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1. Follow Rachael Rettner RachaelRettner Follow Live Science livescience Facebook amp Google Die Slivescience 1 May 2014 PROUDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Polar Loop Fitness Tracker Review By Jeanna Bryner Managing Editor Date 18 February 2014 Time 09 25 PM ET The Polar Loop band is marketed as the activity tracker that makes you move Buy the Polar Loop gt CREDIT Polar The Polar Loop band sports all the basic functions of a fitness tracker it measures sleep time steps taken activity time and levels and calories burned and it s waterproof which allowed me to track my activity while swimming The band from Finland based Polar also displays the time of day and costs 99 95 on Amazon which puts it on par in price with Fitbit Flex and the Jawbone Up And neither of those is waterproof nor shows the time I wore the Polar Loop tracker for more than a week running swimming working out on an elliptical machine and exercising with kettlebells to test out its mojo Here s what I found Design Comfort 00000 The Polar Loop is extremely comfortable though its plastic band is stiffer than the softer silicon material of the Bowflex Boost and Fitbug Orb This fitness tracker Se SHivescience must be cut to fit your wrist which at first I thought would be complicated but using the tiny tool that comes with the Loop to push out the clasp from both sides and the measuring tape to figure
2. Conclusion 12 out of 20 stars The pros of the SE include an easy to read screen the ability to compare your activity with that of other people and the ability to set reminders to move The cons of the SE include the lack of sleep analysis the lack of an adjustable strap and the inability to sync wirelessly with a computer Follow Rachael Rettner RachaelRettner Follow Live Science livescience Facebook amp Google N Y O eHivescience 1 May 2014 PROUDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Nike FuelBand Fitness Tracker Review By Rachael Rettner Senior Writer Date 02 October 2013 Time 01 01 AM ET BUY the Nike Fuelband gt The Nike FuelBand is an activity tracker that aims to get you moving and allows you to compare your activity with others in the Nike community As part of an experiment to become more familiar with activity trackers I tried out the device to see how easy it was to use and whether it provided meaningful health information and really inspired me to improve my health Design Comfort OODD The FuelBand is a single solid object so unlike a typical wristwatch there s no adjustable strap In this manner it is similar to the Jawbone Up another activity tracker wristband The band is taken on and off with a clasp But if you bought a size that s slightly too big or small don t worry The FuelBand comes with two extensions called links that can be added or removed to make the band a
3. 0000 The Fitbit One includes a number of features that motivate you to be more active Fibit encourages you to connect with friends who also have Fitbit accounts In the app or your account you can see how your progress compares to that of your friends If you have a competitive streak seeing how you rank among your friends may give you the motivation you need to get in that extra daily walk You ll also earn badges that appear on your account when you reach fitness milestones such as a badge for reaching 50 lifetime miles or a badge for walking more steps in a day than you ever have my best was 15 000 steps which N Y Slivescience provides incentives to keep using the device And the fitness tracker itself flashes encouraging messages on the screen such as You Rock and I m Ready Conclusion 14 out of 20 stars Pros The pros of the One include its small size the way it lets you connect with friends the alarm that you can set the inclusion of a wireless dongle to synch with your computer and a lower price than some other fitness trackers Cons The cons of the One include a sleep graph that s somewhat difficult to navigate the tendency of the device to count steps while you re asleep and the lack of certain features found in higher priced fitness trackers such as the ability to track cycling BUY the Fitbit One gt Follow Rachael Rettner RachaelRettner FollowLive Science liv
4. Through its Habits feature the Basis provides added value beyond some of the information it tracks For instance the section that describes physical activity habits says According to the Surgeon General we need to take at least 10 000 steps a day the equivalent of 30 minutes of activity And in the section that describes sleep habits it says that the recommended daily amount of sleep is 7 5 to 9 hours But the Basis does not explain all of the measures it tracks Despite including a fancy heart monitor there is no explanation of what your heart rate might tell you about your health New Heart Rate Trackers Is Knowing Your Pulse Useful This may have been purposeful as the Basis is not intended to diagnose medical problems that might be related to heart rate But I thought that the company could have included some general information about heart rate such as why it might be useful to know your heart rate during exercise or how the heart rate fluctuates naturally during the day in response to stress and activity There is also no explanation about skin temperature or perspiration data For me these two measures changed very little during the day which made me wonder whether it was useful to collect this data The Basis also does not have a way to track how many calories you ve eaten during the day a Slivescience Enjoyment Inspiration 000 Despite some flaws I did really enjoy using the Basis I ve tested quite a
5. The Fitbug Orb is fairly user friendly but it could use some improvement The device itself is pretty simplistic with a single button and a light that tells you what mode the device is in Because there is no screen or interface on the Orb you ll need to use the Fitbug app which is available for iPhone and Android to see your activity information The Orb syncs wirelessly with the app when you push down the button once The app shows your daily activity including total steps aerobic steps distance traveled and calories burned as well as your activity history over the last week hours of sleep and sleep quality A monthly calendar lets you go back and review your activity for any point in the past The app uses a color code to indicate your progress toward your fitness goals gray for keep trying aqua for aerobic steps met brownish yellow for total steps met and magenta if you exceed your activity target The color coding system is nice but the colors don t follow an intuitive sequence like red yellow and green for example so I had to remind myself continually what each color represented The Orb had some trouble tracking my sleep To put the device into Sleep Mode N Y Slivescience you push the button three times but when I did this and saw the confirmation of the light flashing five times indicating the device was indeed in Sleep Mode it still seemed to record no data I thought my device
6. 000 for an active day and 5 000 for a high energy day But Nike does not tell you how much activity you need to be healthy This may leave you wondering exactly what the goal should be Can you get by with a Fuel point goal lower than the average and still improve your health For comparison the Withings Pulse tells users that the World Health Organization recommends 150 minutes of activity per week It does require a fair bit of activity to reach 2 000 Fuel points On my first day of using the device about 5 000 steps got me only halfway there The FuelBand has an accelerometer to track movement and so there are ways to trick the device For instance raising your arms above your head 10 times will give you the same number of Fuel points as doing 10 jumping jacks Also the device does not award you for physical activity in which your wrist remains still as it would during a pushup In contrast you ll a get a small number of points for driving a Car The device does not track sleep so if you re interested in this measurement you might be better off with a device that does such as the Fitbit Flex Up or Pulse The Fuelband also has a clock which is something the other activity trackers lack However the clock does not automatically change when you move into a different time zone Enjoyment Inspiration 00 There s no denying the FuelBand was designed to motivate you to move The device screen starts up with
7. Rachael Rettner Senior Writer Date 09 January 2014 Time 03 36 PM ET The Basis B1 is an activity tracker that s marketed as a device that helps busy people fit exercise into their everyday lives BUY Basis B1 gt CREDIT Basis The Basis B1 is an activity tracker that s marketed as a device that helps busy people fit exercise into their everyday lives A distinguishing feature of the Basis is that it includes a heart rate monitor The device also tracks more standard measures like steps taken calories burned distance walked and sleep With a price tag ranging from 169 99 to 199 99 the Basis is one of the more expensive activity trackers on the market with a higher price than the Fitbit Force 129 95 and the Withings Pulse 99 95 which also includes a heart monitor Is the Basis worth the extra bucks I tested the device for a week to find out Our review of the Basis B1 Carbon Steel Edition is coming soon Design Comfort 0000 The Basis looks like a digital wristwatch It has an adjustable strap which allows a Slivescience for a snug fit and a screen which displays the time and activity measures including steps taken calories burned distance walked time spent walking and heart rate Pressing one of the front buttons will make the screen cycle through these measures A neat feature of the device is that the screen s backlight will shine when you twist your wrist to look down at the screen me
8. When you launch the app for the first time a graphic explains how to use the device and the meaning of Boost s red yellow green lights Red means you ve reached 0 50 percent of your goal yellow 51 99 percent and green 100 percent Boost tracks the steps you ve taken the calories you ve burned and the distance walked It also tracks your sleep time and how long it takes you to fall asleep With the app launched you simply swipe the screen to switch between viewing your activity and sleep Over time the Boost tracks your weekly monthly and yearly activity and can display it in a graph However it doesn t store the daily data after a day has passed there s no way for you to view how many steps you took on that day how a Slivescience many calories you burned and your distance traveled mall ATST 4G 9 07 PM wil AT amp T 4G 10 00 PM GOOST Activity Level GOOST sleep a Week Month Year Rachael 06 October 2013 Last sync 9 59 PM rt 10 7e Actual sleep s A time 6hrs 51 min ccc ltt MTT poo g i 12 00 I S o an e S le f 16 00 20 00 beets BI 18min 4 Oct 2013 gt The Boost app shows users their activity and sleep Above two separate iPhone screen captures Value of Information D000 The default settings for Boost s activity goals are 10 000 steps 500 calories and three miles although you can adjust these go
9. app didn t make that clear In contrast the Withings Pulse which is also a pedometer like fitness tracker sets a goal of 150 minutes of walking or other activity a week citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention s recommendations for physical activity a Slivescience Enjoyment Inspiration 000 Like all Fitbit devices the Zip tries to motivate you to become more active On the device itself you ll see smiley silly faces that change depending on how active you ve been The app will also prompt you to take some more steps if you are close to your daily goal which may give you the extra push you need You can connect with friends who also have a Fitbit through the app or Fitbit account and see how your activity compares to theirs which may also encourage you to increase your step count You can earn badges that appear on your account when you reach fitness milestones such as a badge for reaching 50 lifetime miles However with no lights or words on the screen itself the Zip is well just a bit boring to look at which may affect how likely you are to keep using it Conclusion 13 out of 20 stars If you re looking for an inexpensive basic tracker that provides a bit of motivation the Zip is a good one But the Zip lacks some of the frills you ll see with more expensive devices including sleep tracking a lit up screen an alarm and a way to track the floors you climb Buy the FitBit Zip gt
