openliveview.com, custom firmware developement and a liveware manager replacement is in developement.
the custom liveware manager replacement you can find here, has all the functionality the liveware manager has, except plugin support (wich is currently in developement)
besides, it has a notification implementation that is pretty similar to how custommessagenotifier works.
the firmware is yet not for daily usage since it does not put the watch into deepsleep yet and has no bluetooth support yet.
a big minus would be that you need to kindoff break your wristband holder to charge the liveview.
overall i'd say, the liveview is currently extremely customizable since the custom manager and the custom firmware are opensource.
to the smartwatch:
it has bluetooth 4 instead of 1.1 (liveview) wich makes the bluetooth battery drain pretty small and it could theoretically even be ported to iphone.
the screen is the same except it has multi touch instead of 4 tap keys.
it has more internal storage than the liveview so a custom firmware would be more awesome on it.
overall i'd say, its better than the liveview but unless we devs get our hands onto it, there will mostly not be a custom manager / rom soon, so you will need to stick to connection issues and sony's creepy try to write software.
It seems a good idea this new project.
Since 2 years, the LiveView is not on my wrist but on my desk.
Since 2 years, the LiveView is not on my wrist but on my desk.
I got mine for $15. I can't even find a cheap wristwatch at walmart for that much. The Liveview is a watch, but has some added functions which are pretty cool. Worth every penny of my $15.
Been planning on buying this for my Samsung Galaxy Nexus running on Jellybean 4.2.2 just wanted to ask if anyone can tell me if this watch is compatible on my device and android version. Just recently got ahold of bluetooth headset (Nokia BH-503) can this watch has capability to override handsfree and music controls of bluetooth headsets.
Now that I think of it, can I pair to devices on a phone at once? Asking because here in my country this costs 30$.
Now that I think of it, can I pair to devices on a phone at once? Asking because here in my country this costs 30$.
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