Details of Huawei's latest hybrid wearable, the TalkBand B5, have been revealed, shortly after images of the device leaked online.
The full reveal is set to take place on 18 July, where we'll be told a price, but Huawei has fired early with details on the specs. Firstly, we know the TalkBand B5 will work the same way as previous TalkBands, with a Bluetooth headset that pops out of the fitness tracker and fits in your ear for taking calls.
The TalkBand 5 has a 1.13-inch AMOLED touchscreen that's about 2.4 times larger than its predecessor, reports FoneArena. That screen also has a 300 x 160 resolution and comes covered with 2.5D curved glass.
Read this: The best fitness trackers
While it works with both iPhones and Android smartphones, certain features like call ID and call muting will only be available to Huawei and Honor smartphone users.
As for when you're not on a call, the fitness tracker has a heart rate sensor utilizing Huawei's TruRelax Technology, which tracks your heart rate 24 hours, analyzes heart rate variability and detects when you're stressed. It will track a range of exercises too, like running and cycling, while the IP67-certified water and dust resistance means you can take it in the pool.
On paper, the sleep tracking is pretty in-depth here too, analyzing different stages of sleep using cardiopulmonary coupling (
Battery life should give you around 3.5 days, with up to 6 hours of talk time. Huawei's new band comes with an 18mm strap in a choice of silicone, leather and stainless steel. It'll go one sale 20 July, and we can expect to find out how much for at Huawei's big 18 July event.
The original TalkBand was pretty poor: A hybrid that combined a Bluetooth headset that didn't work with a fitness tracker that wasn't accurate. Things improved with the B2 and B3, although popping out the headset made us feel a tad ridiculous.What happened to the TalkBand B4? The number four is unlucky in China, so the company skipped it.
As we've said before, the two core pillars of the product that need to be improved to make the TalkBand B5 deliver on its hybrid promise. It needs to be a reliable Bluetooth headset and offer much improved fitness tracking and sleep tracking.
So far, signs are good, but we'll need to wait to get one in our hands to see if the TalkBand is finally something we'd want to wear.
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By Husain Sumra
Husain joined Wareable in 2017 as a member of our San Fransisco based team. Husain is a movies expert, and runs his own blog, and contributes to MacRumors.
He has spent hours in the world of virtual reality, getting eyes on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Samsung Gear VR.
At Wareable, Husain's role is to investigate, report and write features and news about the wearable industry – from smartwatches and fitness trackers to health devices, virtual reality, augmented reality and more.
He writes buyers guides, how-to content, hardware reviews and more.