10. data is presented in fun and interesting ways See our Basis B1 Review for a recap of these features In the Data section of the Web app users can now view more details about their sleep as part of the new sleep analysis feature An easy to understand chart shows time spent in light Sleep deep sleep and REM sleep as well as the number of times you tossed turned and when your sleep was interrupted You re also given a sleep score which is meant to reflect how well you slept on a scale of 0 to 100 N Y Slivescience Value of Information 0ODO I applaud Basis for continuing to provide explanations for some of the metrics it tracks which give these metrics a value beyond just a number For example in addition to tracking the stages of sleep Basis provides an explanation for what each phase of sleep means why it s important and how much time a person typically spends in each stage Basis also tells you how much daily activity is recommended by the Surgeon General and how much sleep you should aim for But I found myself wondering about the value of tracking my sleep stages It turns out sleep researchers are skeptical of the ability of fitness trackers to accurately track sleep stages That s because most fitness trackers use an accelerometer sensors that detect motion to track sleep but sleep stages are primarily defined by brain activity Basis says it has tested its fitness tracker in sleep labs and that it uses both heart
11. few different activity trackers in recent months and I can honesty say that the Basis is the only one I wanted to keep using The Basis is motivating It provides you with points when you complete a habit and you cannot start or unlock a new habit unless you have enough points for that habit The Don t be a sitter habit really did get me out of my chair at the office and made me aware of just how long I usually go without moving I wanted to keep on using the device so I could unlock more habits Conclusion 16 out of 20 stars The pros of the Basis include the screen interface on the device itself the inclusion of a heart rate monitor and a feature called Habits that is intended to motivate you to be healthier by accomplishing set goals The cons of the Basis include its large size a lack of a way to monitor calorie intake and occasional glitches when syncing BUY the Basis B1 gt Follow Rachael Rettner RachaelRettner Follow LiveScience livescience Facebook amp Google Die Slivescience 1 May 2014 PRouDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Fitbit Force Fitness Tracker Review By Miriam Kramer Staff Writer Date 26 February 2013 Time 03 30 PM ET The Fitbit Force CREDIT Fitbit Editor s Note On Feb 20 2014 the Fitbit Force was recalled by the company because of users reports of skin irritation Fitbit will no longer sell the Force and has set up a website for consumers seeking refunds an
12. had to swipe across the screen to get that information Additionally the Shine lacks a Web app so using the app on a smartphone is the only option You can check your progress without opening the app when you tap Shine s face a different number of times blinking lights flicker on to show you the time of day your progress toward daily goals and the start of a new activity Reading these lights is almost like learning a new code I often had to reread the FAQs on the Misfit website to interpret them More problematic the Shine had trouble correctly sensing my taps which meant a fairly vigorous swim was tracked as a kinda active walking session Shine takes a standard watch battery that the company says can run for four months without needing to be recharged When I got mine the battery was dead despite having been inserted less than four months beforehand Still even a somewhat shorter battery life is miles ahead of other fitness trackers that need to be recharged daily or weekly Value of Information H000 The Shine provides basic data but it lacks detail For instance it doesn t allow users to track food or calorie consumption or to manually tweak incorrectly labeled data Like the Nike FuelBand the Shine lets users earn points and tracks the total points earned but the app doesn t explain how those points correspond to a healthy lifestyle The sensors autodetect individual workout sessions creating discrete
13. millimeters bigger or smaller if you need a better fit Still the lack of a truly adjustable strap meant that the band wobbled around a bit on my wrist I also hurt myself a few times when I accidentally pinched my skin in the clasps so you ll have to be careful not to do this User Friendliness H000 A short video on the Nike setup website explains how to get started using the SE I found it to be a helpful way to familiarize myself with the device You ll need to install the Nike Connect software on your computer and create a Nike account before you can start using the device Once the band is connected to your computer you can set a daily activity goal Nike measures your activity levels in Fuel points which are based on your movement and calculated the Same way for everyone the company says You can view some information about your activity on the device itself A screen on the SE displays your Fuel points hours won the number of hours in which you were active for at least five minutes and the time There s also an option to view your step count and calories burned on the screen You press a single button to toggle through your stats A row of colored lights underneath the main screen provides a quick way to see your daily progress they light up from red to green as you get closer to your Fuel point goal A new feature of the SE compared to the original is the ability to create sessions which let you
14. placing information into three sections Habits Insights and Data In the Insights and Data sections your metrics are presented in fun and interesting ways For example in the Insights section a chart shows your activity throughout the day with bars representing your activity level You can also view your heart rate skin temperature and perspiration data on the same chart allowing you to see the points in time when these measures changed and how the changes correlate with your activity a Slivescience The Data section shows patterns of activity It divides a day into blocks of time and the blocks are shaded different colors with darker shades representing more intense activity for example higher heart rate Over time patterns may start to emerge in your data periods of darker or lighter colors which you can see ata glance You don t have to put the Basis in sleep mode it detects when you re sleeping automatically This could be seen as an advantage over other trackers which have to be told to go into sleep mode but it did sometimes lead to problems One morning the device thought I was sleeping when I was at work though I was wide awake at my desk reading emails I also had some problems syncing the Basis with my computer and was not always able to sync on the first try And when the device did sync I had to wait a little while before the new data would show up in my Basis account Value of information HOOO
15. wireless dongle a small piece of hardware you plug into a USB port to allow the device to sync Fitbit is one of the few trackers that provides a wireless dongle which may be especially useful for people who do not have a smartphone In your Fitbit account you ll see all of your data nicely laid out on the dashboard with a square for each metric such as steps calories etc Clicking on each square will show you more information about that metric such as how many steps you took on each day of that week The account also has a log feature which keeps a record of your activity and can show you your data from any specific day in the past You can also enter a record of the food you eat through the app or through your account The One s app displays your sleep data as a graph with red lines indicating when you woke up and turquois lines indicating when you were restless or moving during your sleep However if you toss and turn a lot the graph ends up with many red and turquois lines which I found difficult to decipher For example one night I was restless 24 times so the app showed 24 turquois lines Clicking on each of these tiny lines will tell you when you were awake or restless but this is difficult because the graph is quite small a Slivescience Value of Information 0ODO Fitbit has default goals so you don t have to set them yourself if you re not sure what your goal should be The default g
16. you have been inactive for a long period of time The first and longest segment will appear after one hour of inactivity and then a new segment will show up for every 15 additional minutes of inactivity The move bar is designed to inspire or shame people to get up and move after long periods of sitting for instance but I also found it helped me be conscious of the times of day when I m the least active At times though I wished the device vibrated whenever a new segment appeared because I didn t always notice the bar had progressed as much as it had The Vivofit also tracks sleep habits which is something I ve been curious and nervous to learn more about When I set up my Garmin Connect account I entered the times when I typically go to bed and wake up This helps the device establish a baseline but to actually track sleep users need to hold the button down until the Vivofit displays SLEEP on the screen I loved being able to track my sleep but having to manually set the device to sleep mode meant there were a Slivescience many times when I forgot Syncing the Vivofit to my computer and phone was fairly straightforward the device connects via Bluetooth to mobile devices or can connect to computers through a wireless device that plugs into an empty USB port First time users will have to create a Garmin Connect account to get started but the app is compatible with other Garmin fitness products including sever
17. 0 mile 5 3 E Bluetooth Connected EJ Bluetooth Connected sownex Share gt f Ej x Share gt f On the Boost app the activity bar does not fill with green indicating you ve reached 100 percent of your activity goal until you ve reached all three of your goals for steps calories and miles Credit Rachael Rettner Enjoyment Inspiration 0000D The Boost tracks your activity but I can t say it was very inspiring It does not prompt you to get moving when you have a sedentary day nor praise you when he z X zlivescience you meet your goal The app also does not allow you to compare your daily activity with others however you can share your activity to Facebook and Twitter But if you re looking for a no frills device and you simply need to see your activity numbers for a little motivation the Boost might be for you Conclusion 10 out of 20 stars The pros of the Boost include its affordable price adjustable strap and ability to view a month s or year s worth of data on a single graph The cons of the Boost are a lack of a screen on the wristband no tips for how to improve physical activity or sleep and no way to look up exactly how many steps you took after a day has passed BUY Bowflex Boost gt Follow Rachael Rettner RachaelRettner Follow LiveScience livescience Facebook amp Google Die a ivescience
18. BEST FITNESS TRACKER BANDS 1 May 2014 PRouDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Basis Carbon Steel Edition Fitness Tracker Review By Rachael Rettner Senior Writer Date 10 February 2014 Time 12 22 PM ET The Basis Carbon Steel Edition is the latest version of the Basis fitness tracker and features several design changes from the original Basis fitness tracker BUY Basis Carbon Steel gt CREDIT Basis The Basis Carbon Steel Edition is the latest version of the Basis fitness tracker and features several design changes from the original Basis fitness tracker the Basis B1 It sells for 199 whereas the price of the original version dropped to 179 But is newer necessarily better I tested the Carbon Steel to find out Design Comfort OOOD One of the main differences between the original Basis and the new edition is visual The new band definitely has a sleeker look It has a silicone strap which is more flexible and feels softer than the rubber plastic strap on the original J Be P Xzlivescience version And the strap connections where the strap attaches to the tracker face are now a shiny chrome color The band is aesthetically pleasing and the new strap feels more comfortable against the skin However when I first strapped on the tracker the chrome connections which felt a little heavy started to dig into my skin and left marks after a little while Ouch I thought I had chosen the right size settin
