A GPS device that tracks your runs with a heart rate monitor that doesn’t need a chest strap and a coaching system that taps music tempo, the Sony Smart B-Trainer was developed “with the modern runner in mind.”

Sony unveiled the Smart B-Trainer in Cebu leading to the Ironman weekend earlier this month.

“It’s a fantastic product,” said Jaymie Pizarro, a popular runner and blogger who is also known as The Bull Runner.

Pizarro demonstrated using the Smart B-Trainer during the launch, held last July 31 at the Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa, venue of the Ironman expo.

Heart rate monitor

Pizarro said her favorite feature was the heart rate monitor that doesn’t need a chest strap. The Smart B-Trainer uses a sensor to measure your pulse from your ear.

“You forget that you’re wearing a heart rate gadget,” Pizarro said. She said you can use the Smart B-Trainer to answer calls while on the run if you have your phone with you. She said another feature that she liked was the ability to record voice memos during the run. She said she uses this to record her thoughts and observations while running, a useful feature for a blogger like her.

Pizarro said you can use the Smart B-Trainer even while swimming.

Smart B-Trainer for Running
SMART B-TRAINER. The gadget offers “every fitness feature you need in one device,” Sony said. The Smart B-Trainer is shown above with its companion app, the Smart B-Trainer for Running.

Fitness features

The Smart B-Trainer offers “every fitness feature you need in one device,” the company said in a brochure distributed during the event.

“Its built-in heart rate monitor, GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, and barometer record 11 different types of activity logs to help you achieve any workout goal,” the company said. These activity logs include distance, steps, elevation, pace, lap, time, cadence, stride, heart rate, calories, and route.

The device comes in a neckband housing that is non-slip.

Basing on a preset user profile and a defined heart rate goal, the Smart B-Trainer keeps track of your heart rate and selects music based on an analysis of tempo.

“When your heart rate is higher than your targeted speed, a song with slower tempo will be automatically selected to guide you to slow down, and vice versa when your heart rate is lower than the targeted speed,” the company said.

The Smart B-Trainer has a built-in memory of 16GB, enough to store about 3,900 songs.

Smart B-Trainer companion app

The device has a companion app, both for Android and iOS, called Smart B-Trainer for Running. The app helps you manage running logs and keeps track of your training. It also has various training programs that you can choose and send to your device via Bluetooth. The training plans allow you to set running goals such as time, distance, pace or calories burned. It also offers training themes such as “fat-burning training” or “endurance training.”

The Smart B-Trainer, however, can be used on its own and without bringing a phone with you.

Sony said the Smart B-Trainer is water-proof and has an IPX5/IPX8 rating and was tested by being submerged with a swimming earpiece 2 meters deep in water for 30 minutes without damaging the product.

The Smart B-Trainer is available at the Sony Centre in Ayala Center Cebu for P12,999.

Max Limpag is a journalist, blogger, and developer based in Cebu. He started as a reporter covering Cebu City Hall in 1996. He has written on technology for various print and digital publications since...

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