Band 2 Bugs + Defects

[HSolo]

I am having similar issues with HR on the road bike. (Band 1 did the same thing and I returned it) HR spikes to about 170 after 4-5 minutes and then stays there most of the time. My actual HR is about 110 max. As soon as I shut off the app and view the HR on the me tile, it is normal. Running 8.1 on the Lumia Icon.

I can confirm this with me too. Went on a 10 mile run last night, and the Band 1 would have my heart rate a fair bit lower than what is registered last night on the Band 2. To the point where it said my workout was "Strenuous". I have NEVER had a "Strenuous" before, and the run was a fast but easy run, and I felt a lot better after this run than I feel after other runs that have been marked as "Improving".

 

[bulls96]

I've had it completely stop functioning once and thought it was going to have to be brought back. I plugged it into the charger and it booted back up and said that it ran out of battery, but I had charged it to 99% just 6 hours earlier and it was already at 85% after it booted back up. If that happens and it thinks I ran out of battery in the middle of the day when I really didn't and I have no way to plug it back into the charger until I get home again that will really suck. I've also found that it still has major issues with windows 10 mobile: text messages show up multiple times, sometimes it takes 5-10 mins to receive notifications from the phone to the Band, using the speech to respond to texts (which I think uses Cortana) does not work at all for me, the Microsoft Health app takes close to a full minute to sync with the Band, etc.

Had the same issue with the battery this morning. 81% right after I plug it in.

 

[Babs75]

So I've really been thinking about getting one of these bands as a Christmas gift to myself but with all the problems I'm seeing, I'm having second thoughts. How many of these defects can be corrected through software updates? Or is the problem actually a hardware issue?

 

[HSolo]

So I've really been thinking about getting one of these bands as a Christmas gift to myself but with all the problems I'm seeing, I'm having second thoughts. How many of these defects can be corrected through software updates? Or is the problem actually a hardware issue?

Ha! Okay, let me try to put MY opinion on this:
Almost everyone who has a new Band 2 would fall into the category of "early adopter". These types of people are generally (relatively) tech savvy, know exactly what they want, and are more inclined to demand perfection from their devices. Take me for example:
Am I absolutely happy with the fit of the Band 2 on my arm? Yes. Could it be even better? Yes.
Did I like the Band 1? Yes. Is the Band 2 better? Yes. Is it perfect? No.....no device can ever be perfect for people like me.
Are there some differences between how the steps / heart-rate / UV / (insert whatever here) between Band 1 and Band 2? Yes. Are these because the Band 2 is worse or better at tracking this info? No-one really knows.....just comparing what we see.
Is battery life better / worse? Battery life still has to settle down and tends to get better after a few charges.
Will the Band 2's measuring of steps / heart-rate / etc get better as it gets used to the individual's use? Probably.
Can all of these issues (fitments aside) be changed (weary of using the word "fixed"....see above) via firmware updates? Absolutely.
Should you get a Band 2? If you are interested in a fitness tracker, that also allows email, text, and other integration? In my opinion there is no better option available in the market, and for all people's "complaints", they are more "discussion points" that early adopters like to have to compare results, and help improve devices.
My opinions, anyway.....

 

[Babs75]

lol.. Thanks HSolo. I'm planning on getting the Lumia 950XL when it comes out to replace my older LG Optimus Pro G (yep, moving away from Android for awhile. I'm really interested in the Windows phones. I like what I'm seeing) so I thought the Band would be a nice addition. I work out 4-5 times a week and hoping this will work with all the Zumba I do. Maybe it will inspire me to attend more spinning classes. I also like the idea of not having to continually pull my phone from my purse to check for emails and texts. I will enjoy changing the color scheme to match what I'm wearing. And will be interested to monitor my sleep habits. Yeah, hoping the bugs get worked out over time.

 

[Nate Silver]

I am a bit concerned about the hr sensor. So far I have only one cycle trainer session to go on, but for about the first 8 minutes, the Bands hr reading was running 30 to 40 bpm high compared to my chest strap. After that, it appeared to settle down, and tracked within a beat or two of the strap for the next 40 minutes or so, including the test section (it was a 60 minute total-20 minute ftp test). During the cool-down at the end of the activity, once again it stayed up 30 to 40 bpm too high for about 5 minutes, then settled back down and tracked pretty close to the strap until the end. The strap's graph indicates a slow and steady ramp-up of hr for the warm-up, which is expected. The Band quickly jumped up within seconds. Again, during cool-down, the strap recorded a slow and steady decline, whereas the Band held up high, then suddenly dropped to something more believable. It seems to me to be related specifically to how the sensor reacts to increase or decrease in HR. Although, there were a couple of intervals leading up to the ftp test, and it seemed to react reasonably well to them. Hopefully this will be fine-tuned with a firmware update shortly.