19. I recently tested the Fitbug to find out Design Comfort 000 There are more ways to wear the Fitbug Orb than for any of the other fitness trackers I ve tested You can put it in the wristband that s included and wear it on your wrist attach it to your belt waistband with the clip like a pedometer or use oe eHivescience the provided lanyard to wear it around your neck The company also suggests putting the Orb directly in your pocket or clipping it to your underwear if you re so inclined I found the Orb comfortable to wear The wristband has several size settings so I could adjust the strap to fit snuggly around my wrist However the belt clip was a little bulky I found that when I used it I could often see the orb bulging out from under my clothes But still the clip was useful to wear the device while I was running and less concerned about my appearance The Orb uses a lithium battery which you have to put in yourself by using a coin to twist open the back of the device This requires some effort The battery will save you from having to recharge your device every week or two as is the case with many other activity trackers but it will eventually need to be replaced after about four to six months according to Fitbug Replacement batteries cost 1 50 The device tracks sleep but unlike other trackers such as the Fitbit Flex and the Jawbone Up the Orb does not have an alarm User Friendliness HD00
20. There s a lot of functionality packed into the app Besides tracking your daily steps you can set alerts to remind you to get up from your desk and you can even tell the app whether you feel great today or just meh or if you re totally wiped out You can log the food you ate and the app will calculate your caloric intake The app also allows you to scan the barcode on food products to input nutrition information You can also see how many of the calories you ve burned just by moving around the baseline workings of your body The device also aims to record how much sleep you get each night how many times you woke up and how much of your sleep time was spent in deep and light sleep But similar to all other personal sleep trackers available in the market your sleep patterns are interpreted from your movements during sleep which may not reflect the exact quality and quantity of sleep However this may be the best sleep estimate we can get for now without sleeping with wires attached to our heads I also found the UP24 sleep readings similar to what an app on my iPhone placed on my bed recorded Also as you look at your data over time you might get a sense of how your sleep patterns recorded in the app reflect your actual quality of sleep The UP24 accumulates all your data over time allowing you to compare your trends for example you can see whether your sleep quality is correlated with what you eat or how muc
21. a GO to get you moving and displays a GOAL when you ve reached you re your daily goal Completing a new record will send a message to your Nike account where you a Slivescience can watch a cute animation of NikeFuel character performing a celebratory dance And notifications on your account will pop up asking you to commit to completing a new goal or raise the bar on your current activity The app can also track how many times a week you meet a goal providing even more motivation to keep up the good work Conclusion 12 out of 20 stars The main pros of the Nike Fuelband include that it has a clock allows you to compare your activity with that of other people and displays your daily progress directly on the device Cons of the Fuelband include its inability to measure some types of exercise and its lack of a sleep tracker BUY the Nike Fuelband gt Follow Rachael Rettner RachaelRettner Follow LiveScience livescience Facebook amp Google Original article on LiveScience Die a ivescience 1 May 2014 PRouDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Misfit Shine Fitness Tracker Review By Tia Ghose Staff Writer Date 13 January 2014 Time 05 00 PM ET BUY Misfit Shine Activity Monitor gt CREDIT Misfit Wearables I wore the Misfit Shine for a week to test how well it performs within the exploding marketplace of fitness trackers devices that record and document users
22. al of the company s GPS watches Syncing the Vivofit involves holding down the button until SYNC appears on the screen A few times however the device failed to register goals I had manually entered and other times it took several tries before my information transferred properly Enjoyment Inspiration OOOD Overall I enjoyed wearing the Vivofit and it was interesting to put numbers to my day to day physical activity such as how many steps I took or how many calories I burned People who are new to fitness tracking will likely find the Vivofit s auto goal setting helpful in determining a baseline Each time my goal was automatically adjusted higher I felt motivated to do more to reach that target Once I synced my information to the Garmin Connect app I could see more detailed graphs of my daily activity such as a bar chart that displays steps taken against the time of day The app also showed me comparisons of my activity by week month and year One of the best things about the Vivofit is that it was easy to forget I was actually wearing a fitness tracker The device rarely intruded on my day to day activities and not needing to charge its battery every few days meant I didn t have to add more clutter to my tangled web of laptop phone and tablet cords Conclusion 14 out of 20 stars The Garmin Vivofit was comfortable and fun to wear and it s a device that makes it extremely convenient to start living a mo
23. als if you so choose However the device does not tell you how much activity you need to be healthy or how much sleep you need and does not provide tips to boost your activity or help you get more shuteye In other words there s very little hand holding with the Boost The device tracks your activity but it s up to you to figure out how to improve it For comparison the Withings Pulse tells users that the World Health Organization recommends 150 minutes of activity per week and that most adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep Mivescience The Boost s light does not shine green until you ve reached all three of your goals for steps calories and miles So if you ve walked 15 000 steps but burned only 300 calories the light remains yellow This method may help users focus on all three metrics rather than just one A small criticism is that the activity graphs on the app which show your daily weekly monthly or yearly activity have a Y axis labeled simply as Which begs the question percent of what ail AT amp T 4G 9 59 P m al ATAT 4G 10 09 PM G00ST Activity 6O005T Activity i Rachael 06 October 2013 Rachael 19 October 2013 Last syne 9 59 PM E Last sync 10 09 PM Activity Level Activity Level me 20 11170 of goal 10000 z y p Steps e Steps 10379 ee ah Calories 350 b Calories 309 of goal 300 Distance R Distance mile 5 2 3
24. aning this light shines just when you need it to Unfortunately the Basis is a bit bulky and there is only one size There were times when I had to remove the device in order to take off a coat or long sleeved shirt because the device got stuck in the sleeve My guess is that the device needs to be a certain size in order to accommodate its heart rate monitor and other sensors including those that detect skin temperature and perspiration Still the device looked big on me and being a petite female I couldn t help but think that the device would be better suited and perhaps more appealing for an average size male User Friendliness H000 The Basis is pretty user friendly The screen on the device itself allows users to see how they re doing at any given moment so they don t have to upload or sync their data with a smartphone and open an app To view more details about your data you can either download the Basis software and use the provided USB cable to sync the device to your computer or sync the device wirelessly to your smartphone and view your data on the Android or iOS app The Basis tries to get you to be healthier by having you complete goals it calls habits which you select when you log in to your account For example if you chose the habit Don t be a sitter you needto get up at least once each hour between 9 a m and 5 p m for a few days to complete the goal The basis web app is easy to navigate
25. be motivating Conclusion 14 out of 20 stars N Y Slivescience The pros of the Pulse compared with other fitness trackers include that it can track your heart rate be worn on a clip and provides detailed information about what is considered a good or healthy amount of exercise and sleep The cons of the Pulse are that it has no alarm to wake you up it s instructions leave you with unanswered questions and that it does not learn more about you over time BUY the Withings Pulse gt Follow Rachael Rettner RachaelRettner Follow LiveScience livescience Facebook amp Google Original article on LiveScience N Y O eHivescience 1 May 2014 PRouDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Fitbug Orb Fitness Tracker Review By Rachael Rettner Senior Writer Date 13 December 2013 Time 03 28 PM ET The Orb is a recently released activity tracker from the United Kingdom based company Fitbug BUY Fitbug Orb gt CREDIT Fitbug The Orb is a recently released activity tracker from the United Kingdom based company Fitbug and it tracks your steps taken distanced traveled calories burned and sleep The name may sound similar to Fitbit another popular fitness tracker but that device comes from a California based company The main selling point of the Orb is its affordable price At 49 95 it s about half the price of the Fitbit Flex and 10 cheaper than the Fitbit Zip But how much do you get for the price
26. comes with 20 increase in cost which makes the UP24 one of the more expensive trackers in the market at 149 Best Fitness Tracker Bands Though the UP24 like all fitness trackers certainly has room for improvement some of its features were definitely among the best compared with other fitness trackers I ve seen in this seemingly exploding category of products Here s a look at how it performed in several categories Design Comfort 000 Sete s ivescience The Jawbone UP24 was a winner for me in terms of how it felt and looked It was the most comfortable wristband I have tried and I have tried many It was easy to put on and take off and so light that I could hardly feel it on my wrist The UP24 is a nice accessory to wear on any occasion it is not a bulky rubber band that would only match with your jogging sneakers I found its sleek design Stylish and the textured rubber band and snakelike fold looked sophisticated The UP24 comes in black and orange and in three sizes and I believe it blends better with other accessories you may wear on your wrist compared with bigger trackers such as the Basis B1 or even the Fitbit Force Photos of Jawbone UP24 The app had an appealing design as well The colors were pleasing and the data is presented in a clear way However the app only works with iOS devices One important shortcoming of the device is that although some water splashing on it wouldn t damage it and you can
