Razer’s new smartband brings super simple notifications to your wrist

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Looking for an affordable smartband without the fancy bells and whistles? Razer’s new Nabu X could be exactly what you’re after. Priced at under $50, the minimalistic device connects to your smartphone and brings super simple notifications to your wrist using only three colored LED indicators.

The Nabu X is essentially a much simpler — and much cheaper — version of Razer’s original NabuĀ smartband. It swaps the OLED display for just three lights, each a different color, that illuminate when you get new notifications. One’s red, one’s blue, and one’s green, and you can assign each one to different kinds of alerts.

For example, the red one could light up when you get an incoming call, the green one could light up when you get a text, and the blue one could light up when you get a Facebook message. It’s then up to you to find out what those notifications are without the preview that modern smartwatches bring.

Like any other gadget, the Nabu X has its advantages and disadvantages. While there isn’t a display for notification previews and apps, you will get significantly better battery life, and you won’t have to worry about other people reading your messages on your wrist. Nabu X has some fitness tracking features, too.

Its “highly precise accelerometer” lets you track and record your activities just like you would with a Fitbit, then sync your data back to your smartphone — it’s compatible with both Android and iOS — to monitor and analyze it. Nabu X is also water-resistant, and it has a built-in vibration motor.

Nabu X will go on sale next Tuesday, January 13, priced at $49.99. If you’re a member of Insider, the Razer community platform, then you’ll pay just $19.99.