Probably best not to go swimming with it, though. You can shower with it, drop it 1.5m into water, or even dunk it into a mud bath, if you’re into that sort of thing. Because it has an IP68 rating for ruggedness, you don’t have to worry about treating it with kid gloves. The 1.4-inch E-ink display has a 296 x 128 resolution and is easy to read in daylight, but lacks a backlight, so night-time use is tough. The core weighs just 24g and is slightly curved, so it feels really comfortable on your wrist, whether you’re resting, exercising or sleeping. The little grooves on the straps are unfortunately prone to picking up dirt, though, which is all too visible and quite difficult to dislodge. There’s a decent selection of removable straps available, too, with red, pink, blue, green, white and black variants on offer in two different sizes. We tested the black version and reckon it’s the more attractive of the two – it’s more discreet. The main body comes in two colour variations: black and white. The SmartBand Talk consists of a plastic ‘core’ attached to a rubbery wrist strap. It isn’t beautiful, but there’s a certain minimalist elegance here that rival devices, such as the Misfit Flash and Withings Pulse O2, lack. The SmartBand Talk is simple and clean looking. Sony can teach a few companies a thing or two about design.

The £125 Jawbone UP24 is similarly priced but better value for money. But tracking issues and the lack of useful analysis let it down. It’s a concept that will no doubt appeal to many, and the ability to make and take phone calls through the SmartBand Talk sets it apart from most rival devices. It tracks more than most, however, as it records how much time you spend listening to music, reading, snapping photos, browsing photos and more, in addition to standard tracking fare such as walking, running and sleeping. The SmartBand Talk is Sony’s latest wearable tracker, following in the footsteps of the original Sony SmartBand.

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