27. d returns The Fitbit Force is a fitness tracker and over the course of a week the device did a good job measuring my exercise diet and sleep The small easy to access display kept me constantly abreast of my activity levels and calories burned and although the Force wasn t perfect it inspired me to keep moving Here s a breakdown of how it worked Design Comfort OOOD The biggest problem I had with the Fitbit Force was how long it took to put the device on my wrist The rubber band is pretty inflexible and therefore difficult to attach Eventually as the band got a little more broken in putting it on became a Mivescience bit easier Once I had the Force on my wrist however it was comfortable to wear for long periods of time The Force is lightweight and made of a soft rubber like its predecessor the Fitbit Flex The band also comes in a few different colors I loved that the Force band s bright display doubles as a watch Although the Force syncs with a smartphone via Bluetooth so you can check your stats on your phone the display let me check my stats on the band itself without opening the app on my phone Top Fitness Gadgets for 2013 Using a small button on the side of the Force I could click through the number of steps I d taken calories burned flights of stairs climbed active minutes per day and miles walked User Friendliness H000 The free app you can download with the Fitbit Force is very intui
28. d with the Polar Loop app for iOS the band only works with Apple s iPhones I mostly used the phone app since it synced up as soon as I opened it showing me sleep time which is calculated as the longest stretch of down time during a 24 hour period according to the website along with number of steps taken calories burned and my favorite the little icons showing the amount of time spent in different activity intensities from sleep to high intensity You can click on the icons showing exercise intensity to get a sense of the types of activities each would represent For instance Low intensity would include Standing work light household chores while High intensity would include Jogging running and other intense activities a Slivescience When I plugged in the tracker to my computer s USB slot it updated everything there as well The software also includes a calendar diary to keep track of all of your data along with any notes you write Having the time of day was also a plus though I couldn t figure out a way to get the time to always show up as the first item displayed with the Nike FuelBand if you double click on the button it displays the time of day A downside of the Loop is that in order to view the data on each of your activities you have to click wait for the activity to load and then click again for the next activity wait and so on For instance if I pushed the butt
29. des the Loop registered that time as intense activity The Loop seemed to do a great job at recording my activity time and level when I was swimming and working out with kettlebells I wore the Loop while swimming about a mile at a time and it showed most of it as intense activity which is what it felt like physically to me a Slivescience But while the Loop showed me the calories I burned based on my activity there was no way to input calories eaten during the day Also the sleep time always seemed to be at least an hour lower than my actual time in bed and on one occasion it showed about four hours of sleep when I actually slept for about eight hours In addition there is no breakdown of quality of sleep so it s not that useful if you want to figure out how to get a better night s sleep The FAQs on the Polar Loop website are terrific for answering questions about how things work and for troubleshooting Enjoyment Inspiration 00000 I enjoyed wearing this fitness tracker overall because it gave me the basics without too many details The display on the iPhone app was motivational as it gave me an overall picture of my day and how it stacked up to other days However the motivational alerts seemed a little generic and only somewhat motivated me For instance if I sat for lengthy periods I would get an inactivity alert that read You were sitting for quite a few hours Try to break it up tomorrow Also I was
30. e 1 May 2014 PRouDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Fitbit Zip Fitness Tracker Review By Rachael Rettner Senior writer Date 21 March 2014 Time 03 19 PM ET The Fitbit Zip BUY the Fitbit Zip gt CREDIT Fitbit The Fitbit Zip is an economical fitness tracker Priced at 59 95 it is one of the least expensive trackers on the market For comparison the Fitbit One and Withings Pulse are both 99 95 But does the Zip s lower price mean compromising on features I tested this tracker out for a week to see how it compares to other devices Here s a look at how much you get for the bargain price Design Comfort 0000 The Zip is a small lightweight device weighing just 8 grams or 0 28 ounces and has a smooth sleek feel You can easily slip the Zip in your pocket and forget it s there You can also place the Zip in the provided clip and wear it like a pedometer on your waistband For those who like a choice of colors the device comes in five black white blue lime green and pink i X zlivescience The screen is easy to read but it does not light up so you won t be able to check your steps in the dark The Zip tracks three basic metrics steps taken calories burned and distances walked Unlike its more expensive cousin the Fitbit One the Zip does not track floors climbed or hours slept You don t have to worry about charging the Zip it comes with a watch battery but you will need to replac
31. e device and forget you have it on The One is small enough to fit into your pocket or you can place it in the provided clip and wear it on your belt waistband as you would a pedometer If you re like me and prefer pedometer style trackers to Sete s ivescience ones you have to wear on your wrist all the time as you have to do with the Jawbone UP and Nike FuelBand the One may make a good choice you To track your sleep you place the One into the provided sleep wristband Although the band is quite large it is comfortable and I didn t notice it while I Slept The band is made of soft cloth and easily wraps around your wrist A strip of Velcro on the band means it can fit any sized wrist If you set an alarm which you can do through the Fitbit mobile app the device quietly vibrates to wake you up in the morning User Friendliness H000 The device and accompanying mobile and Web app are very user friendly You push a single button on the device itself to cycle through a display of your steps taken floors climbed distance walked and calories burned as well as the time of day You ll also see an image of a flower that grows the more active you are so you Can monitor your progress at a glance You can view more detailed information about your activity with the Fitbit app or online through your Fitbit account The device syncs wirelessly with your mobile phone through Bluetooth or with your computer through the provided
32. e the battery every four to six months User Friendliness H000 The tracker itself does not have any buttons To see your metrics you tap the device with your finger In a world of touch screens and push buttons the idea of tapping something takes a little getting used to but it works fairly well once you get the hang of it As with all Fitbit devices you can sync the Zip wirelessly with your mobile phone to see your data on the accompanying app or check your stats on the Web through your Fitbit account The Zip comes with a wireless dongle a small piece of hardware you plug into a USB port which allows you to sync it directly to your computer This feature may be especially useful for people who don t have Smartphones You can use the app to track how many calories you consume by entering a record of the food you eat through the app or through your account If you enter a weight goal the app will calculate how many calories you can still eat today to stay on track with your goal This may be a useful feature for people interested in weight loss Value of Information 0ODO Fitbit has default goals for physical activity so you don t have to set them yourself if you re not sure what your goal should be The default goals are 10 000 steps a day 5 miles a day 30 active minutes However I could not find an explanation for why Fitbit picked these goals in particular is this how active you need to be to be healthy The
33. eet your activity targets five times a week For sleep Fitbug recommends you get between 7 9 and 9 hours Enjoyment Inspiration 7000 I found the Fitbug Orb inspiring When you first sign up Fitbug will email you each day for a week explaining the features of the program After that Fitbug emails you once a week with a progress report of how you did in terms of reaching your targets With these progress reports Fitbug provides you with a reason to keep using your tracker Fitbug also uses a smiley face system to depict your progress which is a cute feature When you upload nutrition information to your account an emoticon a Slivescience changes from a sad face to a happy face I liked that the Orb set my activity goals for me but if you wanted to set your own goals you d be out of luck Although you can post your progress to Facebook the Fitbug app does not have a way to directly compare your activity with that of your friends as the Fitbit app does Conclusion 14 20 stars The pros of the Fitbug Orb include its affordable price the many ways to wear the device and weekly progress reports The cons of the Fitbug include its lack of a screen interface on the device itself the requirement that you put the battery in yourself and the inability to set your own activity goals BUY Fitbug Orb gt Follow Rachael Rettner RachaelRettner Follow LiveScience livescience Facebook amp Google Die a ivescienc
34. enging level Company officials say the aim of this feature is to encourage healthier habits by N Y Slivescience helping people gradually strive toward becoming more active The auto goal setting is enabled by default but anyone who wants to be more hands on with their fitness can manually customize their goals by syncing the Vivofit to a computer or mobile device One of the Vivofit s main selling points is its impressive one year battery life This means that unlike many other fitness trackers currently on the market the Vivofit does not need to be charged every few days The device can also be worn in the shower and while swimming which is a feature I really appreciated because it meant I could go days without having to take the Vivofit off and interrupt its data collection Value of Information HDD00 Like many other fitness trackers the Vivofit logs steps taken calories burned distance walked and sleep I walk to and from work every day so I found I almost always surpassed the goals assigned to me by the device It was interesting however to see the incremental adjustments the device made in setting my targets for each day and when I synced the device to its app called Garmin Connect I could see my progression and monitor how well the Vivofit motivated me to stay active The device also features a move bar which consists of five red segments that gradually appear across the top of the screen if
35. erything I d done the week before giving a nice perspective on how much I d worked those seven days All in all the device wasn t intrusive and it did make a bit of a difference on days when I felt particularly lazy It provided just the kick I needed to get out the door and walk that extra distance to reach my goal Conclusion 15 out of 20 stars Overall I enjoyed my week with the Fitbit Force It was a nice little device with an easy to use app that kept track of my activity pretty accurately I liked that all a Slivescience of my stats were right there on my wrist and easy to access even without my phone I didn t like that the Force failed to reliably track activity other than walking and that putting the band on my wrist presented a real hassle Follow Miriam Kramer mirikramer and Google See ivescience 1 May 2014 PROUDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Garmin Vivofit Fitness Tracker Review By Denise Chow Staff Writer Date 01 April 2014 Time 06 32 PM ET The Garmin Vivofit BUY Garmin Vivofit gt CREDIT Garmin The Garmin Vivofit is a fitness tracker marketed as a device that can help you turn your daily exercise into healthy lifelong habits In addition to logging the standard fitness tracker data including steps taken calories burned distance walked and sleep the Vivofit assigns you a personalized fitness goal which adjusts itself daily as the device learns your habits and m
