Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Wearables
  3. Audio / Video
  4. Mobile
  5. Legacy Archives

ZTE Grand Band fitness wearable works with Android and iOS smartphones

Add as a preferred source on Google

Eager not to miss out on the fitness wearable craze at CES this year, ZTE has announced the Grand Band. And for anyone confused, this is a fitness accessory. ZTE hasn’t taken a dramatic shift away from tech and toward symphonic orchestras.

The Grand Band is compatible with both Google’s and Apple’s mobile operating systems. Strap it on to your wrist and it’ll count your steps, work out how far you’ve traveled, and the amount of calories burned along the way.

Recommended Videos

It’s possible to set up alarms to remind you when it’s time for a workout, or just to get moving after sitting down for too long, plus the accompanying app puts you in competition with other Grand Band wearers. An LED display provides at-a-glane details on your performance. An internal 70mAh battery doesn’t sound very big, but the Grand Band’s simplicity should see it last a sensible amount of time (at least a day) before a recharge.

ZTE’s keeping quiet about the remaining features of the Grand Band, but does say it’ll come with Bluetooth 4.0 to connect to your smartphone. At the moment, it’s scheduled for launch in China and will cost the equivalent of $80. That’s reasonable when compared to hardware from Jawbone, Nike, and Fitbit. We’ll be seeing it at CES 2015, and will update here if the Grand Band’s set to get an international release in the future.

Andy Boxall
Andy has written about mobile technology for almost a decade. From 2G to 5G and smartphone to smartwatch, Andy knows tech.
Apple’s rumored camera AirPods Pro may have hit a major roadblock
Bloomberg had them nearly done. Kosutami says suspended. The truth is somewhere Apple hasn't shared yet.
AirPods Pro 3 case view top

In May, Bloomberg reported that Apple's camera-equipped AirPods Pro had reached "advanced" testing and could be heading toward early mass production. As someone who has used both AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3, I was looking forward to them.

This week, a leaker has contradicted that. Kosutami, a prototype collector and occasional Apple leaker, posted on X that the project has been "suspended." No additional details were provided. The post appeared to correct an earlier June update in which Kosutami had described the product's development "case" as "concluded," suggesting the revision was meaningful (via MacRumors).

Read more
Your Galaxy Watch is losing a health feature, and the replacement needs another gadget
Samsung is killing Vascular Load on Galaxy Watches
Blood pressure on Samsung Galaxy Watch 8.

Samsung’s Galaxy Watches have been leaning harder into health features with every generation. Sleep scores, heart metrics, blood pressure, and much more are all big selling points. Samsung is removing the standalone Vascular Load feature for Galaxy Watch users in the United States.

According to a Samsung Health notice spotted by users on Reddit (via SammyGuru), the feature will no longer be available starting in late July with Samsung Health 7.0 and the One UI Watch 9 update. Samsung’s notice reportedly says existing Vascular Load records will also disappear from Samsung Health once the feature is removed. Users who want to keep that history need to export their personal data in advance through Samsung Health settings.

Read more
The OPPO Watch X3 has a ridiculous feature I cannot stop using
My smartwatch let me doomscroll from my wrist
Oppo Watch X3 Media Controls

While smartwatches were built to make us more health-conscious and have us reach for our phones less often. I always believed that a second (smaller) screen on your wrist basically can be just as distracting as your smartphone, and the Oppo Watch X3 decided to stop pretending by doubling down on this.

The Oppo Watch X3 comes with a dedicated remote control feature that lets me control my phone from my wrist, and I am having way too much fun messing around with it. This sounds ridiculous, but it has also been surprisingly handy.

Read more