Bracelet Huawei TalkBand B5 Active - advantages and disadvantages

In early July 2018, the Huawei TalkBand B5 fitness bracelet went on sale. The popularity of previous models from the Chinese company Huawei has generated great interest in this new device. But everyone was surprised by the average price of the new item, which is more than 15,000 rubles. Like all popular companies, Huawei produces high-quality models of electronic devices, but does the functionality of this "smart" bracelet justify such a high cost?

Equipment

When buying a fitness tracker in a visually beautiful and durable blister pack you will find:

• a premium bracelet that combines a fitness tracker and a bluetooth headset with a stand;
• charging cable (micro USB);
• ear pads (2 sets of different sizes);
• instruction;
• guarantee.

Appearance

Strap

The device was released in three variations: Active, Classic, Elite. According to their characteristics, they are absolutely identical, and their differences are only in the straps. The Classic comes in leather and the Elite comes in metal. Huawei TalkBand B5 Active got a silicone strap in black and ice gray. Its length is adjustable from 14 to 21 cm depending on the wrist. The 18 mm wide strap is soft, comfortable, non-allergenic. It does not cause any discomfort, not only during the day, but also during sleep.

Housing

The top of the case is made of 316L stainless steel for increased strength and ductility. On the inner plastic side, in the shape of repeating the bend of the wrist, there are optical sensors, two LEDs for backlighting. The dimensions in comparison with the previous model have increased and are 58.2 * 23.3 * 12.9 mm. Weight of the device with the headset: 54.3 g. The international rating for quality IP protection properties is 57 with a maximum of 69. These values ​​show excellent protection against dust and moisture and the ability to immerse the device to a depth of 1.5 meters.

The body is equipped with only three buttons: one for control and two for removing the capsule. The control button allows you to reset the training mode, accept and reject incoming calls, make a call, albeit only to the selected 10 numbers entered into contacts.

Bluetooth headset

A capsule is inserted into the case, which, when taken out, turns into a bluetooth headset. It has a built-in ear cushion and speaker, it is also equipped with a display, microphone holes, a magnetic insert for easy attachment to the case and a micro USB input. Its dimensions are 44.1 * 20 * 11.9 mm. Weight 14.3 gr.

The headset helps to free your hands when receiving calls, plus there is no need to constantly wear it in your ear. It is very easy to take out of the bracelet and put it back in.

Externally, all parts of the fitness tracker are well assembled from excellent materials. The elegant design looks attractive and stylish.

Screen and interface

The 13-inch full-color AMOLED touchscreen display delivers crisp, bright images with reasonably deep blacks even in direct sunlight. Compared to the previous model, it has increased 2.4 times, which significantly improved the work with information. Touch screen with 300 * 160 resolution protects the rounded and shockproof Full arc 2.5D glass.

The interface is quite simple, one might even say primitive. All control is carried out using swipes on the touchscreen and a button on the side. It is also very convenient flipping by turning the wrist, freeing the other hand. Although you will not please everyone, and for someone the constant change of the image on the screen with every movement of the hand is tiring.

On the display, in addition to the time, you can find out the weather forecast, general statistics of activity and rest, which includes steps taken, sleep phases, heart rate, evaluate your workouts and view calls.

The main menu offers to choose from more than a dozen different dials, adjust the brightness and background and other display parameters:

• Choose a workout mode that offers 4 exercise modes: open area running, treadmill, walking and horse riding. Unfortunately, the device contains a small selection of modes, unlike, for example, from Apple, in which their number reaches 25 categories, including yoga, stretching, breathing and even rowing. There is no automatic detection of the type of sports activity, so every time you need to set the desired mode;
• view notifications, no more than 100 characters. If it contains more characters, then it will not be displayed in full;
• set reminders and alarms;
• listen to voice messages;
• control the player and camera on a synchronized smartphone. When taking photos, touching the “smart bracelet” triggers the camera shutter, which is very convenient for selfies. True, these actions are only compatible with HUAWEI phones running not older than EMUI 4.1;
• detect your lost phone using the Anti-lost function, the use of which makes the phone ring even in silent mode.

