Band User Reviews

[Dadstar0410]

How good is the Band for playing sports? I don't work out too often, but I play Ultimate very often (~4 times a week) and I was thinking if I get one I would use it for that.

 

[surfacedude]

so far i'm deeply impressed. i think microsoft really nailed it. i wouldn't say it's perfect, but nothing is. we'll see how it holds up over the coming weeks and months

 

[shawncade]

The heart rate function is very inaccurate, at least for me. When compared against a Polar it is off by 20 to 40 beats. I wore both several times to compare. I know the Polar is accurate, I wore it during a stress test to compare.

Just moving my wrist causes the Band to consistently loose the HR lock. Hopefully Microsoft can improve the HR functionality, unless my Band is faulty and I doubt it, Microsoft has an issue with this sensor and algorithm.

If you care about heart rate I would not buy the Band, at least not yet.

 

[Yaggs1]

I have been a long time user of the Nike+ line of products... right from the start with the chip in your shoe all the way up to the Nike + GPS SportsWatch and the current Nike+ Fuel Band. I picked up a MS Band the day they came out and here are my initial impressions:

1.) Although people have said in reviews that this thing is big and bulky and annoying I don't share those opinions AT ALL... I previously had a Nike Fuel Band XL without any extender in it (the Fuel Band users a small about quarter inch add in piece that you have to attach to the band to make it bigger or adjust it all) and it never fit right... the Large with the extender was a little too tight and the XL without was a little to loose... so I used the XL and it was a pain all day... sliding up and down my arm, getting stuck lower on my wrist when doing pushups or other exercises when my hands where on the floor... just all around never really fit right. I am 6'2" though... right off the bat the MS Band is 100% more comfortable... I hardly even notice it is there... being able to adjust the size of the band with the clasp is a huge deal and it makes it so I can adjust it to fit perfectly.

2.) As you can see in the picture attached... it is really not any bigger than the Fuel Band that I was using... and it MUCH smaller than the Nike + GPS watch I used for actual running. And what always sucked was the fact that I might have just worn the SportsWatch all the time but it didn't track fuel points (kind of like steps, etc... just a daily goal type thing) so I was always stuck with 2 devices.

3.) I have used the MS Band for a GPS run and it really connected to GPS quicker than my Nike GPS watch and the tracking of the run was spot on... no issues with accuracy.

4.) It looks like the step counts are pretty good... I don't know for sure because my fuel band didn't really track steps... it was more like an arbitrary fitness point count... but on average when I am fairly active I am getting over 10K steps per day which is what I was getting for the brief time I used a fit bit.

5.) Battery seems fine to me... charging is SUPER fast... I plugged it in when the battery was bying notification came on the other day and within 15 minutes or so it was up to 60-70% charge... within a half an hour it was up to and hanging around 80%... so even if you just plug it in while your in the shower you should be fine... and I have used it for just about 2 days before the battery ran down to "charge me"... now I have watch mode enabled and I have all day heart rate turned off... I am not really concerned about the heart rate info unless I am working out and it turns it on by itself when I am...

6.) I really like the screen being "inside" on my wrist... it feels much more natural and like the fuel band front the outside it just looks like a black band and doesn't really draw a bunch of attention to itself. Also... I type all day (programming mainly) and I have fairly good typing form and it isn't a problem at all... band doesn't scratch all over the table or anything (and I generally type on a SP3 keyboard).

7.) The screen protector is really a pain to get on cleanly and is a MUST... the plastic around the screen picks up scratches pretty quickly...

8.) Using Cortona with it can be kind of slow... hopefully that improves over time... but even replying to a text message was kind of a pain and slow... you have to keep telling it to listen through the process... it isn't like the phone where it just starts listening automatically after you say "text someone"

All in all this thing is pretty great so far... I love having a single device to do my GPS based running and the all day step/fitness tracking. I would imagine over time this will see a bunch of software updates and get even better... but I will say... it is only about $70 more than the Nike Fuel Band I was using and it already does soooooooo much more... well worth the $199!!!

 

[EuroKnuter]

TL;DR:
I purchased the Band on Thursday afternoon. Having worn it for 3/4 days and nights, and having made use of a few of the features, I can safely say $200 for this device is a great price for what you get (of course, YMMV). I would generally recommend it to anyone interested in making the purchase.

