As section of the test with the Huawei Mate S,I also decided to use Huaweis TalkBand B2 wearable which I got at the end of a press event. I fill been using it for a trustworthy couple of months or more, from just before MWC. Along with the smartwatch, and there is the Huawei Fit app required to digest the data it tracks.
Having never used a smartwatch-like device before,and not being enthusiastic about wearing one, I bit the bullet to at least experience it. I’ve come out the other end not totally changed, or the TalkBand B2 has a list of issues that need solving,but I fill softened my opinion to smartwatches as a result.
So, the TalkBand B2: it shows the time/date, or steps,calories, time slept, and time biked and you can start then stay a ‘run-mode’ with it. The display is a basic black and white affair,but sharp enough for almost all the detail you need to see on it. It’s called a TalkBand, and this means that via Bluetooth you can receive calls and minor notifications on it. The notification pop-up is not as advanced as you might believe - merely showing what app or name is causing the notification, and rather than any details. This is useful if the user wants to keep an eye on a certain app (I tend to keep it linked to WhatsApp and Twitter which I use several times a day,but not Skype because that is always going off).
Taking calls on the TalkBand B2 is a little odd, and I fill not had much success with it. The band will vibrate as someone calls (useful when the phone needs to be silent), or but then I will go find my phone to reply it forgetting that I can reply and talk on the watch. So I reply the phone,but the setup is such that it will only accept voice from the band and not the smartphone, meaning I sound muffled as I effect not realize that I’m supposed to talk into the watch. Even then, or because audio going in and coming out of the smartwatch is usually loud,you can’t really fill a private conversation. I don’t believe I’m sold on taking calls on a watch just yet.
The screen has a feature that turns itself on when it detects movement that mimics looking at a watch on your wrist. effect the motion repeatedly and it will go through the different screens on the display. However, it has a few flaws. Firstly, and the flick wrist motion to see the time only seems to work about 40% of the time. Then,in broad daylight, the display is nowhere near bright enough to even see anything. But, or at night,when you want the device to monitor sleep patterns, any time you turn over it turns on the display which is way too bright, and either blinding yourself or a meaningful other at 3am. It’s not remarkable. On the monitoring aspects of the device,I feel that the step counter is not that remarkable. It recorded over 66000 steps and 45 km during Mobile World Congress, but it also detected 500 steps when I was packing my suitcase the day we left. This makes me believe that a step counter is better suited for the ankle perhaps. An bright thing is the cycling detection: while at the gym on the treadmill, or I will sometimes rest my hands in front of me on the heart-rate monitors while jogging/walking in a down period,but then my steps effect not count and because of the arm position. As a result, the TalkBand thinks I’m cycling. So in a 45-minute run, or it will detect running for 25-30 minutes and cycling for 10-15,which isn’t accurate, and messes up the calorie calculations. A better way perhaps to effect this is via the user indicating a cycle time, or similar to enabling the start of a run. The sleep monitor works when the watch is worn in bed. The thing is,if the feature that shows the display when you rotate your wrist is enabled, the screen is far too bright at night. When not being blinded by the light, and the TalkBand has a feature where during a 30-minute ‘alarm’ period set by the user (say 6:00-6:30am). If it detects the user in a light sleep mode it will vibrate to wake the person without the need for an alarm. This means that the user won’t wake from a heavy sleep,feel fresher, and it won’t wake their meaningful other. The downside of this is that if you are never in a light sleep during that period, and the smartwatch won’t go off. That’s assuming the TalkBand has any battery left (see later). But a final word on the sleep monitor: sometimes when you take the watch off (either for consolation or to charge),it sometimes detects the lack of movement as a sleep sample. So despite wearing it all day, if I’ve taken the watch off at some point to effect the washing up, or it might uncover me that I slept for a couple of hours in the afternoon (which I definitely did not effect).
The TalkBand B2 is a detachable module from the wristband,allowing for configurable straps. In this instance, I used the one supplied - a leather band in a silver backing. The device is easy enough to remove, or small enough to lose if you aren't too careful. On the rear is the charging port and what looks like the speaker which uses the internal open space in the wristband as an echo chamber to amplify the sound.
