Though it was announced alongside the Galaxy S4, Samsung is set to resurrect the never-released S Band fitness tracker this year as an accessory for the S5.
SamMobile came upon some slides showing the device in action, monitoring steps taken, calories burned and sleep, along with notifications for calls and messages. The device looks more like a Garmin fitness watch than Samsung’s typical line of Gear wearables, but lacks a display to interact with.
Indeed, the S Band will likely come in around the $100 mark, more so competing with Jawbone’s UP and Fitbit’s Flex than its own recently-announced Gear Fit.
It appears that, like the Gears before it, the S Band will require a Samsung device with which to pair via Bluetooth 4.0 LE. There will be a few straps — colours! — and a clip for those who don’t want to wear the sensor around their wrists, and it will require Samsung’s updated S Health 3.0 app, which is debuting on the Galaxy S5.
Finally, a loss prevention feature, which will alert you when the tracker and phone are more than 10 metres apart, will be included in the band.
No word on when it will be released, but we’re hoping for sometime in April or May — just in time for summer!
[source]SamMobile[/source]