The Review
Be sure to read TheZuneLune's (external) review from above, it is outstanding!

Although I'm no fitness expert by any stretch of the imagination, I watch my weight and eat healthy / responsibly. My wife is the fitness expert: she teaches Spin and Yoga (at Gold's, no less lol). We cook together and are conscious of what we consume (both quality and quantity).

My purchase of the Band was an opportunistic impulse buy.

• For a while now I've been considerin increasing my 'healthy living' through exercise
• I have started to miss wearing a watch for the convenience
• I am a technology enthusiast who was waiting for the right 'wearable' to get started with that category of devices.
• A wearable would help with glance-and-go, not always possible when pulling your phone out to see what's going on

I pulled the trigger because of a great deal (some birthday money to be used for fun, store credit, and a discount coupon). I figured this was as good as it was going to get to take the plunge, and my 'throw away' risk was quite low.

At first the Band took a little getting used to, but now I hardly notice it. I did not put the screen protector on (I hate them) and it is already scuffed up. I knew this was likely to happen and expected it. It is certainly not a big problem. (For example, I raked leaves yesterday, which is a fitness activity, and so wore the band knowing it would be roughed up - I don't want a dainty device afterall).

Setup was very easy for me. I run 8.1.1 on my 1520 (big device, another reason glance-and-go on my wrist was attractive). However, if my wife decides to get a band I would have to help her (and most anyone in my family) withe the setup. I think setup could be easier for the average user. The simple inclusion of a 'getting started' card would go a long way in this regard. The Health application should link to the support site or better still, display it inside the application.

I wear the face on the inside of my wrist and love this - very easy to swipe and tap.

I will treat the remainder of this review of the band in 2 distinct usage categories: "Smart Watch" and "Fitness Tracker"

The Smart Watch Aspect
Like most new gadgets it took a while (read: trial and error) to figure out what notifications I wanted and would use. In the end I opted for the following tiles:

• Messaging
• Email
• Calls
• Weather
• Alarms
• Cortana (may remove it, this fails my 'glance and go' criteria - more noise than useful information)
• Calendar (may remove - not really used)
• Notification Center (may remove, nothing to see here)
• Starbucks (we'll see about this one, it'll likely get removed as well)

The Text, Phone, and Email notifications are great - they work just like I expected. My wrist buzzes, I look to see what's coming in, and 9 out of 10 times ignor it and move on. This has been a LOT less disruptive than glancing at my phone, and a lot more up-to-date: With the phone I may not see an email come in for an hour or two when it's sitting on my desk.

I was at an event Saturday. It was loud and no way to hear my ringer. 3 calls came in: 2 got ignored because I saw who it was and knew I'd get back to them and I answered the one I needed to take. I've had similar results with email and text, picking and choosing which ones I stop my activity for right away, and which I will respond to later.

Cortana integration is decent, about what you'd expect given what she can do on a phone. I expect this to improve, but then I expect it to improve on the phone as well and that'll be the most bang for the buck.

The battery life is pretty good. I haven't used the GPS, but I do run it in clock mode and have a steady stream of buzzing and screen light ups as I go through my day. I also use the sleep monitoring and have used the guided workouts a few times. As an example of battery life, I charged it up to 100% about 24 hours ago and am sitting at about %70-ish remaining. Not bad at all.

As for a smart watch, the Band has easily met and exceeded my expectations (albeit with no frame of reference).

The Fitness Tracker
Here's where my review will fall short for many of you: I'm not a fitness buff, I'm still learning how to use the device effectively, and based on Microsoft's messaging there is still much more to come in this space. I'm also learning what I want in a fitness tracker, looking at the various options, and coming up with a game plan curtailed to me which fits my lifestyle and needs.

The tiles I chose for the fitness tracking were:

• Guided Workout
• Exercise
• Sleep

I've downloaded some fitness routines to the band and went through them all several times. This was pretty cool! You should know that my bar was low: I was looking for a good reason to exercise and I'm using this device to accomplish just that. And it does so very well, guiding me through routines. At some point I'll stop looking at the screen for what's next and will just move to the next phase of the routine when the Band buzzes.