Another thing. Although the activity synced to the app almost immediately, it has been almost three hours since the workout, and it still doesn't show up on the web portal. Not sure what's up with that, or if it has anything to do with Band 2 vs. Band 1. Could well be a site problem totally unrelated to Band 1, but I don't remember it ever happening when I was using Band 1.

 

[insight3fl]

I am a bit concerned about the hr sensor. So far I have only one cycle trainer session to go on, but for about the first 8 minutes, the Bands hr reading was running 30 to 40 bpm high compared to my chest strap. After that, it appeared to settle down, and tracked within a beat or two of the strap for the next 40 minutes or so, including the test section (it was a 60 minute total-20 minute ftp test). During the cool-down at the end of the activity, once again it stayed up 30 to 40 bpm too high for about 5 minutes, then settled back down and tracked pretty close to the strap until the end. The strap's graph indicates a slow and steady ramp-up of hr for the warm-up, which is expected. The Band quickly jumped up within seconds. Again, during cool-down, the strap recorded a slow and steady decline, whereas the Band held up high, then suddenly dropped to something more believable. It seems to me to be related specifically to how the sensor reacts to increase or decrease in HR. Although, there were a couple of intervals leading up to the ftp test, and it seemed to react reasonably well to them. Hopefully this will be fine-tuned with a firmware update shortly.

Another thing. Although the activity synced to the app almost immediately, it has been almost three hours since the workout, and it still doesn't show up on the web portal. Not sure what's up with that, or if it has anything to do with Band 2 vs. Band 1. Could well be a site problem totally unrelated to Band 1, but I don't remember it ever happening when I was using Band 1.

I continue to have the same issues with the HR spiking from 105 BPM to 170 BPM and getting stuck there. It may happen after 5 minutes or after 15 minutes. No pattern yet. Thought it was sweat, certain arm, inside vs outside and how tight. All of these variables have produced the same result the past three days. The odd thing is, when I shut down the bike app (I even tried the run app while biking and same problem) and view the HR on the me tile, it almost immediately goes back to normal. When I quickly restart the bike app again, it spikes back up and once again shutting down the app it goes back to normal. This also was tested during my workout at the gym. It started to spike up and I shut down the app and it went back to normal. It sure seems it has something to do with the software as much as the hardware. Any other feedback on this is much appreciated. I am going to hope that over the next few days it evens out (perhaps as another poster suggested, it may take "breaking in" to get used to your patterns. I returned the Band 1 after 14 days for this same problem. Biking is my main fitness activity and if it does now work for that on the HR, then I can just use a bike app on my phone for everything else. The HR function is important.

 

[anon(9312357)]

I haven't had the opportunity yet to go biking but my last elliptical exercises are pretty bad with the HR tracking. The first time Monday night the average was about 45 way too much and tonight's was about 25 way to much on the average. Better but I never had this problem with the original band and it really has me concerned right now.

Syncing takes a very long time as well and not sure if that has anything to do with the technical preview or not. I also had an issue that the app was showing a much lower total than what the band was showing. I figured out that once I turned off the motion settings on the phone I'm not having that problem. I never had this issue with the original band though.

I am also seeing a problem with tracking steps as it seems way off from what the Band 1 tracked and what my Fitbit is giving me. I just might wear all 3 tomorrow to get a better idea but I have seen others saying they are seeing issues. Sometimes I walk around my house and I get zero steps or around the office.

 

[partiallypro]

I've had it completely stop functioning once and thought it was going to have to be brought back. I plugged it into the charger and it booted back up and said that it ran out of battery, but I had charged it to 99% just 6 hours earlier and it was already at 85% after it booted back up. If that happens and it thinks I ran out of battery in the middle of the day when I really didn't and I have no way to plug it back into the charger until I get home again that will really suck. I've also found that it still has major issues with windows 10 mobile: text messages show up multiple times, sometimes it takes 5-10 mins to receive notifications from the phone to the Band, using the speech to respond to texts (which I think uses Cortana) does not work at all for me, the Microsoft Health app takes close to a full minute to sync with the Band, etc.

Exact same thing happened to me today, turned on as soon as I hooked it up to its charger, it prompted me to input the time and date because the battery depleted.... but it still had ~80% left. I skipped my workout because of it though . I was slightly hoping it was just bricked so I could get a new one (mine already has scratches on the screen and I don't even know where they came from.)

