Own an LG phone and hate the fact you can’t buy a wearable built for your phone? Turn that frown upside-down: the LG Lifeband Touch is finally coming out in Australia. Here’s how much and where you can get it.
The LG Lifeband Touch will cost you $199 in Australia, meaning that the Australia Tax is nowhere to be seen on the new wearable. You’ll be able to get it from Harvey Norman, Bing Lee and JB Hi-Fi.
It will come in four sizes — small, medium, large and extra-large. The release dates on the sizes vary depending on what you want. You’ll be able to get your hands on the medium and large sizes from late May. The small and the extra-large will be available from July, however.
The Lifeband Touch also has integration with MyFitnessPal and RunKeeper so you can track all your meals, runs and calories on your wrist too.
It tracks your steps, distance, calories, and heart rate (but only when used with the LG heart monitor headphones, which we’ll get to momentarily). It’s more smartwatch than straight-up fitness tracker, in that it can sync with your phone through Bluetooth so you can get alerts for calls and texts or change music.
The fitness bracelet is equipped with a three-axis accelerometer and an altimeter, so it can take into account your altitude and other factors that matter. The Nike FuelBand, on the other hand, doesn’t have a altimeter, so the data the LG band gathers might actually be a little more meaningful. Additionally, it responds to gesture-based controls, has a lithium polymer battery that holds a charge for five days, and is splash-proof.
LG also had a set of fitness-specific headphones on display at CES this year that would pair in with the Lifeband, as well as measure your heart-rate and other fitness info. Sadly, LG has decided not to launch those in the Australian market. Sad face.
We’ll bring you a review of the LG Lifeband Touch soon.
Leslie Horn also contributed to this article.