New Balance and Intel originally announced that they had plans for an upcoming smartwatch for runners that would be powered by Android Wear. Now, though, thanks to their official product reveal at CES, the companies have revealed a number of new details surrounding the watch, as well as the pricing and release time frame.
Looking at the hardware features of the watch, New Balance has equipped it with a 1.39-inch circular AMOLED display. On the inside, the watch features 512MB of RAM, which has been coupled with 4GB of internal storage and Intel’s Z34XX processor, which stems from the partnership between the two companies, all of which should be able to run for 24-hours on a single charge. As well as all of this, the fitness-focused smartwatch has also been equipped with an optical heart-rate monitor and a GPS, giving runners the option to easily track their runs and monitor their progress over time. If runners do decide to run with GPS and the heart-rate monitor, though, the watch’s battery life is expected to last only 5-hours. As a couple of last extras, New Balance has included a lap button and interval capability and has also stated that the watch can be used for “quick swims.”
Aside from these running features, the watch is also capable of working like any other smartwatch thanks to Android Wear 2.0 meaning the watch can connect to smartphones via Bluetooth in order to receive notifications, as well as giving runners the option to skip through their music directly from the smartwatch. As a last feature, runners will be able to communicate with each other via the New Balance Global Run Club which is powered by popular running app Strava. The community will allow runners to share routers and achievements, among other things.
For those interested in getting their hands on the smartwatch, it will be available fro pre-order starting January 5th, while sales will commence February 1st at both physical and online New Balance stores alongside accessories such as chargers and bands, as well as the newly announced PaceIQ wireless earbuds which the company has created in partnership with Jabra. Lastly, regarding the price, the New Balance RunIQ will be available starting at $299.99 in both black and gray, while those wanting to purchase the PaceIQ earbuds will have to fork out $109.99
