Sony Smart Tennis Sensor REVIEW
Introduction
I got really lucky and recently got my hands on the Sony Smart Tennis Sensor. Since the sensor is not still officially out, my review will be brief. Whenever it will be officially out I will be filling in the gaps. So far the Sony sensor is the lightest of all the sensors which I have reviewed so far. It has a couple of new features that I think even the Pro players would appreciate.
Written by Martin Poboril (last update 4/24/2015)
opening the box
The box of the Sony Smart Tennis Sensor.
The box includes (from left to right):
Sack, screwdriver, charger, USB cable, mounting ring (above the sensor), and the Sony Smart Tennis Sensor
The charger and the cap for the charging station.
pictures of the racquet and the sensor
Picture of the cap; we can see that the cap is ready to be removed.
Racquet without the cap on the top.
Racquet with the mouthing ring inserted in the cap.
And finally, the sensor inserted on the top of the racquet.
weight and size
Weight of the racquet is 334.7 grams (type of the racquet is Yonex VCORE Tour G 330)
The weight of the cap is 2.3 grams.
The weight of the mounting ring is 1.9 grams.
The weight of the Sony Smart Tennis sensor is 7.9 grams.
The weight of the Sony Smart Tennis sensor and the mounting ring is 9.8 grams.
The weight of the Yonex racquet with only the mounting ring is 334.3 grams.
The weight of the Yonex racquet with the Sony sensor is 342.1 grams.
The size comparison of the Sony sensor with a pen.
technical specifications
BLUETOOTH
Range: 20 – 30 meters
COMPATIBILITY
Android 4.1 or later
iOS 6.1 or later
NOT for Windows phones
NOT for desktop
NOT for Blackberry
SENSOR
–
MEMORY
–
BATTERY
Charging time about 2 hours
Battery life during live usage around 90 minutes
Battery life during offline usage around 3 hours
tracking
The Sony Smart Tennis sensor works in two modes: live and offline mode.
Sony Smart Tennis Sensor Tracking
FOREHAND
Number of forehands per session
Topspin, slice
Sweet spot
Ball spin
Swing speed
Ball speed
BACKHAND
Number of backhands per session
Topspin, slice
Sweet spot
Ball spin
Swing speed
Ball speed
FOREHAND VOLLEY
Number of forehand volleys per session
Sweet spot
Ball spin
Swing speed
Ball speed
BACKHAND VOLLEY
Number of backhand volleys per session
Sweet spot
Ball spin
Swing speed
Ball speed
SMASH
Number of smashes per session
Sweet spot
Ball spin
Swing speed
Ball speed
SERVE
Number of serves per session
Sweet spot
Ball spin
Swing speed
Ball speed
OTHER
Total swings per session
Total time
KCAL burned
Notes
Live mode video
Motion shot images
Compare ball spin, racquet speed, and ball speed
user guide
So far, the user guide is available only in the application of your Smartphone. The user guide is well built with helpful pictures and animations.
sony smart tennis application
Application version 1.1.1, Sensor version 1.0.2
The Sony sensor works in two modes: live mode and offline mode.
Whenever the sensor is in live mode the “tap to start” icon is active and we can see how much the sensor is charged (picture on the left). When the sensor is in the offline mode the “tap to start” icon is disabled and our sensor is saving the data in its storage.
Exploring One of My sessions
Whenever we choose what session we want to explore this page comes up.
– In the top right corner we can see that the icon for the sensor is red which means that the sensor is connected to the app (the sensor is in live mode).
– Below that in the gray field we can see what session we are exploring. This session is from April 4, 2015. The time bellow is showing when the first ball of the day was hit (11:46) and the last one (15:08).
– In the middle of the circle we can see the number of total shots from that day, and the colored circle around that number is representing the distribution of the shots from that day.
– On the left and right side are total numbers from every shot (52 serves, 14 smashes, 19 backhand volleys, 18 forehand volleys, 135 topspin forehands, 33 slice forehands, 56 topspin backhands, and 21 slice backhands).
– Below this is a field where we can wright notes for that day. I wrote “Trying the sensor”.
– There are two more options on this screen: “Live Mode Video” which lets us record ourselves with the smart phone and afterwards do a detailed analysis of our shots, and “Motion Shot Images” which lets us make step by step pictures throughout our shot.
