Wandering the show floor at CES this year revealed a wealth of new smart wristbands, almost all of which tracked movement, or performed some other fitness-related activity. On our travels we stumbled upon the Netatmo June, which differed from most wearable gadgets in two distinct ways. First, it can be either strapped to your wrist or worn as a brooch, and second, it’s aimed solely at women.
It’s easy for us guys to pick out a wearable tech product, as they’re almost all either designed to be worn by us, or have a unisex style which always falls on the masculine side. Netatmo’s June is the opposite, and the feminine design ensures it will be passed over by even the most metrosexual dude. The June isn’t a fitness tracker either, but its function is related to health. It doesn’t count calories, but instead measures your exposure to the sun.
The Netatmo June’s feminine design ensures it will be passed over by even the most metrosexual dude.
The idea is to minimize the chance of getting burned, which in turn leads to better skin. The June doesn’t have a screen, and all important information is relayed through an app for the iPhone. A percentage meter shows the amount of sun exposure you’ve had during the day, while a UV index figure helps the June wearer know what they should equip themselves with sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses or a combination of all three. A log ensures you spend the correct amount of time in the sun, and prompts you to take a break.
Netatmo is justly proud of its app, which suits the minimalistic style of iOS 7 perfectly, and it uses a cool pastel background to really make the important data stand out. The version we saw was still pre-release, but it looked slick and speedy during the demo. But a great app is only half the story, so what’s the bracelet like?
It’s a bold jewel available in three colors, gold, platinum and gunmetal, and is attached to a slim leather band with a watch-style fastening. When modeled on a petite wrist it does standout, but not ridiculously so, and few will think it’s anything other than a pretty bracelet. We’d imagine it will go with many outfits, something which can’t be said of hardware like the Nike FuelBand. However, we’re hardly fashion gurus when it comes to women’s clothing, so we’d love to hear some more informed opinions on it.
Whether you think it looks attractive or not, the very fact it exists is something to celebrate. It doesn’t patronize, hasn’t been designed by a focus group of blokes, and certainly provides features we’ve not seen on other pieces of wrist-worn tech a hundred times over already. So impressed were we, the Netatmo June earned one of our coveted Best of CES 2014 nominations.
This brings us to the price. It’ll be $100, which makes it cheaper than most fitness bands. Netatmo hopes to have the June on sale by the summer, and if it does well, it may prompt a flurry of similarly pretty wearable gadgets made only to appeal to women.
