HTC's wearable is a fitness tracker, built with the help of Under Armour

HTC watch
Fitness first

You need to make sure you've clearly defined your terms if you're making a long-awaited entry into the wearables market, and an HTC insider has been at pains to point out that we'll be seeing a fitness tracker rather than a smartwatch at MWC in March.

With the Apple Watch tracking your runs and the Fitbit Charge showing the time of day, it's not always an obvious distinction - but it looks like HTC's upcoming device will focus on health and fitness and not have any advanced Android Wear-style software.

It makes sense considering the firm is partnering with fitness brand Under Armour for the launch, though most rumours had suggested a smartwatch was still on the cards. Not so, according to the source speaking to Forbes.

Hardware and software

Unfortunately, the HTC leaker was unable to provide any other details about what the new device will offer, so we'll have to sit tight and wait. Sleep, step, heart rate and calorie tracking are the obvious features but it would be nice to see something new too.

The bundled software will be important too: HTC's fitness band is likely to come with the new UA Record tracking app that will sync all of your logged data and show you just how well or badly you're doing.

The mole wasn't able to cast much light on the HTC One M9 we're expecting to see, although he/she did say that it would only offer an incremental upgrade on the One M8, somewhat echoing a leak from earlier this week. We'll know for sure in a few weeks' time.

David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

Latest in Fitness Trackers
The Amazfit Helio smart ring pictured on a concrete surface.
Amazfit Helio Ring review: a cheaper Oura alternative if sleep is your top priority
Garmin Instinct 2X Solar watch on red background with white text reading "TechRadar lowest price"
The Garmin Instinct 2X Solar can run indefinitely on a single charge, and it's never been cheaper
The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active being worn in a park.
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active review: Too many corners cut
The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro before a red candle
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro review: One big upgrade that comes at a price
Fitbit Inspire 3 in pink on yellow background with TechRadar price cut sign
The Fitbit Inspire 3 is a great last-minute bargain at this stunning low price
Garmin 965 on a grey background with the text cyber monday deal s
Every Cyber Monday Garmin deal still live from Black Friday
Latest in News
Google Gemini Flash 2.0 Images
I tried Gemini's new AI image generation tool - here are 5 ways to get the best art from Google's Flash 2.0
An image of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra from a hands-on event
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra could resurrect an intriguing camera feature
Eurocom Raptor X18
At $15,000, this massive 256GB RAM laptop makes Apple's MacBook Pro look affordable, tiny and very, very slow
Cristin Milioti in Black Mirror season 7
Netflix launches trailer for Black Mirror season 7, giving us a look at its first-ever sequel episode and an unexpected returning character
A graphic of the PC Gaming Show
Get ready for a bounty of PC games on June 8, as the PC Gaming show is back
A close up of The Daily podcast from Pocket Casts' web page
‘Podcasting shouldn’t be locked behind walled gardens’: Pocket Casts slams Spotify and makes its web player free to all