I've integrated with MFP, and I like it so far. I'm just starting out, so all of the calorie calculating is quite new to me and as a beginner it's a little bit daunting. There's a lot more trial and error to go through with this one.

I'm much more interested in how all of this starts to integrate and provide me with a more detailed look at my overall fitness. I'm also looking for improvements (I can't run because of my knees, but I bike - I'd like that tracked).

New Features
I'm waiting to see what 3rd party apps might be able to do (integrate with health / vault? track caleries better? Give more options for guided routines?). I talked to my wife about what it meant to me: We could, if we decided to try, write a universal app that detailed yoga poses and string them together into a routine for people to use. At least, that's my understanding of what is possible.

I'd like to see music control - this would keep me from opening my phone completely. I've noticed some stuttering listening to audio over BT in my car, which they may or may not be able to address. It's infrequent and not that bad, so it's not a show stopper. I would like to see notifications cleared from the band when cleared from the phone - I don't mind if it doesn't clear the phone when I see it on the band (in fact, would prefer that it doesn't). Bonus points if they can make this configurable.

There are lots of good ideas posted already, so I'll just say 'yeah, me too' to most of those.

 

[greyskytheory]

I just did a second comparison of my Band up against my Suunto Ambit 1. I'm going to send my findings to Microsoft and I may return it if my Band is defective. I absolutely love it but it's extremely inaccurate when tracking my workouts. Seems to have inability to track rapid changes in my hr. You can see the charts from my second comparison at the link. http://forums.windowscentral.com/microsoft-band/321078-band-vs-ambit-round-two.html

 

[Vaxax]

I ordered a Band from the MS store about 5 minutes after I saw the headlines popup on Wed. Below are some observations from wearing the device for a couple days.

- No Transparent tile for MS Health?! No LIVE tile for MS Health?! Am I missing something?

- When triggering Cortana from the band it seems to also wake up the phone's display making it vulnerable to phantom touches in your pocket!?

- Double dismissing notifications on my phone and band is tiresome. I fear this may be a WP 8.1 Update API limitation for 'accessory apps' however.

- Very limited options for filtering (email) notifications. How about by account, or allowing a blacklist rather than whitelist. I get a LOT of automated notifications for work that I don't need on my wrist, but I can't manage a small 10 address whitelist that covers both work and personal mailboxes.

- It would be great if the email previews were twice as long as they are now. They always seem to cut off just before the point of the message.

- Launching the UV sensor as a separate app is a little awkward. I was assuming it would 'sense' UV danger and alert me.

- I found the haptic feedback easy to miss even when on the highest setting, especially when almost everything seems to generate only a single buzz. This may be due to poor band fitting with the size I got, or maybe I’m desensitized from years of cell phone vibrations

- I really wish this had an audible notification option. Old school beeps for the watch, or timers etc. Maybe in Band 2.0. Maybe the ability to completely take over alert sounds from the phone when it is in range.

- I would LOVE for the phone to be put in silent mode when do not disturb is activated on the Band. Walk into theater, raise wrist, quickly silence phone while still being able to easily see who is calling in case of emergency.

- Hope they add a tile for music track control. I know this would often be handled by headphones, but if you are playing music through a Bluetooth speaker it could be handy.

- I wore the Band with the screen on the inside of my wrist which made it great for glancing at, but if you don't wear sleeves and work at a desk the screen will take a lot of abuse in this orientation. It can also make it a bit uncomfortable to type if your typing posture is a lazy as mine.

- Doesn't seem like this has a Health Vault sync option yet. Hopefully it will send historical data to HV when it's implemented because a gap has formed where I stopped wearing the Fitbit.

- Hope to see a Microsoft Health Windows Store compaion app and or website soon.

In the end I've decided to return my Band mainly due to the large not fitting snugly enough. I did use the printable sizing guide and even compared it to the box when I received it. However even though I can't see the 'large' lines when holding my wrist at the correct angle it would still slide 2-4" up and down my wrist rending the heartbeat reading questionable.

I've been wearing a Fitbit flex for the past year and I would say at rest I didn't notice much of a weight difference. However in motion, due to the fit I was often aware of it while it moved on my wrist. For sizing comparison I wear the 'large' Fitbit flex band in the smallest position to maintain a snug fit. With the 'large' Band in the smallest position I could easily fit my pinky finger between the HB sensor and my wrist.

