HTC has finally made its long-awaited debut into the fitness market, following last year's announcement it will be working with Under Armour, with the launch the HTC Grip.
The new fitness tracker – which also packs a GPS chip inside – is designed for 'elite athletes', which really translates into the segment of people that aren't just stuck on the sofa and buy a step-tracking bangle to try and remember to wander around once in a while.
The Grip features a two-tone black and lime colour, in a design reminiscent of the Nike Fuelband – it even features the same sort of clasp to snag arm hair. However this bangle is designed to work with Under Armour's Record app to give you all the info on your sweating.
Run, your beautiful fool
Primarily a watch for running, the Grip has a passive matrix OLED screen to display information on distance, speed and time. While it can work independently thanks to the GPS chip, it works better with a smartphone attached, where it can display smart notifications, change music tracks or even reply to messages with pre-defined words.
There's no heart rate monitor built in – HTC reckons the technology isn't good enough and wants the band to be attractive to the serious fitness freak – but it can connect to Bluetooth heart rate bands.
With a battery life that should be able to last five hours on GPS (enough for a marathon in some cases) the fitness device has some decent specs – although it won't be massively cheap at $199 when it launches.
The HTC Grip release date has been set for 'spring' this year – and if you've noted the lack of price conversion that's because this fitness wearable won't be leaving the US, unfortunately.
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