 

[driedl]

I used an elliptical yesterday and my heart rate spiked about 40 BPM high and stayed there. Since getting my Band 2 I've gone for a GPS run, a treadmill walk and a row on an erg. Those activities showed a HR consistent with band 1 so I was surprised when the elliptical was crazy high. I didn't have that problem on an elliptical with B1 so I'm not sure why B2 is so confused. I'm sure it can be addressed with a software update.

 

[BlueCube4]

I too have the issue with the Band 2 registering a too high heart rate.

I have a treadmill that displays my heart rate based on input from: across one hand (split metal handle), across left to right hand, and a chest strap. So I get a fairly accurate HR reading when I am holding on the handles and walking fast on an incline (all three inputs have a weighted average on the HR calculation). When I run, the HR reading is from the chest strap only (not holding onto the handles).

I also have been wearing a FitBit Surge all year. I find the Surge' HR to be fairly close to the treadmill's HR. The Surge does have issues when I first start warming up and when I start sweating heavily. The warm up issue, I believe, is due to my aging heart value (some back flow that throws off the optical blood motion sensing), and occasional A-fib that causes my heart to beat too fast (but slows down to normal once I warm up).

Past four days I have the Band 2 on my left wrist and the Surge on the right. The heart rate of the Band 2 is way too high. Last night, about 5 minutes into my treadmill walk/run, the Band was showing a HR of 180 while the Surge and treadmill were at 90. After the workout the Band showed a starting HR 70 and ramping up 145 in five minutes. The HR then slowly drifted up to a peak of 183. I did not see the 180 reading at the 5 minute mark like I saw on the watch face. Now did I see the HR change appropriately to the treadmill's incline and speed settings; it just basically stayed in an oscillating 145-180 range.

The Surge had the same starting HR (70) and the HR tracked accurately the transition from walking up a 15 degree incline, to running slow at 2 degrees incline, followed by a steady increase in speed. The peak HR for the Surge was 145 (fairly close to the treadmill reading).

 

[insight3fl]

I too have the issue with the Band 2 registering a too high heart rate.

I have a treadmill that displays my heart rate based on input from: across one hand (split metal handle), across left to right hand, and a chest strap. So I get a fairly HR reading when I am holding on the handles and walking fast on an incline (all three inputs have a weighted average on the HR calculation). When I run, the HR reading is from the chest strap only (not holding onto the handles).

I also have been wearing a FitBit Surge all year. I find the Surge' HR to be fairly close to the treadmill's HR. The Surge does have issues when I first start warming up and when I start sweating heavily. The warm up issue, I believe, is due to my aging heart value (some back flow that throws off the optical blood motion sensing), and occasional A-fib that causes my heart to beat too fast (but slows down to normal once I warm up).

Past four days I have the Band 2 on my left wrist and the Surge on the right. The heart rate of the Band 2 is way too high. Last night, about 5 minutes into my treadmill walk/run, the Band was showing a HR of 180 while the Surge and treadmill were at 90. After the workout the Band showed a starting HR 70 and ramping up 145 in five minutes. The HR then slowly drifted up to a peak of 183. I did not see the 180 reading at the 5 minute mark like I saw on the watch face. Now did I see the HR change appropriately to the treadmill's incline and speed settings; it just basically stayed in an oscillating 145-180 range.

The Surge had the same starting HR (70) and the HR tracked accurately the transition from walking up a 15 degree incline, to running slow at 2 degrees incline, followed by a steady increase in speed. The peak HR for the Surge was 145 (fairly close to the treadmill reading).

Looks like too many people are having this same issue that I had also with Band 1. I took mine to the Aventura Mall (Miami- nearest store to me over 110 miles but I was there on business today) store today to show them my issue with the HR and the low vibration action (even on high) The demo models don't have a setting for trying the vibration so they just gave me a new one. Seems just like the old... very weak

On the HR issue, they did not have a clue. One of the sales people I spoke with was wearing one and does a fair amount of cycling and he says he has not experienced the problem yet. Perhaps it is just a few of us. But I still don't understand why when shutting down he run or bike app it goes back to a normal ready on the me tile. I will try the new one in the morning on my next ride

 

[Nate Silver]

I've been trying to compare the charts from the Band 2 and the Garmin monitor from that cycling activity I mentioned earlier. Was interested to note that although the graphs look quite different, the overall results compare quite closely. The Band reported a peak HR of 154 bpm, while the Garmin reported a peak of 158. Average HR on the Band was 134 bpm, while the Garmin reported an average of 127. Not that much difference, when you consider how radically different the two graphs appear. I'm not at all sure whether what I'm seeing is a true 'apples to apples' comparison, due to differences in the manner in which the charts are constructed and displayed. Too bad it isn't possible to export a .fit or .tcx file from MS Health so that you could view the results on a common platform.

