That mysterious family of fitness devices that HTC has been teasing since the middle of 2015 has finally arrived! HTC and Under Armour announced the UA HealthBox today, a package of fitness products which includes the UA Band, UA Heart Rate and UA Scale.
While the HTC Grip was originally designed as a complex fitness tracker with notification integration with your smartphone, the UA Band is simply an activity, workout and sleep tracker. Since Under Armour’s target customers care a lot about fitness, the UA Band comes with an advanced workout mode which accurately tracks various workout activities and even syncs with the UA Hear Rate, showing you your heart rate zone. Its design is reminiscent of the original FitBit with a hidden display below its black band. The back features a red textured underside which allows for moisture wicking.
The UA Heart Rate is designed to get out of the way. HTC has designed a unique micro snap technology which makes the chest strap monitor “undetectable during workouts.” The WiFi connected UA Scale can track of weight goals and targets for eight different users. The top of the scale is covered with conductive paint technology which allows it to accurately calculate body fat.
“There are several options for consumers today when it comes to monitoring their daily activity, but no option when it comes to capturing and presenting information in a meaningful way. Most of us know more about the health of our car than we do about our own bodies. Under Armour and HTC set out to change that by going far beyond the automation of data tracking. UA HealthBox provides custom health and fitness experiences designed to guide you towards your goals.”
The UA HealthBox will be available on January 22 in the US for $400. If you’re interested, HTC and Under Armour are already taking pre-orders of the UA Health Box on their respective websites and in Under Armour stores.
Press Release
HTC & UNDER ARMOUR UNVEIL UA HEALTHBOX
Pre-orders begin today for the first comprehensive connected fitness system
LAS VEGAS, CES – January 5, 2016 – Today, HTC and Under Armour unveiled UA HealthBox™, the world’s first connected fitness system that measures, monitors, and manages the most important drivers of health and fitness – sleep, fitness, activity and nutrition. Designed and manufactured by HTC and powered by UA Record™, UA HealthBox includes a fitness band, heart rate monitor and a smart scale that all connect seamlessly with UA Record to provide insights that empower individuals to improve their health and fitness. The new UA Record is available for download from the Google Play™ store and App Store.
With an HTC smartphone, or other Android or iOS smartphone, UA Record serves as the dashboard for daily activities that dictate how you feel. Following the same philosophy HTC takes when designing smartphones, UA HealthBox removes the barriers and complexity of technology with a simple to set up and easy to use system.
“This system contains everything a consumer needs to better manage their health and fitness,” said Wolfgang Muller, Executive Director – Connected Products, HTC. “Whether you are a high performance athlete or simply committed to improving your health, UA HealthBox is the only system that delivers the complete picture and provides the information and motivation needed to achieve your goals.”
UA BandTM is designed to be worn all-day, every day. It tracks daily activity, workouts and sleep. All day activity capture allows you to set a daily goal and track progress on the band. UA Band utilizes a seamless exterior shell with a display that is discreetly hidden under an outer layer allowing the technology to disappear when it is not in use. Designed with athletes in mind, the band offers an advanced workout mode with a display that stays on during the workout, as well as an LED that indicates heart rate zone when paired with UA Heart Rate. UA Band comes in black with a red textured underside to allow for moisture wicking.
UA Heart RateTM is a compact heart rate monitor with an innovative micro snap technology designed to make it undetectable during workouts. The chest strap and removable sensor helps individuals monitor intensity and train smarter. The UA Heart Rate was created to provide an accurate calculation of calories burned. Combined with the UA Record app, UA Heart Rate allows you to customize your heart rate zones.
UA ScaleTM is a beautifully crafted, Wi-Fi enabled scale with an iconic circular design. The scale utilizes a sheet of glass with advanced conductive paint technology that enables weight and body fat percentage readings. The hidden LED display behind the glass makes technology invisible when not in use. The scale can support up to eight users and syncs with the UA Record app for individuals to view trends with weight as part of their overall dashboard. UA Scale comes in black with a red textured underside
“There are several options for consumers today when it comes to monitoring their daily activity, but no option when it comes to capturing and presenting information in a meaningful way. Most of us know more about the health of our car than we do about our own bodies,” said Robin Thurston, Chief Digital Officer, Under Armour. “Under Armour and HTC set out to change that by going far beyond the automation of data tracking. UA HealthBox provides custom health and fitness experiences designed to guide you towards your goals.
Because of its unique approach, UA HealthBox is intended to be an integral part of an individual’s daily life, and as such the importance of design was paramount. UA HealthBox has been designed to unify the portfolio of products and the experience of using them.
“At HTC design is an uncompromising part of our culture. It is our DNA and we have an obsessive focus on delivering beautiful design not just on the outside but on the inside too,” said Muller. “UA HealthBox is beautifully designed with no detail overlooked, but it was also designed to be a comprehensive connected system that is easy to use throughout the day and every day. This is what sets it apart from anything on the market today.”
Availability
UA HealthBox will be available on January 22 in the U.S. with pre-orders beginning today on www.HTC.com, www.UA.com and at Under Armour Brand House locations. UA HealthBox (including UA Band, UA Heart Rate and UA Scale) will cost $400. UA HealthBox will roll out to additional US retailers in the first quarter and internationally throughout 2016.
This looks really good, it makes a lot of sense now why they decided to go back to the drawing board, it actually provides virtually all the technology someone would need for exercise and activity tracking, in one box! Will be interesting to see what the battery life is of the band, and the fact it has lost the notification ability, may point to the imminent release of a smart watch…