You can buy an Apple Watch Series 1 at that same price. You gotta REALLY hate Apple to think that MS Band or this thing are a better deal.
The larger issue here, I think, is that Huawei is thinking too small. They're treating their Wearables as a minor functionality ghetto, the same way Smartphones used to be treated; they're not seeing the big picture of "Wrist Computer" with everything that implies, from specialized rich UI (input and output) to 3rd party ecosystem. You can sell that way IF you're selling to the cheapo mass market (Nokia survived for a few years after iPhone), but not at high levels of profitability. And of course you're still part of a fading market with just a few years left, before the general purpose wrist computers take over.
It's fitting that this thing comes out the day MS Band goes under. MS may not be the brightest star in the sky, but even they can (eventually) tell when they've hit the end of the road. Huawei selling these at $69 to the middle class in China and Indonesia makes sense. Trying to sell them at $269 in Apple land is an utter waste of time and money. It will generate negative income, AND it does nothing to move you towards what the end goal should be, ie the general purpose wrist computer.
I agree. People who hate the Apple Watch clearly haven't tried one. I've had a LOT of smartwatches and it's hands down the best by an order of magnitude in every single aspect. Sure, the Pebble has better battery life. Sure, the Zenwatch and many others "look" nicer (because why? they look like traditional watches?) and yes, the Apple Watch previously wasn't waterproof. And I broke mine 3 times all from what I suspect was moisture.
And all 3 times, including the 3rd time out of warranty, it was replaced within 15 minutes of walking into an Apple Store.
And the 3rd time, they gave me a Series 1 as a replacement.
You could get a Pebble Time for less than half that, or a new Pebble 2 for less than $200. You can't use them as earpieces but they're waterproof and have much better build quality. I think only Apple can get away with an expensive smartwatch for mainstream consumers simply because they're Apple.
I actually broke my Pebble Time last year after just a few weeks bathing my kids. Granted, I've broken 3 Apple Watches with the same routine, usually pulling the drain or something, but the difference is Pebble refused to fix the watch and Apple has fixed 3 no questions asked.
This article pretty much sums up the state of bullshit people are being maneuvered into. Even this geek is hard pressed to find out what this thing is good for and why anyone should be buying and wearing and caring for a smart watch.
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damianrobertjones - Tuesday, October 4, 2016 - link
To think that the MS Band wasn't exactly given the best welcome due to price and now you have this device starting at $269.dsraa - Tuesday, October 4, 2016 - link
You have to remember that anandtech is an apple fanboy fiefdom. Anything microsoft is meh according to them.Deelron - Tuesday, October 4, 2016 - link
Since it's been discontinued by Microsoft (presumably due to lack of sales/interest) your assessment may be mistimed at best.asendra - Tuesday, October 4, 2016 - link
The failure rates of Ms Bands (both 1 and 2) were off the charts. You can't expect to succeed with such horrible hardware problems.name99 - Tuesday, October 4, 2016 - link
You can buy an Apple Watch Series 1 at that same price. You gotta REALLY hate Apple to think that MS Band or this thing are a better deal.The larger issue here, I think, is that Huawei is thinking too small. They're treating their Wearables as a minor functionality ghetto, the same way Smartphones used to be treated; they're not seeing the big picture of "Wrist Computer" with everything that implies, from specialized rich UI (input and output) to 3rd party ecosystem.
You can sell that way IF you're selling to the cheapo mass market (Nokia survived for a few years after iPhone), but not at high levels of profitability. And of course you're still part of a fading market with just a few years left, before the general purpose wrist computers take over.
It's fitting that this thing comes out the day MS Band goes under. MS may not be the brightest star in the sky, but even they can (eventually) tell when they've hit the end of the road. Huawei selling these at $69 to the middle class in China and Indonesia makes sense. Trying to sell them at $269 in Apple land is an utter waste of time and money. It will generate negative income, AND it does nothing to move you towards what the end goal should be, ie the general purpose wrist computer.
Samus - Wednesday, October 5, 2016 - link
I agree. People who hate the Apple Watch clearly haven't tried one. I've had a LOT of smartwatches and it's hands down the best by an order of magnitude in every single aspect. Sure, the Pebble has better battery life. Sure, the Zenwatch and many others "look" nicer (because why? they look like traditional watches?) and yes, the Apple Watch previously wasn't waterproof. And I broke mine 3 times all from what I suspect was moisture.And all 3 times, including the 3rd time out of warranty, it was replaced within 15 minutes of walking into an Apple Store.
And the 3rd time, they gave me a Series 1 as a replacement.
$350 well spent, almost 2 years ago.
serendip - Tuesday, October 4, 2016 - link
You could get a Pebble Time for less than half that, or a new Pebble 2 for less than $200. You can't use them as earpieces but they're waterproof and have much better build quality. I think only Apple can get away with an expensive smartwatch for mainstream consumers simply because they're Apple.Samus - Wednesday, October 5, 2016 - link
I actually broke my Pebble Time last year after just a few weeks bathing my kids. Granted, I've broken 3 Apple Watches with the same routine, usually pulling the drain or something, but the difference is Pebble refused to fix the watch and Apple has fixed 3 no questions asked.versesuvius - Wednesday, October 5, 2016 - link
This article pretty much sums up the state of bullshit people are being maneuvered into. Even this geek is hard pressed to find out what this thing is good for and why anyone should be buying and wearing and caring for a smart watch.zodiacfml - Thursday, October 6, 2016 - link
Pricey Bluetooth earpiece and Smart alarm.