Honor Band Z1 fitness tracker wants to help you shake off your holiday excesses
As you face up to your new year's resolutions, the Honor Band Z1 is the latest wearable to track your activity and sleep.
The Honor Band Z1 fitness tracker.
It's January -- time to think about working off the Christmas excesses with some exercise and activity. Fitness trackers and exercise gadgets could help, and the latest fitness-tracking wristband to come to the US is the Honor Band Z1.
Honor is a brand made by Huawei, a growing Chinese manufacturer of largely budget phones. The Z1 a rebadged version of the Huawei Honor Zero sold in China, and has been availalable as the Z1 in India since last year. As of now, Americans can also buy the Z1 to track your activity, counting your steps and keeping a record of how you sleep.
The Band Z1 costs $80 (converting roughly to AU$110 or £55).
Nestling in a hypoallergenic, thermoplastic polyurethane strap in a choice of black, white or cream, the Z1 tracker is built from stainless steel, sealed from dust and water to keep it safe when you're out running or doing other sports. It's certified to IP68 ruggedness, making it waterproof to a depth of 1.5m so you can wear it while surfing, paddling or just splashing about in the pool, but deep sea diving is out.
The Z1 boasts a 1-inch passive-matrix OLED touchscreen with a resolution of 128x128 pixels. PMOLED displays are less efficient than the active-matrix OLED screens found in larger devices, but at this size it more than does the job. The white symbols are crisp enough on the black screen, which adds to the uncluttered look of the Z1.
Some rival fitness trackers of this size don't have a screen, so it's useful to see information such as your activity or a notification of who is calling you on your Android or iPhone, which pairs to the band over Bluetooth. The sleek silver bezel also makes the Band Z1 look like a traditional watch, making it less obtrusive than many rival chunky plastic trackers.
When the band is ready to fall asleep itself, you charge it in a magnetic dock. Honor claims the 70mAh battery will deliver four days of normal use on a full charge, and a day's use takes just 10 minutes of charging.
- 1.06-inch OLED touchscreen
- Resolution: 128 x 128 pixels
- 38 mm x 9.5 mm (1.5 in. x 0.37 in.)
- Weighs approximately 25g
- Cortex M4 STM32F411 processor
- 70mAh non-removable battery
- IP68 compliance for dust and water resistance
- POGO PIN USB port
- Bluetooth 4.1
- Compatible with Android 4.4.4+ or iOS 7.0+