2015 the year of the wearable.
Today is another tech focused post, but this time talking about wearables more specifically fitness trackers. The small little devices often with flashing lights have become the must have for everyone from the Avid Fitness Fanatic (who wants to know everything from their sleep to their resting heart rate at every second of the day - you all know one) through to the average person who just wants to track their steps (and perhaps compete against friends).
I have tried lots of these little things, but none do what I want.
To be fair... I'm not sure what exactly that is.
I've tested and tried the Basis, FitBit One, FitBit Flex, Polar Loop, although not a fitness band per say the Pebble, the gym specific MyZone watch, Jawbone Up and finally the JayBird Reign. So other than a lot of money spend on such devices in the pursuit of "the ONE" I have learnt a few things about what works and doesn't work for me.
The positives first... knowing the level of activity you achieved for the day can (and I use that word loosely) force you to do more if you haven't done enough. Saying that sometimes it's just plain wrong - I'll explain more later.
The ability not to have to have my phone with the band to exercise and sync later is pretty much standard across the board and this helps with not having to think about it. Whilst some of the bands have been less bulky they often (at the moment) forgo giving any or little information to the wearer without the use of the phone.
They can tell you completely random facts about your day or sleep quality and other than musing (I do love data so I'm a bit odd) like I sometimes do you may never ever need to know this level of information.
The one thing I really like, and FitBit have captured this side of it exceptionally well - is the gamification of tracking steps/activity. Our company has taken this to a new level recently announcing company team challenges all revolving around the steps taken in a day, and the brilliant thing is - this brings out the competitive nature in people you never knew existed.
The other side of the coin is definitely a lot heavier.... if we start with the idea that when you haven't done enough exercise it can tell you. This can be demotivating (although it's primary purpose is the reverse). You get home from work after a long 8 hours at a customer site in front of a computer, your little device tells you "Walk 108 minutes" or something just as "motivating".
The worst is the look, not one of these devices has been a "good looking" wearable. Who really wants to wear a green band with flashing lights, or a black "looks like I'm being tracked by a prison" band. And to add to that - most sports (of which I play a few) won't allow them to be worn, so I end up resorting to putting the tracker in my bra.
But and Big MASSIVE BUT HERE.... if you do say weights or other similar activities as your form of exercise, guess what? Your device probably won't track the output of exercise. Despite a lot of claims to the contrary. Even if you enter the exercise type and activity it often won't count towards the overall daily goal.
They also aren't cheap and just forget about any band that tracks your heart rate. TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY - in my humble opinion. The quickest of anecdotes here. I have been a user of JayBird earphones for a few years = I love them! So when they said we are bringing out a new device that tells you when your best time to exercise vs rest is - I was notably excited. A few postponed release date, and even a nonstarter in my country still didn't dampen my hopes. So on my latest trip to the US I went to three different BestBuys to find this JayBird Reign - and I did. Woo I was like a kid in a candy store. I've been wearing the device for nearly a month and the "Go Zone" test has worked maybe 3 times out of 20... those three times - apparently I don't have a pulse (none)... zero, nada, zip! But the software can't deal with that so no pulse, but still go off and do 400 points of activity for the day. If these watch based HR monitors do end up working - it's only if you are sitting down doing nothing and not moving - which was the case for the Basis.
There's a lot of other interesting things about these devices and yet my interest to them and this post is fading. So that'll do.
I guess the universe is even today - I posted glowingly about the Surface and how you should splurge on one.... now I cannot stress enough - DO NOT invest in a fitness device yet. I think with the release of Apple's Watch the game will be stepped up once again and maybe then (fingers crossed) there will be one worth investing in.
If you must ignore me (by all means feel free) and get one my recommendation would be the FitBit Charge or Flex, they have their flaws but are good all rounders.
Enjoy your fitness goals and tracking them.