The device is endowed with useful technologies:

1. HUAWEI TruRelax allows you to assess your stress level by monitoring your heart rate and offering breathing exercises.
2. HUAWEI TruSleep 2.0 monitors all sleep cycles and creates a hypnogram that includes four stages: light and deep sleep, REM stage and wakefulness. These indicators are very important, as good sleep is the key to health. Sleep quality is analyzed by measuring the heart rate. Based on the data received, you can adjust your further actions.
3. TruSeen 2.0 measures your heart rate 24 hours a day and provides exercise statistics provided by your smartwatch.
4. The HUAWEI TalkBand B5 uses Firstbeat calculations to track exercise and sleep quality, and provides detailed performance assessments with recommendations for body recovery.
5. The built-in GPS-module, communicating with satellites, allows real-time viewing of the passed routes with indication of speed, distance and trajectory.

A detailed view of the indicators and all other settings are made on a smartphone with an operating system not lower than Android 4.4 or IOS 9.0 using the Huawei Health application. The fitness bracelet connects to the smartphone via the updated Bluetooth 4.2, operating at a frequency of 2.4 GHz.

Huawei Health Apps

The application analyzes the user's activity, counting the number of steps, measuring the distance traveled or traveled, along with this, the number of calories spent and time spent is analyzed. With the help of a fitness bracelet, the heartbeat is controlled so as not to exhaust the body and stop sports loads in time.

Huawei Health displays information in great detail in the form of tables and diagrams, which do not look as attractive as those of Apple's fitness bracelets, but the result is visible and quite accurate.

The data collected by Huawei Health can be sent to multiple servers such as Google Fit. Jawbone UP and MyFitnessPal, for deeper monitoring of physical activity.

In the program, notifications are set, alerts are added and the firmware for the device is updated.

Like most Huawei Health applications, you can select and download on the Play Market.

Performance and autonomy

The Huawei TalkBand B5 has a 3-core cortex m4 processor, which makes data processing fast. Smart watches are endowed with built-in memory of 1 MB, and the RAM is 512 KB.

Autonomy is provided by a 108 mAh lithium-ion battery. The battery, even in comparison with the previous models, does not hold a charge for a long time. The time of using the bracelet as a fitness tracker with the HUAWEI TruSleep app turned off without recharging can reach 3.5 days, and with it turned on, about 3 days. Talk time using a Bluetooth headset is reduced to 6 hours. The device is fully charged in 2-3 hours.

Sound

The sound quality is very impressive. Built-in high-power triple-core HD Audio audio chip with dual-channel noise canceling, dual microphone and optimized antenna make the sound clear and loud enough. When communicating on a headset, both parties to the conversation perfectly hear each other, even in noisy environments.

Outcome

In conclusion, we can highlight the main pros and cons of the Huawei TalkBand B5 bracelet.

• combining the functionality of a fitness tracker and a Bluetooth headset;
• quality materials and assembly;
• protection from moisture and dust;
• clear interface;
• large battery capacity;
• bright display with good resolution;
• aesthetically pleasing design;
• enlarged color display;
• improved measurement accuracy;
• quick calls to favorite numbers from the bracelet;
• the presence of a GPS module;
• viewing SMS notifications;
• high quality sound.

• the body is half plastic, even in the Huawei TalkBand B2 it was completely metal;
• a connector for charging micro USB, not USB Type C, which is used in many places and extra wires do not please anyone;
• a small number of training modes;
• there is no automatic connection with a smartphone after connecting to other devices;
• incomplete display of SMS messages;
• High price.

As you can see, the bracelet has decent technical characteristics, the measurement results are at a high level, plus a beautiful and convenient design, so whether this device is worth such a price is up to you.