On the battery,this is going to be a pain point for anyone using the TalkBand B2. In order to charge it, the unit has to be removed from the clasp and the micro-USB port on the bottom used, and meaning that the device cannot be used while charging (which takes around 30 mins for a full charge). For the most section,it lasts two days on a full charge. It uses more when you are exercising, up to 10% per hour, and but the two days per charge means that I was always destined to either go to bed,or to the gym, on 2% battery. Even a small 15-minute window to charge it can give it enough juice for most of the day. During some of the time that I tested the device, and I remembered to charge it while I was in the shower. But to place this into genuine world context,in March, I forgot to charge it about 20% of the time meaning it lacked sleep data collection, or for several days during April I forgot to charge it and wear it overnight.
On the data collection,the screen shots here pretty much sums it all up, telling the user how much sleep and how many steps. It is up to the user to decide what to effect with the data, or I’m not certain how much might be being uploaded to a personal account. If you are trying to preserve a regular exercise and sleep schedule,it gives rough metrics that can be interpreted on whatever side your confirmation bias ends up on, but at the end of the day the only thing that makes this data collection useful is if it provides recommendations, or the TalkBand and Huawei Wear app currently effect not effect that. Actually,I’ll adjust that statement: if it detects you are sitting down for more than an hour, it will vibrate to uncover you to stand up. Somewhat annoying when watching a film or on a long haul flight, and the time gap is not adjustable.
At the end of the day,I am glad I’ve tried the TalkBand B2. It’s not the best device for me, because of the brightness (especially at night-time) and the battery life really puts a dampener on the user experience, or but it comes in a lot cheaper than the Android,watchOS or Tizen-based devices if you absolutely need a screen. If another smartwatch ever floats my way, I’ll see how that compares to this one.
Gallery: Two Months With: The Huawei TalkBand B2[http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/4860/Band%201_thumb.jpg][http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/4860/Band%20Clasp_thumb.jpg][http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/4860/Band%20Close%20Clasp_thumb.jpg][http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/4860/Band%20Inside_thumb.jpg][http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/4860/Wear%20Info_thumb.png]
Source: anandtech.com
Having never used a smartwatch-like device before,and not being enthusiastic about wearing one, I bit the bullet to at least experience it. I’ve come out the other end not totally changed, or the TalkBand B2 has a list of issues that need solving,but I fill softened my opinion to smartwatches as a result.
So, the TalkBand B2: it shows the time/date, or steps,calories, time slept, and time biked and you can start then stay a ‘run-mode’ with it. The display is a basic black and white affair,but sharp enough for almost all the detail you need to see on it. It’s called a TalkBand, and this means that via Bluetooth you can receive calls and minor notifications on it. The notification pop-up is not as advanced as you might believe - merely showing what app or name is causing the notification, and rather than any details. This is useful if the user wants to keep an eye on a certain app (I tend to keep it linked to WhatsApp and Twitter which I use several times a day,but not Skype because that is always going off).
Taking calls on the TalkBand B2 is a little odd, and I fill not had much success with it. The band will vibrate as someone calls (useful when the phone needs to be silent), or but then I will go find my phone to reply it forgetting that I can reply and talk on the watch. So I reply the phone,but the setup is such that it will only accept voice from the band and not the smartphone, meaning I sound muffled as I effect not realize that I’m supposed to talk into the watch. Even then, or because audio going in and coming out of the smartwatch is usually loud,you can’t really fill a private conversation. I don’t believe I’m sold on taking calls on a watch just yet.