For example, when we click on the “Topspin Forehand” link either in the graph or on the side of the graph it will take us to this page.
– Here we can see the total number of topspin forehands played that day (135).
– Sweet spot for the topspin forehands (the heat map on the racquet).
– Under this we can also see the graphs with the ball spin, swing speed, and ball speed.
– On the bottom of this page is a timeline where we can see the time when we played all the topspin forehands. There is an option to zoom in (plus sign on the right of the timeline) or zoom out (minus sign on the left of the timeline) on this timeline.
Whenever we go back and click on the “Live Mode Video” link this page comes up (this link will be available only if we recorded a video from the session).
– Here we can see the video from our session.
– As we play in this video every shot is analyzed immediately, like in this case: my last shot on the video was a topspin forehand with ball spin +5, swing speed 114 km/h, ball speed 98 km/h, and on the bottom right is shown where I hit the ball.
– Every shot has its own color. Under the video I can see the timeline and on it what shots I already played and what shots are coming.
– On the top of this timeline is a menu where we can choose what shot we want to explore. In this case I am exploring all the shots, but we can choose topspin backhands and the video will be cut automatically and show only topspin backhands.
On the right side of the video is a button which allows us to take motion shots images.
Whenever we click that button it will take us to another application from Sony called “Motion Shot” (in order to do this, first we have to install the app), and this app will make motion shots images from our shot. Viewing this feature still does not work well.
Other Features in the Sony Application
When we go back to the home page and click on the following button on the top of the screen we come to this screen.
– It is the screen where we can compare ball spin, swing speed, and ball speed of every shot from every day we played.
– In this example we are exploring topspin forehands. If we want to explore other shots we can choose it from the list at the top of the screen.
Here are a couple more examples (from left to right): Serve, topspin backhand, forehand volley
On the home page we can click “Day” button and from the list choose “Month” to see how we are doing every month.
PROS and cons
PROS
CONS
Approved by ITF
Sensor is dust and water resistant
Free application
Sensor is well built
Weight of the sensor
Battery live
The rubber from the sensor is peeling off
tips
Even though the sensor shows that it is charged, charge it before every session for better performance of the sensor.
playing with the sensor
10 Forehands Topspin:
– The application recorded 10 forehands topspin.
10 Forehands Slice:
– The application recorded 10 slice forehands.
10 Backhands Topspin:
– The application recorded 10 backhands topspin.
10 Backhands Slice:
– The application recorded 10 backhands slice.
10 Forehand volleys:
– The application recorded 10 forehand volleys.
10 Backhand volleys:
– The application recorded 10 backhand volleys.
10 Smashes:
– The application recorded 2 smashes and 8 serves.
10 Serves:
– The application recorded 10 serves.
video of the accuracy
In the video I am showing only three shots from every session to keep the video short.
Accuracy of the sony sensor from the practice
I was recording myself on video camera during part of my practices while I was playing with the Sony sensor. After the practice I took the data from the sensor and the recorded data from the video and I compared them.
Session 1 (April 24, 2015)
Application version 1.1.1, Sensor version 1.0.2)
Type of Shot
Data Recorded
Sony Recorded
Difference in %
Total Difference in %
Topspin Forehands
354
298
8.59%
Slice Forehands
3
20
73.91%
Topspin Backhands
187
162
7.16%
Slice Backhands
43
36
8.86%
Forehand Volley
28
24
7.69%
14.34%
Backhand Volley
36
39
4%
Smash
16
15
3.23%
Serves
37
46
10.84%
Total Shots
704
640
4.76%
Notes:
–
weird
All of the sessions from one day are put together so if we play more than one session per day we cannot divide those sessions into separate sessions.
price
Around 200 dollars
my thoughts on zepp tennis sensor
I think that Sony did really well at developing the sensor. It even has some features that I think professional players would appreciate (live mode video, motion shot pictures, history of the ball spin, speed of the racquet, and ball speed). Even though it is the lightest sensor that I have reviewed so far I can still feel it on the racquet. Also, I can feel my hand touching the sensor during the shots. I know and I feel that there something extra on the racquet. The results from the sensor look pretty good even though the sensor is still not officially out. I am very excited to see what Sony will do until the sensor will be out officially.