While this is mainly a list of complaints, I do plan to purchase a 'medium' Band when then are back in stock to support further development. I imagine much of the above can be improved over time with software updates and outside of the upcoming Fitbit devices I don't see an alternative for WP users.

 

[jandee]

I have been researching bands to buy myself for Christmas. I needed a band that has a WP mobile app, continuous HR monitoring, and GPS support. I was willing to give up the WP app and wait for the FitBit surge. When the band was released last week I ordered from the Microsoft Store in 30 minutes. I took 5 days to ship to Seattle.

Thus far I have been wearing the band for 14 hours. This review is from a lady data-geek perspective.
Phone: WP Lumia 928 with 8.1 update (dev preview)

Likes:

• Love all the features especially Cortana integration.
• Not too big for my small wrist. I am wearing the medium.
• Easy to sleep in. The vibration on the wrist was enough to wake me up.

Dislikes:

• The band does not sit well on the inside of my wrist while typing on my keyboard. I had to flip the band around to the outside in order to type.
• I would prefer a curved screen. It sticks out on either side of my wrist.
• The screen is wide enough to accommodate both the charger and HRM which would allow the rubber to be interchangeable. The device looks a bit utilitarian. I don?t see myself wearing it with a nice dress.

My wish list:

• I would like more color options on the screen. I like to set the color to match the holidays or even my clothing choices for the day.
• Being an IT worker; I sit at my desk all day. I would like the band to vibrate after prolonged periods of inactivity.
• I need the ability to export data from the Health app. I like to feed data into a db and create visualizations in Tableau.
• I want an input to track my weight on a daily basis. Weight is a variable, not a default setting!

I plan on wearing my Polar F6 with chest strap tonight during interval cardio to see how accurate the HRM is. This is key for me. I need a HRM that shows the rapid shifts in HR for interval training. Also concerned about how the calories are calculated.

 

[davsug]

After a solid week of use (got it the morning it launched), here are my thoughts/observations.

So I'm a gadget geek, like most of us here, and I love mobile & wearable tech. Got the Pebble early from kickstarting it, have been using Bluetooth headphones/earbuds as long as they've been around, and have owned almost every brand of PDA & smartphone available in the US going back to my Apple Newton Messagepad 110. So while I've been happy with my Pebble, I've definitely been waiting for the Apple Watch not very patiently. I was surprised to see the Microsoft Band stealth launch last week, and since I don't work for Microsoft anymore, I had to go buy it retail. Actually most of my friends still in Microsoft didn't even know about it, so it was a surprise to more than just consumers.

That's enough about me, but just wanted to emphasize the fact that I've been around this stuff for a long time, which I thin is important because I'm totally blown away by the Band. The Pebble is cool and unique, but it's not sexy, and it doesn't really feel like the future. I love the notifications and the battery life, and its become my primary GPS viewer when I run, which I do almost every day, and I use the Pebble versions of either the Runkeeper or Endomondo app for that. With the exception of notifications and running, it got kinda boring. No other apps really excite me, and I find myself waiting for a new watchface to be released to make it a little more exciting.

The Band is both exciting today, and more importantly, if Microsoft executes with 1st & 3rd party apps for it successfully, it should stay exciting. But I'll give pros and cons for what's available today.