36. escience Facebook amp Google Die a ivescience 1 May 2014 PROUDLY BrouGutT To You By LIVESCIENCE Fitbit Flex Fitness Tracker Review By Clara Moskowitz Senior Writer Date 02 October 2013 Time 12 57 AM ET BUY the Fitbit Flex gt CREDIT Laptopmag com The Fitbit Flex is an activity tracker aimed at measuring your exercise diet and Sleep The device was my constant companion for about a week and by the end of it I felt informed about my activity levels and was motivated to get moving While the Fitbit has some frustrating features it s also simple comfortable and useful and I found myself surprisingly addicted to checking my progress Here s a breakdown of how it did in several areas Design Comfort 0000 The wristband and I got off on the wrong foot when I tried and failed for a few minutes to fasten it around my wrist When I read the instructions however I was able to snap it into place and after a week of use the band became a bit more flexible and was easy to take off and put back on again The Fitbit Flex is lightweight and very comfortable I found it less intrusive and Xeivescience unwieldy than some heavier fitness wristbands I hardly took it off for a week and soon got used to its presence The band is flat about the width of a watchband and made of a soft rubbery material in a single color you can choose from a few options While it s not quite fashionable it also isn
37. exactly fit with my style I found it somewhat more annoying to wear than some of the lighter flatter fitness wristbands like the Fitbit Flex However I did get used to it fairly quickly and overall it wasn t a burden yo oHivescience Unlike some other trackers the Up doesn t have Bluetooth so to sync the wristband with its app you have to plug the end of the band into your phone This was sometimes annoying and meant I didn t check my stats quite as often as I did with trackers that synced automatically via Bluetooth But I will give the Up bonus points for the design of its app which of all the activity tracker apps I tried was the most pleasing and fun to use The colors and display of the data were clear and engaging and the app was super easy to learn without reading instructions Top Fitness Gadgets for 2013 User Friendliness H000 I don t have a single complaint about learning to use the Jawbone Up I read only the bare minimum of the instructions and was largely able to figure out everything by downloading the app plugging in the Up and exploring There s a lot of functionality packed into the app and it s pretty easy to find the information you want from how to track daily steps to more complicated tasks like setting alerts to remind you to get up from your desk and comparing trends over time such as how your sleep correlates with what you eat or how much you exercise However telling the a
38. exactly how it decided on them And like other trackers the Force suffers from the limits of measuring activity with an accelerometer The tracker had trouble telling how far I d walked on an elliptical machine and it registered an hour of rather intense yoga as zero active minutes I logged my own workouts to be sure that I got credit where credit was due It s easy to turn on the sleep tracking feature you just hold down the button on the side until a timer starts It seemed to track my sleep accurately enough it knew when I was awake versus when I was asleep but I m pretty sure the tracker counted it as restless sleep whenever I moved even if I wasn t actually that restless Enjoyment and Inspiration 000 I loved having the Force on my wrist for a week It was fun to see how many steps I took each day and how many calories I burned It was great to have all of the information available both at the click of a button on my wrist or through my phone The graphs showing the peaks and valleys of my activity each day were also inspirational I got to see how much my commute contributes to the number of steps and active minutes I accumulate through the course of the day and it was interesting to see how my progress changed when I travelled or didn t hit the gym I could also input the food I ate to track calories taken in versus calories burned At the end of the week FitBit sent me an email summary of ev
39. f explanation and interpretation for some of the data it provides BUY the Fitbit Flex gt Follow LiveScience livescience Facebook amp Google Original article on LiveScience M Be PS ivescience 1 May 2014 PRouDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Withings Pulse Fitness Tracker Review By Rachael Rettner Senior Writer Date 02 October 2013 Time 12 48 AM ET BUY the Withings Pulse gt The Withings Pulse is an activity tracker marketed to just about anyone interested in learning more about their daily habits Released earlier this year the Pulse tracks total steps total distance traveled elevation calories burned and your total sleep time and sleep quality Unlike many other activity trackers the device also lets you check your heart rate hence the name Pulse and track changes over time As someone who s new to the world of activity tracking I decided to test out the device for a week to see how easy it is for a layperson to use and whether knowing such information can really inspire you to try to be healthier 9 Odd Ways Your Tech Devices May Injure You Design Comfort OOOO You can wear the Pulse in several ways put it in your pocket attach it to your belt waistband with a clip just as you would wear a pedometer or place it ina wristband to wear like a watch i X zivescience I found the belt clip to be the most comfortable way to wear the Pulse I clipped it on in the morning and soon fo
40. fit right I have small wrists and the Boost fit me much better than some other wristband fitness trackers such as the Nike FuelBand which can be only minimally adjusted and Jawbone Up which cannot be adjusted at all The Boost has just one button on the top of the device which you press to see your progress ared yellow or green light shines to indicates how far you are toward reaching your activity goal for the day to put the device in sleep mode or to wirelessly sync the device with your phone I found this button somewhat hard to operate The button needs to be held for three seconds to put into sleep mode and five seconds to sync It sometimes took me several tries to get the device into sleep mode or to sync even though I was pushing the button down quit firmly Instead of syncing the light on the device would simply turn off and I would have to start over User Friendliness HOD00 The device is simple enough to use The red yellow green lighting system gives you a quick snapshot of your daily activity progress However there is no screen on the wristband so users must look at the app to know exactly how many steps they ve taken or calories burned For people interested in knowing exactly how they re doing right now an activity tracker with a screen might be a better fit Top Fitness Gadgets for 2013 To see your data you have to download the Boost app which is currently available only for the iPhone
41. g but I had to wear the tracker a bit lose to prevent this problem The tracker face itself is still the same size as the original which is quite large This makes for an easy to see watch but also makes it hard to pull a sweater on or off while wearing it User Friendliness H000 The Carbon Steel Edition is just as user friendly as the original Basis B1 The tracker can automatically detect when you are running walking or cycling I thought this was neat after a short walk the tracker screen will show you how long you ve been walking and how many calories you burned during the walk This timer stops if you stop walking and picks up again when you resume keeping track of your total walking time Like the original the Carbon Steel Edition doesn t have a sleep mode and automatically detects when you re sleeping This feature is appealing it s one less thing to remember However I was disappointed that despite touting a new Sleep analysis feature the Carbon Steel Edition still made a few mistakes about when I was sleeping Once it said I was sleeping for 30 minutes when I was actually watching a movie And another time it said I was asleep at work when I was actually sifting through my inbox To me these occasional errors are a downside to not having a way to tell the device when to enter sleep mode Still the Carbon Steel has all the user friendly features of the original including a Web app where the user s
42. h you exercise In general motion trackers that are wristbands are not as accurate in calculating steps and distance covered as basic hip pedometers or GPS distance trackers In other words the UP24 may overestimate your steps if you move your arms around Enjoyment Inspiration 000 Wearing the UP24 kept me aware of my habits and daily routines I was motivated to take the stairs instead of the elevator and felt better about my long walks to the subway station Logging my gym activity into the UP24 gave me satisfaction of marking down my accomplishment When looking at my trends I saw a giant drop in my activity over the weekend a Slivescience which felt like a revelation I always knew I didn t move as much over the weekends but actually seeing the big hole in my upward movement trend has motivated me to think of a weekend activity for the coming weeks Social features in the UP24 app allow you to share your milestones with friends on Facebook and Twitter which can be quite inspirational One of my favorite sports is swimming but the recent cold weather has put me off I believe if the Up24 was water resistant it would have inspired me to brave the cold and hit the pool Conclusion 13 out of 20 stars The pros of the Jawbone UP24 compared with other fitness trackers are that it provides useful data on several aspects of your daily routine it s easy to work and it allows you to scan food barcodes Depending o
43. ho swim regularly or value fashion But stats lovers and die hard fitness junkies may find the app too confusing and the data it provides too sparse to be motivational BUY the Misfit Shine Activity Monitor gt Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter and Google Follow LiveScience livescience Facebook amp Google Original article on LiveScience Die Slivescience 1 May 2014 PRouDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Bowflex Boost Fitness Tracker Review Rachael Rettner Senior Writer Date 22 October 2013 Time 11 18 AM ET BUY Bowflex Boost gt CREDIT Laptopmag com The maker of Bowflex fitness equipment Nautilus recently launched an activity tracker called Bowflex Boost At 49 95 it s one of the least expensive activity trackers on the market For comparison the Jawbone Up will cost you 129 99 and the Fitbit Flex goes for 99 95 But how well does the Boost perform compared to other more pricey trackers I tried it out for a few days to see Design Comfort OOOD The Boost excels in comfort Made from silicone material the wristband is flexible and is designed to coil around the wrist before it is snapped into place with a plastic clasp My favorite thing about the Boost has to be the 14 size settings which allow you Xelivescience to adjust the band so that it fits snuggly around your wrist Although a simple feature you d be surprised at how much less fun a fitness trackeris to wear if it doesn t
44. icons with points earned for pretty active or kinda active workout sessions But those N Y Slivescience vague terms are not explained in the app or on the website and you can t translate the points from an individual workout into miles or calories burned Like many other trackers the Shine seems to mistake sitting for sleep In order to get an accurate measure of your sleep you have to label the activity of sleep just before bedtime and make sure to tap the device three times Shine also overestimated the distances I walked a problem that plagues many activity trackers The device also doesn t track elevation changes as trackers such as the FitBit Force do Given the hills in San Francisco it would have been nice to get credit for a few of those climbs Enjoyment Inspiration 000 Wearing the Shine did motivate me to break out a swimsuit in the winter but the lack of granular data made it less inspiring for actually changing my routine Other trackers offer badges or motivational messages to get people moving and although the Shine doesn t I found I didn t miss this aspect Not having to plug in the device at all was motivation enough to wear it every day and having it sync so easily with the phone led me to check it fairly frequently Conclusion 11 out of 20 stars The Shine s sleek comfortable design its long battery life and its water friendliness will make it a tempting option for people w
