Hands on: HTC Grip review

HTC finally enters the fitness game

What is a hands on review?
HTC Grip review

Early Verdict

It's a good move into the space for HTC - but this needs a lot of evolution.

Pros

  • +

    Solid design

  • +

    Nice display

Cons

  • -

    Large device

  • -

    Doesn't offer a huge amount different

  • -

    Expensive

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The HTC Grip is the fitness tracker that we all saw coming as soon as the brand announced a tie-in with Under Armour.

However, since the apparel brand bought Endomondo, MapMyFitness and MyFitnessPal it's become a real player in the apps space, and this tracker from HTC is now a key part of that ecosystem.

HTC Grip review

It's very similar to the Nike Fuelband in many ways, as it has a clasp that likes to eat arm hair when shutting, with three sizes to choose from (with a spacer to allow slight alterations). It looks the business when it comes to fitness as well, thanks to the black and lime green colours that adorn the rubbery-plastic band.

HTC Grip review

It's also decked out with a screen to give you information when working out: unlike most other things on the market, it's a passive matrix OLED (which means it's very low-res, but also very good on power drain) with a 32 x 160 pixel count.

HTC Grip review

In use it looks clear and bright, and you'll never have an issue seeing what's going on with your workout (or the weather/time/calendar/alarm, as the HTC Grip also does a lot of other things as well).

It's a fitness tracker primarily, and works with the Under Armour Record app as the sole way of getting information to the smartphone. That said, it doesn't need to be tethered to your handset, as it packs its own accelerometer and GPS, so when you trot off into the mountains it'll be able to track you for five hours straight before the battery gives out.

HTC Grip review

With that in mind, this is both a fitness tracker and running watch beater, with a US$199 (about £129, AU$255) price tag. That seems a little expensive, and given HTC doesn't have a huge presence in this space could be a hard sell, but it does have good build quality and more than a little functionality.

HTC Grip review

It's IP57 rated, which essentially means you can take it into the shower but not go swimming with it. It will also show smart notifications from your phone, or let you control tunes when working out should you decide that to head into the mountains with no way of communicating is a BAD IDEA.

HTC Grip review

The interface on the unit I tested was very hard to use, requiring swipes that glide over the flush interface or pressing the home button that is also smooth and non-tactile - but this was a very, very early build so it's completely unfair to judge it too much now.

HTC Grip review

The annoying thing to some is that the HTC Grip doesn't have a heart rate monitor, which means you'll need to buy a separate chest strap that's Bluetooth LE / 4.0 compatible. This does mean it's more accurate (HTC is apparently aiming this at the more elite athlete anyway) but does add a lot to the cost - around $80 for a decent one.

Early verdict

This is a very early verdict, as it's more based on the build quality and spec sheet than anything else. It's hard to see who buys this device right now - the new runner might stop at the higher price, and the more seasoned road warrior will want a lot more functionality - although it does look decent as a watch.

If only the display stayed on permanently, it would be a lot easier to recommend.

The addition of GPS is great, and there's the seed of a great idea here... it just needs a couple of iterations down the line, a little more influence from Under Armour perhaps, and it could be a very good accessory for your smartphone.

  • Check out the rest of our MWC 2015 coverage
Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.

What is a hands on review?

Hands on reviews' are a journalist's first impressions of a piece of kit based on spending some time with it. It may be just a few moments, or a few hours. The important thing is we have been able to play with it ourselves and can give you some sense of what it's like to use, even if it's only an embryonic view. For more information, see TechRadar's Reviews Guarantee.