Pros:
- Multiplatform. this is one of the things that should give it an edge over Apple's & Google's watches. I'm amazed they did this and did it so well.
- Form Factor/Comfort. I have the medium size, which I find big enough but not too big. It's unobtrusive and looks like another fitness band. It's comfortable to wear all day and even while sleeping. I have a nice watch and my Pebble, but this is all I've been wearing. The nice thing about this is that if I get dressed up, I could wear my nice watch and still wear this on my other wrist since it looks like a fitness band. Couldn't do that with any of the other smart watches.
- Ease of use. Setup was super simple. I installed the app on my iPhone 6 and when I put in my information, it automatically started pushing emails, texts and calendar events without any additional steps.
- GPS. This is one of the Band's killer apps that Apple's watch and the Pebble don't have. Not sure about all of Android's versions. After my initial use, which took a few minutes to lock on, it now only takes a few seconds to lock. I've tested it against my Garmin watch and my Pebble/iPhone combo, and it's very accurate. As accurate as my Garmin, more accurate than the iPhone/Pebble. Only complaint is that it doesn't show average pace, only current pace, but this should be resolved with either an update and/or a 3rd party running app, which I expect pretty soon.
- Interface. this is an outstanding interface. I've always like Windows Phone's live tiles, and this is clearly an extension of that. Touchscreen is very responsive, and it just looks cool, very futuristic. enough so that my 14 year old daughter actually wants one. she never wanted a Pebble or Android Wear. It's readable in direct sunlight, but of course not as well as the Pebble display.
-Push notifications. This is another killer feature. I don't just get my texts, emails and calendar pushed, I can have any app that pushes notifications send them to the Band. Beyond the built-in Facebook app, I'm also getting CNN, ESPN and others. Very well done
-Health Tracking. Beyond the GPS/run tracking, I find the step counter very accurate (more accurate than the Pebble's built-in stepper) and the heartrate monitor also seems pretty accurate, especially when I run. I've never used a sleep tracker before, but I find myself using this every day and wanting to sleep better. Its analytics almost gamifies sleep, which is cool. I'm already pretty healthy already, but this makes me want to get out and run or do something outside even on off days so my steps/mileage stay high. And the UV sensor seems like a great thing to have. If the UV index is high when I go out for a run, I can put on sunblock, which I never really do, but this would make me consider it at least.
-Apps. this is where the Band could stay on my wrist even after the Apple watch comes out. This is also the piece that Microsoft historically hasn't done well with. If they can release enough cool 1st party apps along with some big name 3rd party apps, like maybe ESPN, Runkeeper, Nike, etc, then it will really be a platform that will last.

Neutral:
-Battery. this is not bad, but could be better. I'm finding the 48 hour battery life is pretty accurate, less so on days when I run and use the GPS. This is not as good as the Pebble and at least 2X what the Apple Watch will have. I think it's pretty on-par with most of the Android watches. The nice thing here is the quick charge. I can go from 10-80% charge in less than 30 minutes. If I want to go to 100%, it'll take another hour, but I'm finding I don't even need to do that. I still wish it lasted longer, like maybe 4 days.

Cons:
-Screen Orientation. I'm wearing this with the screen on the inside of my wrist, which is fine and comfortable, but when I type on my computer, which is often, it tends to get in the way. Luckily the free screen protector is doing it's job. No scratches, but it would be pretty beaten up if it wasn't for that. A normal screen orientation might have been better.
-Curved Screen. like others have said , the flat screen definitely makes this a little uncomfortable. Not a huge deal but def could be improved
-Non windows phone integration. OK, so having Cortana access is a great plus if you have Windows phone, but I wouldn't think it would be a big deal to provide access to Siri and google Now. Plus, apparently you can only do quick replies to texts on Windows Phone, not on the other platforms. That kind of 2-way functionality should be cross-platform. Hopefully they'll fix this with an update.
-Health App. their app has been buggy so far, but that's an easy fix. Documentation for the app was pretty weak. Now I know you clearly need to have the app always running to enable syncing with the phone, but the pebble app also needed to be always running, so that's not a big deal and it doesn't seem to affect the phone's battery. I would like to have control over the sync schedule though. I can't figure out what the standard sync schedule is and I need to check the app on the phone of one of the apps on the band like weather to see when it was last synched. I'd like to be able to set it for real time sync (when there's an update/change), or maybe set it to sync at specific intervals.
-Do Not Disturb. This isn't a big deal, but there should be more control over the DND function, like DND during specific hours or something, so I don't have to set it manually when I go to sleep (if I'm not using the sleep tracker).

That's pretty much all I can think of right now, but I know I probably missed some things. I'd give it a strong 8/10 so far.

 

[b52hbuff]

I have been using my NikeFueld Band for a little over a year.I thought it was going to do a lot more than it did. When I read about the teardown, I realized that the device was little more than a pedometer. My joke is that it measures you bouncing around, and the rest (e.g. steps, calories, Fuel Points) is just marketing.

With that in mind, here are my thoughts...

I am in love with my Microsoft Band. I show it off to anyone in my general vicinity.