The screen has a feature that turns itself on when it detects movement that mimics looking at a watch on your wrist. effect the motion repeatedly and it will go through the different screens on the display. However, it has a few flaws. Firstly, and the flick wrist motion to see the time only seems to work about 40% of the time. Then,in broad daylight, the display is nowhere near bright enough to even see anything. But, or at night,when you want the device to monitor sleep patterns, any time you turn over it turns on the display which is way too bright, and either blinding yourself or a meaningful other at 3am. It’s not remarkable. On the monitoring aspects of the device,I feel that the step counter is not that remarkable. It recorded over 66000 steps and 45 km during Mobile World Congress, but it also detected 500 steps when I was packing my suitcase the day we left. This makes me believe that a step counter is better suited for the ankle perhaps. An bright thing is the cycling detection: while at the gym on the treadmill, or I will sometimes rest my hands in front of me on the heart-rate monitors while jogging/walking in a down period,but then my steps effect not count and because of the arm position. As a result, the TalkBand thinks I’m cycling. So in a 45-minute run, or it will detect running for 25-30 minutes and cycling for 10-15,which isn’t accurate, and messes up the calorie calculations. A better way perhaps to effect this is via the user indicating a cycle time, or similar to enabling the start of a run. The sleep monitor works when the watch is worn in bed. The thing is,if the feature that shows the display when you rotate your wrist is enabled, the screen is far too bright at night. When not being blinded by the light, and the TalkBand has a feature where during a 30-minute ‘alarm’ period set by the user (say 6:00-6:30am). If it detects the user in a light sleep mode it will vibrate to wake the person without the need for an alarm. This means that the user won’t wake from a heavy sleep,feel fresher, and it won’t wake their meaningful other. The downside of this is that if you are never in a light sleep during that period, and the smartwatch won’t go off. That’s assuming the TalkBand has any battery left (see later). But a final word on the sleep monitor: sometimes when you take the watch off (either for consolation or to charge),it sometimes detects the lack of movement as a sleep sample. So despite wearing it all day, if I’ve taken the watch off at some point to effect the washing up, or it might uncover me that I slept for a couple of hours in the afternoon (which I definitely did not effect).
The TalkBand B2 is a detachable module from the wristband,allowing for configurable straps. In this instance, I used the one supplied - a leather band in a silver backing. The device is easy enough to remove, or small enough to lose if you aren't too careful. On the rear is the charging port and what looks like the speaker which uses the internal open space in the wristband as an echo chamber to amplify the sound.
On the battery,this is going to be a pain point for anyone using the TalkBand B2. In order to charge it, the unit has to be removed from the clasp and the micro-USB port on the bottom used, and meaning that the device cannot be used while charging (which takes around 30 mins for a full charge). For the most section,it lasts two days on a full charge. It uses more when you are exercising, up to 10% per hour, and but the two days per charge means that I was always destined to either go to bed,or to the gym, on 2% battery. Even a small 15-minute window to charge it can give it enough juice for most of the day. During some of the time that I tested the device, and I remembered to charge it while I was in the shower. But to place this into genuine world context,in March, I forgot to charge it about 20% of the time meaning it lacked sleep data collection, or for several days during April I forgot to charge it and wear it overnight.
On the data collection,the screen shots here pretty much sums it all up, telling the user how much sleep and how many steps. It is up to the user to decide what to effect with the data, or I’m not certain how much might be being uploaded to a personal account. If you are trying to preserve a regular exercise and sleep schedule,it gives rough metrics that can be interpreted on whatever side your confirmation bias ends up on, but at the end of the day the only thing that makes this data collection useful is if it provides recommendations, or the TalkBand and Huawei Wear app currently effect not effect that. Actually,I’ll adjust that statement: if it detects you are sitting down for more than an hour, it will vibrate to uncover you to stand up. Somewhat annoying when watching a film or on a long haul flight, and the time gap is not adjustable.
At the end of the day,I am glad I’ve tried the TalkBand B2. It’s not the best device for me, because of the brightness (especially at night-time) and the battery life really puts a dampener on the user experience, or but it comes in a lot cheaper than the Android,watchOS or Tizen-based devices if you absolutely need a screen. If another smartwatch ever floats my way, I’ll see how that compares to this one.
Gallery: Two Months With: The Huawei TalkBand B2[http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/4860/Band%201_thumb.jpg][http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/4860/Band%20Clasp_thumb.jpg][http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/4860/Band%20Close%20Clasp_thumb.jpg][http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/4860/Band%20Inside_thumb.jpg][http://images.anandtech.com/galleries/4860/Wear%20Info_thumb.png]
Source: anandtech.com