Disclosure: In partnership with Women's Health as a WH Action Hero, I received a complimentary Microsoft Band for review purposes. As always all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Now that I’ve made some big fall race decisions and have new fitness aspirations, it’s time to
get motivated. I’m always looking for ways to keep living happier and healthier
while getting involved in bigger and better things. As a busy person, I’m also always looking for
things that can help me do that. With the school semester winding down (thank God) and a light summer class load (thank God again), I have more time to get into a really solid routine and focus a little more on getting stronger.
I was lucky enough to get to try out another new fancy fitness band, this
time the new Microsoft Band, thanks to my partnership as a Women’s Health Action Hero.
While I’m not a huge numbers person I do find that casually knowing my steps
and being reminded to move on more sedentary days can help. Also the sleep
trackers on fitness devices is a great reminder of how much my body actually
needs more sleep which leads to stronger fitness and better overall
productivity. Getting better sleep is pretty much always a work in progress for me, le sigh.
Out of the box, the new Microsoft Band was
really easy to use and figure out, which is a huge plus. The Microsoft Band itself comes with a
USB charging cable and a paper manual and quick start guide. It's a little bulky but fairly comfortable to wear.
Using the Microsoft style of tiles took a little getting used to but
merely because I had never used it before on their phone or OS interface. It was easily to configure what tiles you
wanted in what order to display on your band as well as change the
settings. You can also customize the home screen color and design; I chose a blue patterned screen. You can tap or swipe the home screen
to get information. Tapping lets you look at metrics like steps.
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| Home screen with step count |
I found the step and floor count comparable to
other devices, based on what they usually tell me my average is. I think they
are all slightly inaccurate, so I don’t focus on it too much, but I do like to
compare my daily averages to each other sometimes.
Here are my thoughts on some of the Microsoft Band's features:
Features Overview
Heart Rate Monitor
I don’t find the HR sensor on the
wrist as accurate as the chest band, in general. For basic HR though, this device was fine. It has an optical HR sensor on the inside of the device with two little LED green lights that supposedly read blood-flow in your wrist and determine your heart rate continuously throughout the day.
Microsoft Health App
Their app gives you all the basic health & fitness metrics you
want. I accessed this app on my Android™ phone, but it also works with the Windows Phone and iPhone®. The Microsoft Band can also connect to other for those only delivers basic data.
Run and Exercise
Tracking
Obviously, this was one of the biggest
tests for me since I usually use a Garmin watch (and not my phone) to track runs.
I also used this to track my heart rate and calorie burn during a Yoga Sculpt
class and a couple lifting sessions. During runs, I was surprised how much I liked it. I simply turned on my GPS if I was outside, tapped on the "running
man" icon, and pressed the bottom button to start the run. I turned off the
screen during runs to save battery, besides periodically checking my distance
or pace.
The Microsoft Band has really nice functionality and statistics for workouts. You can download guided workouts, although I haven't used that feature.
Phone Stuff
Like smart watches, you can receive basic information from
your phone, such as text messages, calls, emails and calendar, if you set it up.
I found it burned the battery more, so I just had text and calls synced with my phone’s Bluetooth.
GPS and Zzzzs
GPS during runs seemed surprisingly accurate and didn’t take
long to connect in the city.It also tracks sleep
automatically-without having to turn on it on-which was a big plus.
Overview
You can only have a
certain number of tiles or apps on the band, which was a little annoying. The battery lasted about two days which is
comparable to my FitBit. I thought it was pretty for solid day-to-day use and a
nice alternative to other fitness trackers and smart watches.
Overall I think the Microsoft Band is a nice mid-range functionality-wise device that I can see myself wearing on a regular basis for daily tracking or workouts.
Do you use a fitness tracker? What's the most motivating feature for you?