But here are my issues...
1. I don't like the way the power meter is represented. I know I can swipe to the right to see a graphical representation of the battery. Particularly when the device is new, I'd really like to verify the battery is 100% so that I can observe battery drain in different scenarios. The only way to get a digital battery meter is to enable Watch Mode and charge the unit. There should be a way to access the digital battery gauge without plugging in the device.

2. On the Nike, it would show a graphical battery gauge when plugged in. It would flicker one single LED in a "full battery" graphic when it was very close to full charge. At full charge, the battery graphic would be fully lit. As I said for #1, accessing the digital battery gauge is impossible without battery power. However when the device IS on battery power, why not automatically display charge percentage?

3. Where is the Win81 Modern UI to access Band statistics?

4. When are we going to see Microsoft Health and Microsoft Health Vault integration?

5. Microsoft Band needs a sense of humor or a more "fun factor". Those of you who are familiar with the Nike ecosystem will understand what I mean. Nike allows you to set "FuelPoint" limits that win you digital trophies. There are special edition trophies for things like Valentines Day,Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chinese New Year, etc. So if you meet your goal on these special days, you unlock special digital trophies. They also give you trophies for achieving certain FuelPoint goals, like so much many points during lunch for a certain number of days.

The point is that all of these silly little digital incentives can help motivate you when you feel like sitting on the couch.

Anyway, this is a great start and I can't wait to see more payment vendors (liking the Starbucks payment)and more partner support. Maybe Nike will enable a "FuelBand" addin to translate steps into Fuel Points. The FuelBand is so far behind the Band that they'll really have to step up their game in the next release or they'll have to throw in the towel.

 

[tanayprasad]

Nice information everyone. I was wondering if there is any features missing for non windows phone platforms (other than Cortana, which is a bummer in itself)? I am in a place where you can't even buy a Windows Phone device.. :/

 

[dwlovell]

FYI, to check the battery life %, turn on the "Watch Mode" (Go to settings tile, then clock icon). Now when you connect the battery charger and the display is off, you will see the battery life % in the watch mode display.

 

[bugelrex]

are you in USA?

 

[someoneinwa]

I’ve worn my Microsoft Band for 10 days now. It has been on my left wrist with the screen on the bottom all that time except for charging during showers, when it is plugged into my desktop PC so it can charge and sync and download updates if needed.

People who saw me wear either my Fitbit Flex or the Band have asked whether the devices are of any value. All I can say is that, for me, yes they are. Wearing the Flex gave me a sense of how little I moved about and this inspired me to do more: both to set aside time for walks and to get a convertible desk so that I could stand up to work for periods rather than sit all day. I also started chronicling what I ate. These two actions have helped me move more and lose weight. A bit of payoff came with a stellar result during my annual physical. The Flex was a nice entry level device for me. By the time the Band was released, I was beginning to tire of something that just blinked lights at me and provided limited feedback data. My Flex was also never able to hold a charge for the 5 days claimed by Fitbit: three days was always its limit.

The Band appealed to me immediately. I liked the look, the fact that it was stuffed with sensors and was tied closely to the Microsoft Health app. I noted that not all of the sensors provide much feedback yet and that the app is not complete, but to me this was not a negative but meant the device and service were future proof.

Too many reviewers have spent too many words talking about the size and weight of the Band. No wearable device will work on every human being. I acknowledge that for some people, the Band will never be comfortable, but to describe that reality with sweeping comments about wear-ability and comfort is just lazy writing and wrong. The Band offers more opportunities for fit than most devices on the market. My Flex needed to be on my non-dominant wrist, although the latch could be on either the top of bottom of the wrist, although I’ve never seen anyone wear it face down. The Band works equally well on either wrist and top or bottom. I tried it out in all four positions and chose the one that worked best for me. Even with this flexibility, the Band won’t work for everyone. But to me, this flexibility is important and needs to be acknowledged rather than ignored. Silly comments about home arrest bracelets or a particular reviewer’s discomfort are not helpful.

The latch on the Band certainly beats the Flex for adjustability and comfort. I find the clasp easy to use and adjust. Need a little help? Just put the Band on and hold your wrist against your body to add stability while you manipulate the clasp.

