Lenovo Steps Into Wearables With Its Vibe Band VB10
Lenovo continues its push into devices outside of its traditional PC and laptop bread and butter with the preview of its Vibe Band VB10 wearable device, the first one from the Chinese company.
There are a number of aspects to this wearable device which are interesting:
E-Ink Display
The display isn't the usual colorful IPS display but instead uses E-Ink in a bended style to curve around the wrist in a shapely manner. This is an excellent choice for viewing the time and other information late in the evening when the lights are out but it does make it more difficult to provide a fast response time. As a result, the e-ink display suffers from being a bit slower than rivals when changing the display from one screen to another. A trade off then.
For people who exercise outdoors and wish to use the device to track their fitness, the real benefit of the e-ink display is that it is easily readable outdoors, the screen attracts almost no glare and as such its perhaps ideal for the outdoor environment where direct sunlight would usually be a big hurdle.
Appearance
The stylish look of this smart watch is pleasing to the eye. The slimness of the piece will appeal to women and those men who don't feel a masculine need to wear a huge watch on their wrist to announce to the world that they're a real man.
Cross-platform
In a rare move, the VB10 wearable device from Lenovo is platform agnostic. The watch is as happy dealing with iPhone owners as it is with those with an Android handset in their jeans pocket.
Limited Notifications
Notifications include email, SMS, missing calls and Twitter only. 150 character messages can be read on the screen. Other third party apps are not supported with the VB10 which limits its usefulness in the real world especially as new exciting apps are developed and quickly catch on like Vine previously did.
Slow, Clumsy Interface
What may let this smart watch down is that it lacks a full interface to please demanding users. The interface may be the biggest hurdle to early adoption with only the lower price attracting bargain hunters.
The navigation buttons for up and down often can take 1-3 seconds to trigger a response. The e-ink screen kicks back to life, but either a slow processor or the e-ink display is causing a significant lag to performance that will certainly disappoint power users.
To just get to the limiting notifications screen the user has to scroll through several previous screens to access them. Given that the interface acts sluggish to begin with this could quickly become an annoyance for users who receive many SMS or emails over the course of a day.
Connectivity
Bluetooth is always turned on with the Lenovo VIBE Band VB10. There are some fitness functions that benefit from this connectivity and the waterproof design certainly will give active sporty types less worry about monitoring their sporting activities and ruining their wearable device in the process. Users can monitor their fitness levels, fitness goals and activity levels which can be transmitted over via Bluetooth to their smart phone for later review.
Battery Life
The battery is intended to last most users the better part of a weeks' use. This is on the high side for smart watches and no doubt is seriously benefited by the e-ink display which is also used on the Kindle e-reader devices that boast a similar battery life.
Price Tag
The retail price is $89 which is on the low side for a wearable device. This is in keeping with Lenovo's existing strategy to price low on tablets and smartphones to remain competitive in the competitive marketplace.
