Activity Bracelets – Part 3

Activity Bracelets – Part 3

Xiaomi Mi Band 3

The Mi Band 3 is the second most expensive of the bracelets, but the feeling is that Xiaomi used those few euros well.

The wristband has a secure clasp and feels good on the wrist, easy to adjust. Replacement wristbands in different colors and materials are available from Xiaomi and others.

The display unit is not as thick as the BFH-16 and more rounded. The display is a real touch display and aside from pressing it also uses swipe gestures in its interface.

This bracelet is more aimed towards exercise than the previous three and can track different training activities besides walking.

The phone app is required to get started with the Mi Band 3, but after initial setup it works well without connection. The app tracks sleep and training statistics and contains configuration for the user and for which app-notifications to show on the band, you can choose from all apps installed on your phone. The app looks nice and have real functionality (unlike the Denver bands which is more of a configuration and data display) but at least the Swedish translation is so bad it sometimes is hilarious.

Of the rechargeable bands this has the absolute best battery lifetime, up to a month on a single charge.

It is marked waterproof (IP67) and like the BFH-16 it cannot withstand pool water, after a swim we noted some condensation on the inside of the screen. It vanished after a day and the functionality was never affected.

Scores:

• Wrist band – 5 (fits well and feels secure, replaceable)
• Display unit – 4 (waterproof to minimum standard, color display, intuitive touch UI)
• Battery – 5 (up to 30 days between charges)
• Features – 3

Samsung Fit-e

Samsung maybe made the Fit-e to ride on the name of the more expensive Samsung Fit but is in no way comparable feature wise. The Fit-e is the same type of relatively cheap activity bracelet as all the others tested.

The band requires a paired phone to activate and complains (vibrates every five minutes) whenever the phone is outside of Bluetooth reach, which is quite annoying. The app is primarily used for configuration of the band, and the data is then used in the Samsung Health app, which is a high-end training app with lots of functionality.

Even though Samsung states that the band works equally well with non-Samsung phones and iPhone we were unable to pair it with a Huawei Y6 phone. Googling shows that this isn’t uncommon with Samsung wearables.

The wristband is nice and feels secure even though it is light and thin. It is marked as waterproof and the product images shows its usage in swimming pools, and we haven’t seen any problems with that either.

The display has no buttons and no touchscreen, instead is uses the accelerometer to sense tapping on the display. This makes the user interface quite sparse, you can activate the screen, and move among the configured sub screens, nothing more.

You can configure which sub screens to show in the app, for example the heart rate monitor or weather. If the heart rate monitoring screen is setup, it checks your heartrate almost continuously which uses a large amount of battery.

The Fit-e can receive notifications from all apps on your mobile (configurable which) but if you miss the notification you cannot look at it again on the bracelet which is possible on the Mi Band and the BFH-16.

Scores:

• Wrist band – 4 (fits well and feels secure)
• Display unit – 3 (waterproof, also in the pool, black/white display, simple UI)
• Battery – 3 (up to 5 days between charges, heart rate monitor drains battery)
• Features – 2

Conclusion

Besides testing the bracelets one at a time we also did some parallel testing by wearing two different bracelets on the same arm for a period. The tests showed clearly that different activities were recorded differently regarding the counting of steps.

The Fit-e compared to the Mi Band showed that the Mi Band didn’t count single steps or very short walks while the Fit-e recorded even some shakings that wasn’t real steps. 

The Viviofit Jr compared to the Fit-e showed that the direction of movement mattered also, where the Vivofit Jr. measured more steps when jumping on a trampoline and fewer on walking longer stretches them the Fit-e.

The recommendation from me is to buy the Mi Band 3 for everyone with enough wrist size and the Vivofit Jr. to smaller children. If you are looking for the cheapest alternative, or specifically needs the blood pressure measurement, go for the BFH-16.

Activity Bracelets – Part 2

Activity Bracelets – Part 2

Denver BFH-15

This was the one of the two cheapest of the bracelets, which also was noticeable in different ways. The wristband clasp broke after three weeks of usage, the bracelet is the only one not specified watertight (IP67), just water resistant (IP65). Furthermore, this has the fewest functions of the tested bracelets.

On the positive, this bracelet is the lightest (11 grams) and smallest. It also doesn’t require a mobile phone to set up and use. Battery life is decent, lasts about a week if heat rate monitoring isn’t used too frequently.

As all the bracelets, the BFH-15 counts your steps and translates them to distance and calories burnt. It can also vibrate on incoming calls and display (part of) SMS text messages.

The heart rate can be checked by pressing the button on the display or by triggering via the accompanying mobile app.

Scores:

• Wrist band – 2 (Clasp broke and didn’t feel secure before either)
• Display unit – 3 (not waterproof, black/white, small)
• Battery – 3 (one week between charges at best)
• Features – 2

Denver BFH-16

This bracelet is somewhat like an older cousin to the BFH-15, quite similar in functions with small improvements. The price was almost the same and the quality feels the same. The clasp broke on this wristband too, but it could be repaired with the same type of spring-pin as most wristwatch clasps use.

It is rated waterproof but didn’t handle chlorinated water, like in most swimming pools, which is correct according to the rating (IP67) but not clearly stated. It dried out in a day and seems to have suffered no sustainable damage.

The BFH-16 has a color screen, which improves the visibility. Furthermore, it can measure your blood pressure and blood oxygen saturation. The sensor seems surprisingly correct when compared to a semi-professional blood pressure meter.

The accompanying app can keep track of your sleep status and you can set up notifications from a couple of well-known social media services in addition to text-messages and call notification.

Scores:

• Wrist band – 3 (clasp broke but works well and feels secure after repair)
• Display unit – 3 (waterproof to minimum standard, color display, quite “thick”)
• Battery – 2 (4-5 days between charges at best, blood pressure sensing drains battery)
• Features – 4

Activity Bracelets – Part 1

Activity Bracelets – Part 1

I’ve recently had the opportunity to try out several low-priced activity bracelets. The prices range from 30 to 80 euro (equal in USD). The bracelets where used for three months round the clock, except for some not fully waterproof which had to be taken off during showers and swims.

The bracelets have been used by different users in my family, primarily as pedometers to measure daily activity.

All bracelets have step tracking as their primary function, but they all have different additional functions like timers, calorie counting, hart rate monitoring etc. Via the accelerometer all bracelets except the BFH-15 can track your sleep, with varying results…

Garmin Vivofit jr.

This bracelet is designed especially for kids and the wristband is made of soft silicone without a clasp. The single size means it may be too tight on a larger wrist. The fit has been good and not tight at all on a 9-year-old girl. The band is replaceable and available in a variety of colors.

Functions other than step-tracking is timer and stopwatch. With an accompanying parent phone app, it is possible to reward the child with points for different activities. The app is available for both IOS and Android. Data is synchronized with the cloud and the bracelet can be connected to both the child and the parent’s phones.

The quality appears good. The display has got a couple of small scratches, but nothing serious. Water resistance works as promised and have been used a lot when swimming and diving in the pool.

The battery is supposed to last for a year, and nothing so far is telling anything different.

The rewarding function was initially the big reason to buy this bracelet but have almost not been used at all. It is a completely manual procedure; the parent sets the goal in the app and sets a reward in points, and then tells the child about this. The child then reaches the goal and tells the parent which marks the goal as completed in the app and the points is awarded and visible on the display. My child lost interest in a couple of days.

Scores:

• Wristband – 4 (good quality, safe fit, only one size, replaceable)
• Display unit – 4 (waterproof, easy use, black/white)
• Battery – 5 (no charging needed, replace battery once every year)
• Features – 2