I’ve seen lots of comments about accuracy of the sensors, particularly the step counter and the heart rate monitor. Let’s add some realism to the discussion: the Band likely won’t be as accurate at measuring heart rate as a dedicated heart rate band or chest strap, but at least at rest I’ve found it to be very close. During that physical I mentioned earlier, a nurse took my pulse the old fashioned way, by holding my wrist. After she told me her result, I checked my Band’s calculation. They differed by 1 beat per minute. I thought that was pretty impressive. I don’t run anymore but go on long walks, including some hills that provide a nice cardio challenge. I’ve noted on these walks that my peak heart rate is in line with what I used to see with a chest strap while using a treadmill. It may be off several beats per minute, but for my use this is not vital. I acknowledge that runners may not be adequately served by the Band heart rate monitor, depending on their needs.

Another point about my walks: the Band records fewer steps on my walks and in my typical daily movements than the Flex did. This was a surprise to me but not disconcerting. When I first started using the Flex, is was shocked at how many steps it recorded. It seemed high to me. The Fitbit software allows you to adjust your stride length but it does not offer this adjustment to you during setup, requiring you to look for it. The Band also does not offer the opportunity to adjust your stride measurement but uses your gender, height and GPS to make the calculation. I’m not sure how much of a difference this really makes, but I noted from using the MSN Health and Fitness app, which I assume also uses the gender, height and GPS model to determine stride, that it calculated mine 4 inches longer than my actual stride. Some fitness buffs may need an exact reading of their steps, but to me if the measurement is close to actual, that is really sufficient. If the Flex says I took 9545 steps on Tuesday and the Band says it was 9134, is this really a significant difference? Does it say anything meaningfully different about my level of activity that day?

Having GPS on the Band is a real plus. I’ve used it on my walks so that these are recorded and I can name them for future reference. I’ve had no issues with the Band acquiring a GPS signal or losing it, but my walks have been in urban areas so far. I’ve wished there was a way to suspend a walk or run. Perhaps runners don’t do this, but it isn’t uncommon for me to walk to a distant coffee shop, relax a while and then walk a different route back. I have to record these as two separate walks but having the choice to suspend the walk and thus shut off the GPS during the suspension and then pick up where I left off would be convenient.

The Health app shows lots of promise but after 10 days I am already getting anxious to see more. I appreciate the detailed sleep information and would like to see the same type of detail in the other categories.

Everyone probably has their own list of changes they would like to see Microsoft make to the Band and/or the Health app. I have no issues personally with the Band itself, so I’ll just comment that I hope Microsoft won’t listen to those critics who want a future Band to do less. Make it thinner or more flexible if you can, but leave the feature set as is please. As for the firmware and the app, I’d suggest the ability to suspend a walk or run as I mentioned above. I’d also like the ability to set the screen timeout myself. The screen shuts off far too quickly when I try to use the Starbucks app, for example. Tie the MSN Health and Fitness app to the Band so I can use its excellent diet tracker features. When it comes to the smartwatch features of the Band, I’d like the ability to keep e-mails that are not on my VIP list from being forwarded to the Band. More voice commands connected to my phone would be nice, such as “Send text response” or other options when the phone rings and I don’t want to answer.

All in all the Band is a great piece of technology with a sort of a starter set of features in its accompanying software. I’d like to see the first of the promised updates come very soon. Fitness bands aren’t a tool everyone will use and the Band won’t work for everyone who wants to use a fitness band. The devices can inspire you to pay attention to your activity level and diet and I believe the Band does the job more thoroughly than any other device on the market at the moment.

 

[Juan Arrisueno]

Got mine 3 days ago. Somewhat frustrated to sync it first time because of lack of instructions but when it synced it has been a wonderful experience. Not bulky at all. Over two days of juice. Cortana experience is ok but like the olives in the martini. Integrate well with my fitness pal. Notificatios, Messenger and Texts impecable. Able to filter emails to VIPs only is a plus. Only negative is that inerferes with my Motorola headset pairing and unpairing it but what the heck, perfect is the enemy of good.
I returned my Fitbit so that will pay some of the cost. Still using Pebble in my other wrist but only to shake it and check the time ( It will be nice if the Band will do it so I can ebay it ).
What else could improve? Open my car remotely, Instead of Starbuck use it to pay Exxon. Remote my Direct TV. Keep my passwords. Scan food labels

