MBW-100 Bluetooth Watch

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More a piece of James Bond-like gadgetry than a necessity, Sony Ericsson's MBW-100 is a stylish Bluetooth watch that wirelessly synchronises with your mobile phone to alert you of incoming calls and messages. It also enables you to control music without touching your phone.

Pros

  • The 'wow' factor, caller ID info is convenient, vibration alert

Cons

  • Needs recharging, watch stops working when battery dies, functions are limited, expensive

Bottom Line

The MBW-100 certainly wows with its cool factor, but once you look past this, you're left with a device that offers limited functionality, despite quite a hefty price tag.

Would you buy this?

  • Price

    $ 461.00 (AUD)

Designed in partnership with watch company Fossil, the MBW-100 is stylish, but there is no indication that this is an electronic device at first glance. It's available in either silver or black finishes and looks much like a regular, albeit large men's watch. At 187g, it's heavier than most mobile phones on the market and does weigh down your arm, but after a few minutes of wearing it, you won't tend to notice the weight.

The MBW-100 features a hidden OLED display. You are notified when your phone rings, and when you receive a text message. For calls, if the caller is stored in your phonebook, the MBW-100 displays the name; if not, then just the number is displayed. When a new message is received, a small message icon appears on the display. Unfortunately, you can't actually read your message on the MBW-100 - it would have been extremely practical for the message to scroll across the display. Conveniently, the watch vibrates when notifications appear, although this function can be turned off if you wish.

The MBW-100 also allows you to control basic music playback on your phone, although it's quite limited. Pressing the crown plays, pauses and forwards music tracks, though there is no way to skip to previous tracks, nor adjust the volume. Aside from the crown, two selection buttons adorn the right side of the watch; one scrolls through the menu items, the other selects them. Pressing the top selection button displays the date and a battery life indicator, but only for a few seconds - there is no way to have this displayed all the time.

Being a Bluetooth device, the MBW-100 naturally needs to be charged via AC power, though it should last about half a week before needing a recharge. The strangest and most perplexing aspect of the unit though is the fact that when the battery runs out, the watch itself stops working. With that in mind, and combined with the outlandish asking price and limited functions, it will ensure that only those with a lust for gadgets are attracted.

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