Review of Sony Ericsson's MBW-150 Bluetooth watch

Sony Ericsson MBW-150

Sony Ericsson MBW-150

Last summer Sony Ericsson launched a new line of Bluetooth^(INFO) equipped watches. The new MBW-150 lineup includes the Music Edition, the Classic Edition, and the Executive Edition. The three watches all include the same controls and functionality, but have different wrist bands and color schemes.

Recently Sony Ericsson sent us one of the Music Edition MBW-150 watches to test out. But first, one might ask, what does a Bluetooth watch do? A number of things, as it turns out. The watch will provide caller ID information for inbound calls, it will notify the user when a new message arrives on the paired up phone, and it will even alert the wearer if they leave their phone behind unintentionally. On top of that, it can also be used to control a phone's music player, offering start/stop, volume control, and previous and next track navigation. While the watch generates no sound at all, it has a built-in silent vibration alarm that it uses to get your attention.

The MBW-150 ME weighs about 86g (3.0oz), has a black band made of a rubber material, and features orange accents on the face of the watch. It measures 15mm in thickness, which is not all that bad when you consider that my normal Festina watch is 12mm thick. In fact, that highlights one of the best aspects of the new MBW-150 watches: they feel and appear to be normal watches, especially the Classic and Executive editions.

Each watch has a regular analog aspect to it that uses traditional hands and has a knob on the right hand side for setting the time. On top of that, there are a pair of control buttons that straddle that knob on the right side, and a set of 3 buttons for music control that adorn the left hand edge of the watch. A small OLED^(INFO) display runs across the bottom of the watch face and is used for music track info, caller ID, and the menu.

The lower right hand button navigates through the list of options that control the Bluetooth power state, the messaging notification service, the "you forgot your phone" notice option, and the pairing mode for linking up the watch with a phone. The top button toggles or activates the currently displayed option. When not in the menu, the top button will bring up the date and battery status screen, as well as a digital view of the time. The music buttons are pretty straight forward. A quick press on the top or bottom button changes volume, while long presses move to the next or previous track. Music playback is started with a long press of the middle button, and paused with a short press of the same button.