Polar Loop 2 - first impressions
Tomorrow marks one week of my Loop 2âs arrival and I figured it was about time I wrote down some first impressions, before I forget them completely.
First things first - although I did a lot of research about the various fitness trackers available, the Loop was still somewhat an impulse buy. I chose it mainly because I already have a Polar watch/hr monitor (the RS300X) and I figured it wouldnât hurt to stay in the same âfamilyâ, especially since the Loop and the RS300X both work with the H7 HR monitor (which I do not own :) )
Secondly, I thought it looked nice. And so, âbuy now,â I clicked.Â
Maybe, if I had read the user manual beforehand, I would still have a properly functioning phone. Because it turns out you need Android 5.0 or newer to use some of the functions (like smart notifications or the alarm) and so I had to (force my husband) to root my phone. The CyanogenMod he installed works with the Loop, but is extremely buggy and my phoneâs battery has gone from lasting a day and a half to barely half a day. A major issue right there, but I guess I have nobody else but me to blame for that.
Now, about the Loop 2. As I stated previously, I thought it looked nice and thatâs why I bought it, and I still think it does. I wanted a tracker that looked as neutral as possible - the Misfit trackers for example, seem to offer much more bang for the buck, but their design is, from my personal standpoint, simply awful.
What I have learned from my first week of wearing the Loop 2, is how shockingly little I move about during the day. I was under the illusion that I walk about plenty, but I have been getting a lot of the 55 minute warnings and they have all been accurate. And although I chose the lowest activity level (1), I have still yet to reach 100% - the best I have managed was 85!! In this regard the tracker has been a real eye-opener.
Cutting the band bit, which seems to be an issue for people, was no biggie. The tracker is comfortable to wear and I am very happy it is waterproof (why I did not buy a Fitbit). Although when water flows directly over the Loop 2â˛s button it lights up the display, which is annoying. On this topic - it would be nice if the Loop had ânight modeâ, where the button would be less âreactive.
Another function I was interested in was sleep tracking, but again, had I read the manual, I would have known that the Loop 2 does not actually track sleep per se, it just assumes you were sleeping if you were inactive for long enough. So although it guesstimates the time I fall asleep quite accurately, it does not take into consideration the times my cat wakes me up in the middle of the night (or if Iâm up long enough chasing her, it simply tells me I slept for say, 3 hours) - so this function seems completely useless.
And I wish I could zoom in on the âactivity wheelâ in the app or on the flow website. Perhaps there is a way, but I am yet to figure it out.
yousharknotpass
baratheonpilled
dededos
blakekathryn
