Huawei has had a big night overnight, updating their P-series with the P9 and P9 Plus – but that’s not all they updated, announcing a new version of the Talkband. Huawei launched the Talkband B3 with updated specs, colours and even a new styles of band.
Like previous models, the Talkband B3 is a minimalist fitness device, which uses a removable fitness tracking module that also doubles as a Bluetooth earpiece you can use to take calls before snapping it into a variety of bands.
This year, Huawei has introduced three different classes of Talkband: Active, Classic and elite. The Active options, available in black and white are available with a TPU strap which is comfortable to wear while exercising. The Classic comes with either a Beige or Brown calfskin leather strap and finally the Elite which comes in an ultra sleek looking titanium grey stainless steel strap.
The Talkband B3 offers a monochrome 80×128 PMOLED display which is covered by Gorilla Glass for ultimate protection against scrapes and bumps. As well as the display for images and text, the Talkband B3 includes a vibration motor, which vibrates on notifications from selected apps, or wakes you up with a smart alarm.
The bluetooth module has a refined silicon earpiece which Huawei says ;has a tight, comfortable fit that can be worn effortlessly for hours’. The battery on the Talkband B3 should last a while, with a 91 mAh battery included, which Huawei says will last for 6 hours of calling, giving a 3-4 day battery life, on a 1.5 hour charge.
The Talkband B3 is IP57 rated so you can splash it, but not go swimming with it.
The fitness tracking feature is also augmented with weather tracking, as well as phone finder which will help track your phone down with a simple tap. Even sleep patterns are monitored, which gives you access to the smart alarms to wake you in a light sleep cycle.
Availability hasn’t been announced as yet, but they did announce pricing with the Talkband B3 Active starting at €169, while the Classic will start at €199 and the Elite will set you back €249.
At these prices, the Talkband B3 is running right into Android Wear or Pebble smartwatch territory. We’re hoping to get hands-on with the Talkband B3 to see how it stacks up against the competition in the near future.
No GPS tracker? How am I supposed to know the exact whereabouts of a family member when kidnapped?
It’s not clear to me from your article whether this is an Android Wear device or not
It’s not. Like the previous 2 Talkbands, it’s a basic fitness band. If it’s Android Wear you’ll know about it. I compared the pricing structure to the Android Wear and Pebble to simply give you an indication of where they sit in the market.