Come January, half the world will be looking to get fit quick which means that fitness tech is a hot buy for Christmas.

With that in mind – and having previously tried other wearable tech such as Samsung’s Gear 3 Neo smartwatch, the Fitbit Flex and Nike Fuelband - we put Sony’s Smart B-Trainer through its paces.

To look at, they are impressively demure - little more than a smart pair of wireless headphones.

Sony describes them as ‘a convenient all-in-one solution’ that combines training programmes, voice coaching and sensors including heart rate and a music player that selects tunes at the tempo you should be running at.

It even has a microphone so you can make breathless phone calls on the run.

It promises a lot, but so it should for £230. Set up was easy – it’s an app to download for your phone and a bit of software on your PC so you can add music properly. The latter was a bit of a faff but still didn’t take long.

Then you just switch it on, pair it with your Bluetooth and get running.

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Foolishly, I took it for a run after an exercise class (both the class and my approach could be considered insanity) but found it easy to get going and it read my heart rate quickly – not hard considering you could almost see my heart pounding.

As I jogged slowly to the sounds of the calming Samsung welcome tune I was left wondering whether the music transferred properly.

But then I remembered it had some songs on board as samples to begin with (Taylor Swift was one), so the Smart B-Trainer had clearly chosen the slowest, most chilled song it could and stuck with it.

Checking stats on the phone screen was satisfying but if you want to leave the mobile behind, the robot lady reads them to you every kilometre anyway.

As someone who is used to headphones dropping out while moving, I have to say these were the best fit I’ve ever had – they did not budge and the sound quality (of the Samsung theme) was faultless.

The noise cancelling was also A-grade. Which, perhaps bizarrely, I didn’t like. I prefer to hear if there’s a truck coming or people shouting at me to stop because of a hole in the road or an axe murderer chasing me.

Or just my running buddy chatting.

But presumably if you’re buying this, it’s because you like to listen to music on the run. And for that, they’re near perfect.

Post-run, the app gave me a very pleasing set of stats that satisfied the inner geek (and will easily let you track progress) including maps, calories burned, a heart-rate graph, pace, cadence, stride.

Wandsworth Times:

Go to smartsports.sony.net