I have had the MS Band for a week so far and been wearing it 24/7 (except for charging). I really like it, but do feel it has some accuracy issues that I hope will be resolved soon with a firmware update. I posted another thread comparing it to my old go to device the Polar Loop - so you can see the issues there. I was going to compare it to my old Basis B1 (and may still), but saw that the Peak was released earlier this week. Basis was purchased by Intel earlier in the year and the announcement of the new Peak look(ed) promising. I really liked the Basis B1 - even thought it was lacking some functionality (hey it was Gen 1) - and even beta tested some advanced features for Basis on the B1.
So when I heard the Peak was out I ran out and bought one on Tuesday and thought I would try it head to head.
I'll start with the positives for the Peak.
Comfortable to wear
Initial Set-up was easy
Long battery life
Water Proof (not tested)
It is available to buy (sarcasm alert - as opposed to some of the other yet to be released devices that people are comparing the Band to)
(that was short)
CONS:
This does not feel like a Gen 3 device at all. As a matter of fact for the first day there was no documentation available at all - not included with the product and not on the support web site.
Touch display does not respond as well as I would hope
Tracking a 'workout' that is other than running or biking still does not exist (complaint with the B1)
No basic watch features (alarm, stopwatch) - another complaint with the B1
Sleep tracking is still fragmented (it shows 5 sleep sessions for last night) - another complaint with the B1
No alert notifications from phone (understood it was not an out of the box functionality - but then don't put it on the dummy display sticker)
Connection to phone VERY bad - this was the deal killer for me - when it would lose bluetooth connection it would not reconnect no matter what I did. I needed to uninstall the app, reinstall and go through the set-up to get it to reconnect. It would stay reconnected until I moved out of range again.
I returned the Peak this morning. I really wanted to like it (based upon my history with the company) but it made me realize how much work (and thought) went to the band to get so much right with a Gen 1 device. IMHO the real test for MS will be to see how they tweak the firmware to improve accuracy and feature/function in the near term.
So when I heard the Peak was out I ran out and bought one on Tuesday and thought I would try it head to head.
I'll start with the positives for the Peak.
Comfortable to wear
Initial Set-up was easy
Long battery life
Water Proof (not tested)
It is available to buy (sarcasm alert - as opposed to some of the other yet to be released devices that people are comparing the Band to)
(that was short)
CONS:
This does not feel like a Gen 3 device at all. As a matter of fact for the first day there was no documentation available at all - not included with the product and not on the support web site.
Touch display does not respond as well as I would hope
Tracking a 'workout' that is other than running or biking still does not exist (complaint with the B1)
No basic watch features (alarm, stopwatch) - another complaint with the B1
Sleep tracking is still fragmented (it shows 5 sleep sessions for last night) - another complaint with the B1
No alert notifications from phone (understood it was not an out of the box functionality - but then don't put it on the dummy display sticker)
Connection to phone VERY bad - this was the deal killer for me - when it would lose bluetooth connection it would not reconnect no matter what I did. I needed to uninstall the app, reinstall and go through the set-up to get it to reconnect. It would stay reconnected until I moved out of range again.
I returned the Peak this morning. I really wanted to like it (based upon my history with the company) but it made me realize how much work (and thought) went to the band to get so much right with a Gen 1 device. IMHO the real test for MS will be to see how they tweak the firmware to improve accuracy and feature/function in the near term.
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