Gadgetory

it's not a SmartWatch and it's not just an exercise companion either HTC calls it a smart fitness tracker with GPS but you'll call it the HTC grip I'm Michael Fisher with PocketNow and this is a quick hands-on from MWC 2015 the grip is the product of HTC's new partnership with Under Armour with the latter providing the phone side software and HTC handling the hardware design and manufacture the grip itself comes in three sizes in a lime green and black finish and it also includes sizing spacers in the box for a more precise fit it's a very rigid design with a rubberized finish on the wrist it feels less comfortable than say the gear fit but more comfortable than the Microsoft band HTC calls the grip water and sweat repellent it's not designed for swimming but with its ip57 rating it's tough to see how you could drown the thing it's fronted by a 1.8 inch passive-matrix OLED touchscreen and it'll last for 2.5 days on a single charge or five hours if you leave the GPS on that integrated GPS means you should be able to leave your phone at home and still track your workout though without onboard storage you'll want to at least pack a Walkman if you need music for your run this is being positioned as an athletic accessory first and a phone companion second yes it'll deliver notifications via bluetooth just like most wearables but the real focus here is on exercise tracking with the Under Armor companion app the grip promises a full profile of your workout activity from walking to running to lifting even to sleeping HTC says the goal is to help people make meaningful decisions about their fitness by providing as much data as possible though that doesn't include heart rate tracking HTC says the technology isn't mature enough to offer consistently accurate measurements so it made a conscious decision to omit it from the grip it can pair with dedicated heartrate trackers from companies like polar though the HTC grip will be compatible with Android and iOS and it's slated to go on sale in the US sometime this spring for an SRP of $199 for more including a full review by Jaime and Anton or someone else on the team who works out more than I do to stay tuned to pocket now in the months ahead and be sure to check out our continuing coverage of all things HTC at MWC 2015 click the videos above and follow us at the links in the description below to stay abreast of all the haps in Barcelona till next time this has been michael fisher with PocketNow captain to phones on twitter off to go do some more laps on the show floor thanks for watching we'll see you real soon