45. ilestones The fitness band which can be bundled with a heart rate monitor is available in five colors black blue purple teal and slate The Vivofit ranges in price from 129 99 to 149 95 making it more affordable than the Basis B1 tracker which ranges in price from 169 99 to 199 99 but more expensive than the Withings Pulse which retails for 99 95 and includes a heart monitor The Vivofit can also be bundled with a heart rate monitor for a price ranging from 169 99 to 239 00 I wore the Garmin Vivofit for two weeks to see how much it motivated me to keep Se eHivescience moving Video How to Get the Most from Wearable Devices Design Comfort 000 The Vivofit has a flexible rubber band that was fairly easy for me to clip into place around my wrist The band seems to run large though and I needed to adjust it to the smallest size I imagine people particularly women with small wrists will find the Vivofit needs better sizing options because the device feels most comfortable when it is snug and not moving around too much I loved the Vivofit s simple design it has a display screen which not all fitness trackers have and only one button to press to scroll through the various measures displaying my fitness goal the time of day steps taken distance walked heart rate and calories burned Pressing the button repeatedly cycles through these measures and small icons at the bottom of the screen make it ea
46. it showed a full battery within minutes I unplugged it too soon and had to recharge it when the battery level quickly dropped back down Can I wear it in the shower No I found after Googling What exactly does it mean by elevation It doesn t mean your current elevation but rather how many feet you climb I later tested out the Jawbone Up and Nike Fuelband which have either animations or videos to show you how to use the device I think those devices benefit from including such visual instructions for newbies Value of Information 0ODO The Pulse tells you more than just how far you ve walked it also tells you how much physical activity is considered good The device prompts you to keep a Slivescience walking until you ve reached the goal of 150 minutes of activity per week which is the amount recommended by the World Health Organization Such information may be useful for fitness novices who aren t sure what their weekly goal should be The device also tracks how many hours you sleep and the amount of time spent in light and deep sleep The app tells you how much sleep adults generally need 7 to 9 hours a night and provides tips to get a better night s sleep However I found myself wondering how accurate the device was at tracking sleep during the night The Pulse tracks sleep cycles by using an accelerometer to measure movement during sleep similar to the way an actigraph a device used in home s
47. leep studies does However a 2012 study found that the Fitbit tracker which also uses an accelerometer to track sleep was less accurate than a sleep lab test polysomnography at determining the total hours slept and the quality of sleep Generally activity trackers are more likely to say you are asleep when you are really awake which means they can overestimate how long you sleep The Pulse seemed to always tell me it took about 20 minutes to fall asleep which made me a little suspicious The app includes a chart that tells you what a normal resting heart rate is and what might cause an unusually fast resting heart rate However it does not tell you what your heart rate should be after exercise or why a lower heart rate is better I did not find it particularly useful to know that I have a normal heart rate Enjoyment Inspiration 00 The Pulse was fun to use I was interested to learn how many steps I walk in a day about 6 500 and how well I slept the previous night I was also surprised one day over a weekend to learn that I d walked and run a total distance of 10 miles without even realizing it However after using the device for about a week the novelty wore off leaving me wondering why I might continue to use the device except to perhaps track my mileage during a run For example the Pulse does not have a way to compare your activity with that of your friends an element of some other fitness trackers that can
48. lly plug the device into your phone to sync it with the app and that it s a bit bulky BUY the Jawbone Up gt Follow LiveScience livescience Facebook amp Google Original article on LiveScience Die Slivescience 1 May 2014 PRouDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Nike FuelBand SE Fitness Tracker Review By Rachael Rettner Senior Writer Date 15 April 2014 Time 05 51 PM ET BUY the Nike Fuelband SE gt CREDIT Nike Inc The FuelBand SE is an activity tracker from the sports giant Nike that allows you to track your activity and compare it with others in the Nike community The SE is an update to the original version of the FuelBand and includes a few new features Here s what I found after a week of testing the device Design Comfort OOOD The SE has the same design as the original FuelBand the wristband is a single solid object that is taken on and off with a clasp but is not adjustable Unlike the original which came only in black white or clear the SE is mainly black but has several options for the small color accents on the band Users can choose from six colors gold silver black yellow red and magenta J Be o Xzlivescience It was a good move to make the SE mostly black rather than white or clear as this makes the screen which has white lights easier to read The SE comes with two extensions called links that can be added or removed to make the band a smidgen 8 or 16
49. n your style you might find the UP24 among the most fashionable of the other tracker wristbands For those who like to check their information without having to access their phone the UP24 not having a screen would be one of its drawbacks In addition frequent swimmers and people who live or work near water may want to look for a water resistant tracker like Misfit Shine BUY the Jawbone UP24 Activity Tracker gt Email Bahar Gholipour or follow her alterwired Follow us LiveScience Facebook amp Google Original article on Live Science Seta Slivescience 1 May 2014 PRouDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Jawbone Up Fitness Tracker Review By Clara Moskowitz LiveScience Senior Writer Date 02 October 2013 Time 12 52 AM ET BUY the Jawbone Up gt After a week of wearing the Jawbone Up I was pretty impressed with this nifty device It told me how well I d slept how many steps I d taken how far I d walked how many calories I d burned all within a colorful and smartly designed app Though the Up has some downsides the device can definitely make a difference in how you approach your fitness Here s a look at how it performed in several categories Design Comfort OOOO The Jawbone Up is a soft rubber wristband that resembles a mini coil like a snake I ve seen the Up called the most fashionable of the wearable fitness trackers but to me it was a bit bulky and the black model I had didn t
50. nearly always well above the daily goal set for me which was about four hours of low intensity activity a day The Loop sets that time based on global recommendations for moderate and vigorous physical activity your typical day I sit in front of a computer most of the day age and gender Conclusion 13 out of 20 stars The easy to use iPhone app band comfort time of day feature and waterproofness of the Polar Loop are big pluses for this fitness tracker Its drawbacks include the tricky button on the band and the limitations of the information tracked which doesn t include sleep quality details for instance even so for the basics the Polar Loop is fantastic Buy the Polar Loop gt Follow Jeanna Bryner on Twitter and Google Follow us livescience Facebook amp Google N Y Slivescience 1 May 2014 PRouDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Jawbone UP24 Fitness Tracker Review By Bahar Gholipour Staff Writer Date 28 February 2014 Time 04 43 PM ET I wore the Jawbone UP24 fitness tracker wristband for a week to monitor my exercise and eating habits through the day and the quality of my sleep at night The UP24 is a flexible band that wraps around your wrist and is a newer version of the Original Jawbone UP It connects wirelessly to your iPhone or iPad to automatically sync which is a must have feature for a fitness tracker unless you enjoy plugging things together multiple times a day But the improvement
51. nt Inspiration 00 The Fitbit was a fun companion Overall its ease of use and comfort made me enjoy wearing it and I found the data it offered informative and motivating One simple feature made a big difference in how I felt about wearing the device On the wristband a small plastic strip will show your progress toward your daily steps goal via dots representing 20 percent increments I found myself frequently tapping just to see the pretty glowing dots appear and get an update And that simple action in turn made me more motivated to increase my activity without even needing to open the app This gave the Fitbit the edge over devices that only give you feedback once you open their apps I did find the Fitbit influenced my behavior occasionally giving me the extra push I needed to take a walk around the block to up my steps tally Ultimately it probably didn t change my health habits too much and it definitely didn t transform me into the fitness fiend I sometimes wish I were but that s not Surprising No device can get you off your butt when you don t want to Conclusion 14 out of 20 stars The pros of the Fitbit Flex compared with other fitness trackers include that it is lighter and flatter than others it syncs wirelessly with your phone and your daily progress is visible on the band itself The cons include the unusually high number of taps it takes to access certain a Slivescience features as well as a lack o
52. oals are 10 000 steps a day 5 miles a day 30 active minutes and 10 floors climbed However I could not find an explanation for why Fitbit picked these goals in particular is this how active you need to be to be healthy The app didn t make that clear In contrast the Withings Pulse sets a goal of 150 minutes of walking or other activity a week which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend as a minimum for exercise The One also calculates your sleep efficiency an indicator of how well you slept but does not provide advice for what you need to do to rest better Sleep researchers also say that fitness trackers tend to overestimate how long you sleep because the devices are more likely to register that you are asleep when you re actually awake I also noticed that the One kept tracking my steps in sleep mode I woke up one morning to see I had taken 25 steps at night No I wasn t sleepwalking the device must have registered my movement tossing and turning as steps But why track steps when the device is in sleep mode These 25 steps added to my total for the day but they were not actual steps In addition the device can t track swimming or biking activities so people who frequently engage in this kind of exercise may want to look for another tracker However you can keep your own record of biking swimming or other activities in the log section of your Fitbit account Enjoyment Inspiration
53. on and the display said Step if I wanted to see the number of steps I d taken so far that day I had to wait If instead I wanted to see the next variable such as Calories I had to keep clicking until the display read Calories and then wait to see the number If you just click once it shows for instance the time and then the display turns off And since it s tricky pushing the button all this clicking ended up being a pain so I usually just synced it with my phone app and looked at all the numbers on there Value of information 00000 The display on the iPhone app was extremely useful to show my overall activity time and levels for the day The largest part of the app display shows a circle representing a 24 hour period with the active time shown in shades of blue the darker blue representing higher intensity activities Immediately I became aware of the amount of sitting time that pervaded my work week when I was parked in front of a computer screen whereas on the weekends I had much longer active times The app also showed me whether my workouts were actually providing moderate or intense activity levels but this actually seemed to be a product of how much I was Swinging my arms while exercising When I was on the elliptical at the gym and not swinging my arms while running the Polar Loop seemed to register that as moderate activity whereas when I swung my arms instead of holding onto the elliptical si
