Sony has revealed that it considered making a round-faced smartwatch despite bestowing its latest wearable, the Sony SmartWatch 3, with a square display.
Having unveiled its first Android Wear offering at IFA 2014 earlier this month, Sony has revealed how it originally looked at producing a round, Moto 360 and LG G Watch R rival before opting to stick with the tried and tested square panel.
“In the end, yes we looked at the round screen, but we felt this offered the best user experience,” Calum MacDougall, Sony’s Director of Xperia Marketing said while discussing the SmartWatch 3 with TrustedReviews recently.
Although round-faced smartwatches such as the Moto 360 have gained far more consumer interest than their square counterparts to date, MacDougall claimed that the square display fitted better with Sony’s design plans.
“With the design language, we felt that the choice we made here with the square screen is the right choice, particularly for a device that is a smartwatch and which we want act as a second screen,” he told us.
“We also felt that [square] offered more flexibility for this device. The screen actually pops out of the band as a core and you can put it in to different places as well.”
He added: “Our choice of screen size is driven by, not just watch usage, but other usage as well.”
Despite Sony favouring a square screen for its third-generation wearable, retailer John Lewis recently told us more consumer interest is being focussed on round devices.
“More consumer interest is being directed at round smartwatches,” Will Jones, Tablets and Computing Buyer at John Lewis said.
He added: “Whether that’s round as a traditional watch or it’s a rounded edge, I think with wearables people want fashion and technology to really come together.”
Would you rather a square or a round smartwatch? Let us know via the comments box below.
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