Huawei enters the wearable category with the TalkBand B1

Do we really need a wristband that tracks your health and also turns into a headset? Huawei thinks so.

It was only a matter of time before Huawei got in on the increasingly-relevant wearable space, and the TalkBand B1 is its first attempt. This device, while it looks wrist-bound, is actually two devices in one. The name reveals its hand a little bit — the TalkBand can both be used as a fitness band to capture and give you simple information about your movement but can also be removed from the band and used as a Bluetooth headset.
That's right, you can remove the screen from the TalkBand and stick it in your ear and use it to make and receive calls. When it's all put together, the TalkBand looks and works like your standard fitness band — think Fitbit or LG Lifeband — with a 1.4-inch curved OLED display and a single button on the side. When removed, it looks like a sleek, low-profile headset with a simple microphone slot and rubber earpiece.
The band latches together with two metal prongs, and one end pulls double duty as a USB plug to charge the device. That means you have the simplicity of not needing a cable to charge, but it also gives the TalkBand IP57 waterproofing as well. The band itself feels comfortable, as it should when you'll be wearing it all the time, but is a tad thick because it has to house all of the components of a Bluetooth headset at the same time.

Huawei TalkBand B1

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The TalkBand connects to your phone over Bluetooth 4.1, of course, and initiates that connection over NFC. It is supported by Huawei's recently-launched devices officially — although Huawei isn't showing off the software integration just yet — but we were also told Android 2.3+ and iOS 5+ support is on the way as well.
We're not entirely sure if the fitness band + Bluetooth headset is a large addressable market, but the design and implementation of what Huawei has gone for here is above what we'd expect on a first attempt. The TalkBand B1 will be hitting Europe for just €99, which is an industry-following price for something like this.