54. out how much to cut off also included sizing was pretty simple though a little tedious There s a video on the Polar website that shows you exactly how to fit your band though I just looked at the diagram that came with it I should note that I first measured my wrist with the tape snugly around it but was worried I would cut off too much so I did the cutting in smaller increments In the end I cut off exactly the number that I first measured After it is cut the band is easy to get on and off by opening its metal clasp Once I figured out how to cut the band and reattach the fastener the tracker felt amazing Since it s cut to size I didn t have to worry about it sliding all over and its relatively soft rubber and light weight made it unobtrusive sometimes I forgot I was wearing it and sleeping with it was seamless The only time it did seem to get in the way was when I was doing kettlebells During a move called the clean and press when the kettlebell flips over your hand the kettlebell would hit my wrist and the band which was a little painful The only real problem I found with the design was the button used to display the time and activity data The small button sits low in the band so it was difficult to push and I often had to use my fingernail or at least push it a couple times to get it to work User friendliness 0000D The Polar Loop band links with software you can download from the Polar website an
55. p The Jawbone Up gets extra points for giving fun daily health tips and offering more information overall to help you interpret your own fitness data It also allows you to input your mood and see how this correlates with exercise diet and Sleep How Counties Rank in Obesity and Physical Fitness Rates Infographic Enjoyment Inspiration 0000 Some days I was a lot more engaged with the Jawbone Up than others Because you have to plug the device into your phone to see your latest data there s more of a barrier to opening the app frequently to check your progress Of course this syncing progress goes quickly so I still plugged it in and checked my stats multiple times a day But when I was really busy I tended to ignore my Up and it had less of an effect on my life On the other hand I found the data it provided to be richer and more illuminating than some other devices so in that sense it did have an advantage in helping me adjust my behavior for better health Ultimately of course how much I changed and how much I got out of the Jawbone Up depended on how much energy and attention I put into it Conclusion 13 out of 20 stars The pros of the Jawbone Up compared with other fitness trackers are that it provides rich and useful data it s easy to find the information you re looking for in the app and it allows you to scan food barcodes to input nutrition information The cons of the Up include that you have to physica
56. pp what I ate was sometimes a chore and although it has a large library of common foods it didn t always recognize the foods I searched for But the app does allow users to add foods as well as scan the barcodes of some foods to automatically input their nutrition information Value of Information 0ODO The Jawbone Up collects a good amount of data about your fitness and presents it in a clear way designed to help you draw conclusions and change your habits It was fascinating to see how many miles I actually covered doing errands and walking to the subway and even more revealing to see how my daily level of activity correlated with other data points such as how much ate or how well I Slept In general motion trackers including the Up aren t as accurate in calculating steps and distance covered as basic hip pedometers or GPS distance trackers If you wave your arms around while sitting still the Up will still think you re walking Meanwhile if you re walking and carrying something heavy but keeping N Y Slivescience your wrist extremely steady you might not get points for those steps Still the Up s readouts were a good basic measurement and were pretty self consistent over time so they worked for looking at trends from day to day or week to week I found the Up s sleep readings slightly more accurate and useful than the Fitbit Flex s though it seems all activity trackers can misinterpret stillness for slee
57. rate and motion to track sleep stages Unlike many other trackers on the market the Basis includes a heart rate monitor Still my sleep score didn t always reflect how I felt One night my sleep score was particularly high but I felt tired the next day Enjoyment Inspiration 000 Overall the Basis is enjoyable and motivating to use A big part of the motivation to keep using the tracker comes from the inclusion of a point system in which users get points by completing habits such as taking a walk every morning As you collect more points you can unlock more habits Conclusion 16 out of 20 stars The Carbon Steel Edition is very similar to the original Basis If you re a fan of the new sleeker look and softer strap the Carbon Steel may be worth the extra 20 over the original Compared to some other trackers the pros of the Basis include the screen watch on the device itself the inclusion of a heart rate monitor and a feature called Habits that is intended to motivate you to be healthier by accomplishing set goals The cons of the Basis include its large size a lack of a way to monitor calorie intake and occasional errors with the time you are asleep BUY Basis Carbon Steel gt Follow Rachael Rettner RachaelRettner Follow Live Science livescience a Slivescience Facebook amp Google Xeivescience 1 May 2014 PRouDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Basis B1 Fitness Tracker Review By
58. re active lifestyle The Vivofit also has a Sleek design and comes in a variety of fun colors I experienced some issues when syncing the device to my computer and phone and having to manually put the device in sleep mode makes it easy to forget about that feature a Slivescience The Vivofit s one year battery life definitely sets it apart from other fitness trackers and having an electronic device in my life that doesn t need charging felt extremely liberating BUY Garmin Vivofit gt Follow Denise Chow on Twitter denisechow Follow Live Science livescience Facebook amp Google eta ivescience 1 May 2014 PRouDLY BRouGHT To You By LIVESCIENCE Fitbit One Fitness Tracker Review By Rachael Rettner Senior Writer Date 28 February 2014 Time 06 04 PM ET The Fitbit One BUY the Fitbit One gt CREDIT Top Ten Reviews The One is a fitness tracker from Fitbit a company known for its wearable devices At 99 95 the One is in the mid level price range for fitness trackers more expensive than the Fitbit Zip 59 95 but cheaper than the Nike FuelBand 149 and the same price as the Withings Pulse The One tracks all the basic metrics including sleep steps taken distance walked and calories burned and also tracks the number of floors you climb I tested the One for a week and here s what I found Design Comfort OOOD The Fitbit One is a small lightweight tracker which makes it easy to wear th
59. rgot that it was there To me the pedometer style of the Pulse gives the device an advantage over other fitness trackers like the Up and Fuelband which must be worn on the wrist If you have small wrists like I do or are generally bothered by bracelets the Pulse might be attractive to you The product refers to the wristband as the sleep wristband so presumably it is intended to strap on when you go to bed I found the wristband to be comfortable it s made of cloth and it did not bother me while I slept I could have also worn the wristband at other times of the day but with a strap that s 1 5 inches wide it s hardly inconspicuous User Friendliness H000 Overall the Pulse is very user friendly Despite never having used a fitness tracker before I found the setup to be a breeze The device comes with a short booklet that has simple instructions with many pictures so there s no wading through a boring user manual It was also fairly intuitive Each push of the button on the top of the device changes the screen to display a different metric sleep calories and steps And the device app shows a large picture of a butterfly that depicts your progress as you add more measurements its wings fill up with color However I also had questions that the instructions didn t answer I found myself wondering For how long do I charge the device The device turns on right away after charging and although
60. s you check your progress throughout the day without needing to plug the device into your computer or sync to your phone to see your data Pressing the button next to the screen once shows you Fuel points and pressing it subsequent times shows you calories burned steps taken and the actual time of day For those who want to know how they re doing right now the screen interface is an attractive feature For comparison the Jawbone Up does not have an interface and users must plug the wristband into their phone in order to see their activity levels On the FuelBand a row of colored lights underneath the main screen gives you a visual summary of your daily progress lighting up from red to green as you get closer to your goal of taking a certain number of steps Plugging the device into your computer and logging into your account gives you more detailed information including the distance you ve traveled and total a Slivescience activity time as well as how your daily activity compares with your activity in previous days and how it compares with the average person in the Nike community Value of Information 0ODO NikeFuel points are a nice way to compare your day s activity with other people s but Nike does not explain how they are calculated besides to say that more movement equals more points and so they have little meaning outside the Nike world The default setting is 2 000 Fuel points for a normal day 3
61. smidgen 8 or 16 millimeters bigger or smaller I thought this was a clever trick that would save you from having to order a new device if you he z ivescience happened to misjudge your size Still the lack of a truly adjustable strap meant that the band did not fit snugly on my wrist And if you re not used to wearing wristbands you might find such a device a little bothersome as I did The device comes in several styles my version was slightly transparent so you could see the interior of the device with no rubber covering The lack of rubber covering made the device slightly uncomfortable to wear And the transparent covering made the screen which has white lights a little hard to read in daylight The other version with a black rubber covering gives the screen slightly more contrast and makes it easier to read User Friendliness H000 The Nike FuelBand is intuitive and user friendly A short video on the Nike setup website explains how to get started using the device which is a much easier way to familiarize yourself with the device than reading a user manual Once you install the Nike Connect software on your computer and create a Nike account you can set a daily goal for daily NikeFuel points the brand s way of measuring physical activity Fuel points which are based on movement are calculated the same way for everyone so you can compare your daily activity with others The screen on the FuelBand let