Also, going strictly from recollection, the graph for the Band does not appear to contain readings as high as what I recall seeing on the Band's screen at the time. Makes me wonder whether there is some 'smoothing' or 'massaging' of the raw data going on there.

I think the calorie burn is exaggerated as well. 744 calories burned for a one hour trainer session - which while admittedly fairly strenuous, still contained close to 30 minutes of easy spinning - seems pretty optimistic. My Garmin reported it as 484 calories. Given the choice, I'd love to take the 744, but I think 484 is more realistic.

 

[DroidUser42]

Also, going strictly from recollection, the graph for the Band does not appear to contain readings as high as what I recall seeing on the Band's screen at the time. Makes me wonder whether there is some 'smoothing' or 'massaging' of the raw data going on there.

Were those high readings "unlocked" (hollow heart)? If so, they weren't saved.

I think the calorie burn is exaggerated as well. 744 calories burned for a one hour trainer session - which while admittedly fairly strenuous, still contained close to 30 minutes of easy spinning - seems pretty optimistic. My Garmin reported it as 484 calories. Given the choice, I'd love to take the 744, but I think 484 is more realistic.

I'm pretty sure that calorie is a function of HR. If HR is off, calorie will be as well.

 

[Mark Kaplan]

Bugs/Issues I've had so far:
1) Display non-responsive while charging
2) After getting a full charge, the unit resets some local settings such as time to 24hr mode
3) Battery life is only lasting around 2 days tops. Just charging during my shower is not long enough to reach full charge. By the 2nd day I need to leave it overnight on the charger.
4) Alerts come over delayed. I will get a notice of an incoming call minutes after its ended.

Other than the lack of apps that work on Band 2 with Windows 10, I like the new unit. Also really like the new AP tile. I do not use it as a fitness tracker.

 

[insight3fl]

Perhaps the reason for the HR problems is a new integration of the GSR for supplementing the HR readings while excercising. Over on the Microsoft forums one of our posters here mentioned that you can get a lock on the HR by just bridging the GSR taps (It works) and not using the optical sensor. It looks like they may be using that during exercise along with the optical to save battery life since they are sampling every second with exercise and much longer duration with the watch idle. It may be the moisture on the skin that is throwing it off then as it usually doe not start to jump around until I start to sweat.

 

[insight3fl]

New band, same HR problem. (see image) HR spikes within the first 10 minutes. Maybe it is the shape of my arm, or the composition of my sweat, but it is not the specific band (Two Band 2 one Band 1) When I stopped and dried off my arm and the band it recovered for a few minutes then eventually spiked again. Not sure if this is like stopping the app which also restores the normal HR reading or sweat thing. Either way, they have to have designed this thing to allow you to sweat! Without HR, as a fitness tracker it is useless. I am going to give it next week without looking at it constantly and see the overall results. I hope there is a software fix otherwise I have to give up on it.

 

[HSolo]

Two runs within 20 days of each other. One recorded on Band 1, other on Band 2. Same course, same distance, almost exact same duration (within 2 seconds). Same time and weather (temp). Quite a difference in heart rate. Maybe Band 2 is more accurate? Maybe Band 1? I don't have another device to compare these with, but they are markedly different.

 

[insight3fl]

My normal HR when riding every morning runs from 90-115 and if I push it 125 max. You can see the chart that the low points are my normal HR. The other high points are the 50 BPM surge that happens everytime I work out with the band. Run, Bike, even the workout tile when my HR gets above 100 and I sweat, it spikes and with the run and bike app, it stays there for quite a long time. Why shutting down the app or taking the band off my wrist for a few minutes restores it tells me it has something to do with the software and the combination of the various sensors used by the fitness apps. Monitoring my HR with no fitness app running it never goes above normal. Tomorrow I am going to leave the band on no app, ride my bike and use the band senor monitor on my phone to watch it and see it spikes without having any fitness app running. And as a side note, when I had this problem with Band 1 I ran it simultaneously with my timex chest strap monitor and the chest strap was normal the entire time.

 

[DLong4]

Latest W10 build and not getting texts.

Same here. Notifications are listed okay, but I need to drill in to see them, as they don't pop up. I just now ran a test call to my cell. The Band2 popped up with an alert on who was calling a couple of minutes after the test. But texts never to do pop up.