Chinese phone maker Huawei has unveiled its first wearable device. It’s a smart wristband that you can use as a watch, a smartphone companion, and a fitness tracker.
The Huawei TalkBand B1 has a plastic strap with a 1.4 inch flexible OLED display in the middle. It also has a removable Bluetooth earpiece which means that not only can you use it to view caller ID for incoming calls — you can also use the watch to make phone calls.
Huawei’s wristband also includes fitness tracking capabilities. It can count the steps you take each day, calculate how many miles you’ve walked, and estimate how many calories you’ve burned. It also tracks your movements during sleep to judge your sleep duration and quality.
The water-resistant TalkBand B1Â can pair with Android or iOS phones, and Huawei says you should get up to 6 days of battery life from the built-in 90mAh battery. It takes about 2 hours to fully recharge the device using a USB cable.
Huawei says the TalkBand B1 will be available in China in March. It’s expected to be available in Japan, Western Europe, the Middle East, and Russia in the second quarter of 2014.
While it’s nice to see a device like this with a simple and clean design, it’s a pity that the orientation of the display seems wrong, compared to a watch, something most of us are used to.