62. steps calories and sleep The Shine stands out from other trackers because it can be worn in the water and has a long battery life Its sleek design along with the option to wear it as a wristband belt clip or necklace make it a more fashionable alternative to other trackers With a price of 119 95 it s a midline investment about as expensive as the Fitbit Force 129 95 but considerably cheaper than the B1 Basis 169 99 Here s how the Shine performed Design Comfort 00 The Shine is a matte aluminum disc as big as a quarter The disc can be slipped into a simple wristband a magnetic device that clips onto clothes or even as a necklace I found the wrist attachment to be sturdy easy to clean and extremely i X zlivescience comfortable The magnetic clip was sturdy and seemed unlikely to fall off To sync the Shine with its app on your smartphone the directions say you need to tap the Shine against the phone However I noticed it often synced automatically when my phone was simply near my wrist Being able to use it in the pool was impressive and its water friendliness meant it was also easier to keep clean after a sweaty workout User friendliness H000 The Shine s smartphone app was bare bones and not very intuitive to use One icon which looked like an image of the globe doesn t do anything And the app has no labeled menu to display the key metrics such as miles walked or calories burned Instead I
63. sy to tell which stats were being displayed at any given time Another advantage of the Vivofit is that its display is always on so my step count remained visible throughout the day making it easy to monitor my progress without needing to press any buttons or wake up the device I also sometimes set the screen to display the time which let me use the Vivofit as a watch Occasionally I was concerned about the security of the Vivofit s clasp I wore the device while traveling and once while I was grabbing something out of my large carry on bag the Vivofit s strap caught on something and came undone While this only happened once it did make me worry about the possibility of losing the device if something unexpectedly pulls the double notched clasp free User Friendliness HD00 I started wearing the Vivofit with its default settings and then started playing around with the settings only after the device had logged a few days of activity One of the features that sets the Vivofit apart from other fitness trackers is its ability to assign personalized daily goals According to Garmin the Vivofit learns your activity level and adjusts your daily goals based on how well you meet the milestones In other words if you repeatedly surpass your goals the Vivofit will automatically assign a higher value the next day But if you go a few days without hitting your targets the device will scale things back to a more achievable but still chall
64. t only your basic stats height weight age etc to begin and strap on the device it ll tell you your daily number of steps taken distance traveled on foot minutes spent being very active and calories burned If you tip it off every night that you re heading to bed and tell it when you re awake again in the morning it will use motion to track how much time you re actually asleep while in bed and how restless you were All this info is fun to see and the Fitbit presents everything in terms of a a Slivescience percentage toward a goal You can set a goal yourself or use its default goal which for me was 10 000 steps 5 miles 30 very active minutes and 2 184 calories burned Not all the data were well explained though For example there was no explanation for how it arrived at my default calorie goal On some days I exceeded Fitbit s goal for steps taken and distance walked as well as very active minutes but I was still well away from meeting the goal for calories burned Why I would have liked some tips on what I could do to meet the calorie burning goal or an explanation for why the calorie goal didn t correlate with the activity goals I had mixed success with the sleep tracker but generally felt that it wasn t especially accurate There were nights I knew I awoke several times but the Fitbit told me I d slept straight through natural limitations of tracking sleep based on only wrist motion Enjoyme
65. t ugly and doesn t stand out The Fitbit syncs with your phone via Bluetooth so there s no need to plug it in to your phone to check your stats a fact that made me more likely to open the app and check up on myself throughout the day Top Fitness Gadgets for 2013 User Friendliness H000 In general the Fitbit Flex is easy to use and the first time I plugged it in and got the app up and running I was able to navigate it easily The app display is simple and clean and communicated most of what I wanted to see at first glance Some features though were unnecessarily hard to reach For example to tell the Fitbit I was going to bed so it could start tracking my sleep I had to open the app tap on the More tab tap on the third option down Sleep then tap on a sign next to a bar labeled Logged Sleep before I was presented with the option Begin Sleep Now This should have been possible with a lot fewer taps ideally directly from the home page It was certainly much more laborious than telling the Jawbone Up you re going to sleep for example which can be accomplished with a simple tap on the device without the need to open the app at all Value of Information OOOO The Fitbit captures a good amount of data for you and can track even more if you take the time to enter data about your meals your weight and other such information such as the amount of water you drink every day If you inpu
66. tive and easy to use As soon as you open the app it syncs with your device and displays how far you ve progressed in your goals for the day For instance if I d walked only 5 000 steps out of my goal of 10 000 the bar measuring those steps would appear in yellow instead of green The Force app also gave me some positive reinforcement sending push notifications that encouraged me to keep going if I was within striking distance of my goals for the day The band s vibration feature alerted me when I reached my step goal for the day All in all it s a nice system that kept me checking in on my progress throughout the day The watch feature was particularly useful because whenever I glanced at the Force to see the time I usually ended up scrolling through the tracking metrics just to see if I was on target for my day If I wasn t the lack of progress sometimes convinced me to take a walk around the block or do something else active to raise my scores Value of Information 0ODO The amount of information the Force could collect impressed me For example unlike other trackers the Force can measure how many flights of stairs you climb each day However the stair tracker wasn t always accurate it counted a few more flights of stairs than I actually climbed most days a Slivescience The Force gave me default goals to reach every day after I put my weight height age and other information into the app but I m not sure
67. track the Fuel points you earn during a specific activity like an afternoon run as well as the duration of the activity The SE also tracks your FPM during a session but does not explain what this abbreviation means I eventually discovered that it stands for Fuel points per minute The device syncs wirelessly with the Nike FuelBand app but if you want to sync it with your computer you have to connect it directly through the provided USB cable I experienced one problem with connectivity while using the SE After initially connecting the device to my computer I was not able to transfer the data from a Slivescience the device to my Nike Account An error message told me that there was an Error returned from Nike I had to reset the device which fixed the connection but I lost the data I had not uploaded Value of Information 0OD0O Nike Fuel points are a nice way to compare your day s activity with other people s But Nike does not explain how the points are calculated other than to say that more movement equals more points so they have little meaning outside the Nike world Nike also says it recently updated its algorithm to measure activity more accurately providing more Fuel points for high intensity activities like running and fewer points for low intensity activities like typing at your desk The default daily goal is 2 000 Fuel points a day but it s up to users to decide how much acti
68. vity they should aim for and Nike does not explain how much activity you need to be healthy For comparison the Withings Pulse tells users that the World Health Organization recommends 150 minutes of activity per week I found that for me 5 000 steps were roughly equal to 1 000 Fuel points Although you can track the duration of your sleep by creating a session for it the SE does not provide sleep analysis If you re looking for more information about your sleep like an estimate of how many times you woke up you d have to go with another device Enjoyment Inspiration 000 Like the original FuelBand the SE has a bunch of features intended to motivate you to get active A new feature is the ability to set reminders during the day to prompt you to move To remind you the screen will flash GO and your name as well as a line of lights However I didn t always look at the screen especially if I was sitting down and working so I sometimes missed these reminders The hours won feature did make me realize how little I moved during the day I typically won just one or two hours meaning that although I had some spurts of activity I was mostly sedentary Your Nike account prompts you to connect with friends so you can compare activity which may be fun if you have a competitive streak Die Slivescience You ll also get notifications if you improve such as You had a record breaking Thursday
69. was defective and the company was quick to send me a new Orb I later realized that I might not have exited Sleep Mode correctly after waking up and this may have been the source of the problem You need to press the button again when you wake and hold it down until the light flashes But should neglecting to do this really allow the device to lose all the sleep data from the night before Value of Information The Fitbug excels at providing meaning to the information it tracks Through your Fitbug account which you create during setup you can take a health assessment questionnaire which asks about your diet water and alcohol intake and stress level as well as other questions Fitbug tells you not only whether your habits are in line with recommendations but also what you can do to improve For example I was very honest and told Fitbug I eat only about two servings of fruit and vegetables daily Fitbug told me the recommended level is nine to 13 portions and that eating more fruit and vegetables can reduce my risk of stroke and heart disease The app also suggested Start off by adding at least one extra portion a day to your diet and provided a link to Fitbug s recipe book Fitbug does not give you an activity goal right away it waits until you ve been using the device for a week Then it will provide you with a personal target for total steps aerobic steps and calorie intake It recommends you try to m
70. wear it when taking a shower it is not fully water resistant This means you can t use it while swimming It is also probably not the tracker you d want to take with you to the beach next summer User Friendliness H000 I found learning to use the UP24 fairly straightforward and easy The first time you use the app it walks you through simple instructions and asks you basic questions about yourself The wristband itself has only one button at one of its ends with which you can put the device in day or night mode The UP24 has Bluetooth capability and automatically connects and syncs with the app which is a big improvement over the original UP But unlike some other trackers for example the Nike Fuelband and the Basis tracker the UP24 doesn t include a screen which means you need to open the app on your phone whenever you want to check your steps But once you have the app up the most important information is right there You can see how many steps you ve taken and how far you are in your goal for exercising today With one tap you can enter more detailed sections and see how many calories you ve burned or how long you ve been inactive Similarly with one tap from the main page you can enter the food section and log in the lunch you just had Value of Information 0ODO Die Slivescience The UP24 monitors your physical activity during the day and gives a ballpark estimate of your sleep quality at night

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