 

[Juan Arrisueno]

Did the same til I reset it pressing the two buttons ( power and action ) at the same time. When it went dark I plug it to charger and voila

 

[Upstate Dunadan]

Got mine 3 days ago. Somewhat frustrated to sync it first time because of lack of instructions but when it synced it has been a wonderful experience. Not bulky at all. Over two days of juice. Cortana experience is ok but like the olives in the martini. Integrate well with my fitness pal. Notificatios, Messenger and Texts impecable. Able to filter emails to VIPs only is a plus. Only negative is that inerferes with my Motorola headset pairing and unpairing it but what the heck, perfect is the enemy of good.
I returned my Fitbit so that will pay some of the cost. Still using Pebble in my other wrist but only to shake it and check the time ( It will be nice if the Band will do it so I can ebay it ).
What else could improve? Open my car remotely, Instead of Starbuck use it to pay Exxon. Remote my Direct TV. Keep my passwords. Scan food labels

How are you filtering email to VIP only?

Did I miss something?

I recently had to switchover to Android because of work. I'm not usingthe stock email app so the Band isn't picking up the email received by my 3rd party email App. That wasn't a big problem since they were covered in my notifications which I had on. Due to the amount of notificationsystem coming through Android, I just turned it off on my Band. I think the 100s of notifications I was getting just destroyedmy batter life.

Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

 

[davsug]

Got mine 3 days ago. Somewhat frustrated to sync it first time because of lack of instructions but when it synced it has been a wonderful experience. Not bulky at all. Over two days of juice. Cortana experience is ok but like the olives in the martini. Integrate well with my fitness pal. Notificatios, Messenger and Texts impecable. Able to filter emails to VIPs only is a plus. Only negative is that inerferes with my Motorola headset pairing and unpairing it but what the heck, perfect is the enemy of good.
I returned my Fitbit so that will pay some of the cost. Still using Pebble in my other wrist but only to shake it and check the time ( It will be nice if the Band will do it so I can ebay it ).
What else could improve? Open my car remotely, Instead of Starbuck use it to pay Exxon. Remote my Direct TV. Keep my passwords. Scan food labels

Turn on Watch Mode on the Band and you won't need the Pebble any more. I haven't ebayed my Pebble yet but will soon. Haven't touched it since I picked up the Band.

Put the Band into

 

[JPDVM2014]

I've had my Band since Saturday night, and all I can say is that I'm glad I never invested in a Fitbit. The Band does almost everything I could ever need. The one exception being music playback and custom workouts. It took me about a day and a half to get comfortable with it on, but now I don't even really notice it.

I did have to move it to my non-dominant hand. I fill out a lot of paperwork during the day, and it puts pressure on the Band and, as a result, my wrist. Once I moved it to my non-dominant hand, it has been completely unobtrusive. My only real negatives are the lack of music playback, the limit on tiles (this is a temporary issue until I figure out which tiles I actually use/want), and the lack of custom workouts and/or running workouts (ie Couch 2 5k). I know that Sam used a c25k workout in his review of the guided workouts, but I can't find it or any alternatives. This may be user error.

Other than those minor things, the Band has been great. Sure it is a little bigger than a fitbit, but it also packs a lot more functionality in. I feel like the tradeoff is more than worth it. Notifications on my wrist are something I never knew I wanted until I had them. It is so nice to just glance at my wrist and decide whether I need to respond to a text/email/phone call. I can't really say enough good things about the Band.

 

[Jair Silva]

I have my band for a few days now and I'm using Lumia 1020 with 8.1 so Cortana works just fine and I really like the notifications but still feel a basic fitness tracker for a few reasons:

1 - Can't automatically identify if you're running or riding a bike - it has a GPS, right?
2 - Does not have connectivity to Xbox account would be great to count the workouts I do there
3 - App does not allow you to load your own workouts
4 - It's not water resistant?!?!
5 - not able to pair with other ANT+ bluetooth devices, this could be great if you already have running pods or run on a treadmill
6 - can't share with Strava, MapMyfitness, etc.
7 - Battery life is poor

I still like it since it's small and comfortable to use it. I biked and run with it and feel pretty accurate to me. I think it has potential.

Jair