Who said they’re just good at making smartwatches?
If you thought Huami was extraordinarily skilled at creating premium smartwatches with more than decent price tags, well… you weren’t wrong. But that doesn’t mean the company intends to stop at that. In 2020, Huami is shooting for the stars, launching wireless earphones, watches, yes, but also the treadmill of the future.
The intention behind their “sudden” expansion is clear: to create a global health ecosystem. Starting with wearables is the obvious play but raising the stakes with a smart treadmill, not so much.
Amazfit AirRun is the do-able, ready for production device Huami has been working on. There’s a more wild concept in the pipeline, but I’ll come back to that later. At first glance, AirRun looks like your run-of-the-mill treadmill 😉 Upon closer inspection, you’ll notice the running belt is significantly wider, at 51 x 19.5 inches, with a pattern designed to prevent slips and resistant to impact. On the sides, there are rubber edge strips that should serve as barriers… so you don’t become a falling meme overnight.
The frame looks pretty sleek with a metallic finish, as the treadmill tries to fit in any kind of room, in every type of home. Between the running board and the frame, there are also eight shock-absorbers that should make running easier on your knees, not to mention it should reduce noise if you’re the type to run at odd hours.
At this point, the smart features come into sight. At the front of the frame, AirRun hides two JBL speakers so you can get an extra boost from your favorite songs played by an extra powerful system.
Besides the normal measurements of a treadmill, the heart rate monitoring is continuously synchronized with an external device. As you can imagine, AirRun works in sync with Amazfit smartwatches, like GTS, GTR, Bip, Cor, and the Mi Band fitness trackers. If you have one of those, you’ll likely find this functionality seamless and hands-free.
How about social media? Don’t fret, Huami hasn’t forgotten about it. Like any other next-gen gadget, AirRun’s stats are easy to share. Training courses and trajectories can be linked to the treadmill and you can even use them to compete with others on a virtual map.
When you’re done with it, simply fold it and put it under a bed or table and it’s out of sight!
If you’re not actively looking for a new treadmill, then you might want to wait for Amazfit HomeStudio. This is the concept treadmill Huami is working on which will take your indoor running to the next level. The running belt is even wider than AirRun’s and there’s no frontal frame – just training bars on the sides.
On HomeStudio, you can run as if your life depended on it! The bars can support up to 200lbs, there’s a 10-level powered incline and you can catch up to 124mph speed. The treadmill was designed as a set, meaning it should be paired with a 43-inch HD interactive screen that displays all your fitness data. In the future, Huami wants to add a 3D TOF camera system that can analyze your posture and warn you about your body’s position, as well as gesture control.
Just as with AirRun, HomeStudio will feature JBL speakers and heart rate monitoring sync. But the best part of it, by far, will be the content streamed on the interactive screen. Right at this moment, professional fitness instructors are recording 15 classes daily to create enough content for the HomeStudio. These will be available for users once HomeStudio is out, manageable from their phones.
Bonus: the more workouts a user will finish, the more fitcoin they will receive, virtual money that will be transformed into real products.
Quite the incentive, huh?
At the end of March, the AirRun was officially launched for 2699 yuan (about $380).
6/3: The article was updated to reflect the product’s prices and availability.
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