Loving my band!

[crelim]

Loving my new MSFT band! It integrates really well with cortana and the screen is surprisingly readable in sunlight! The step counter seems very accurate. More info as I get to play with it.

 

[Oliverspin]

Questions:
1. How is the size? How does it feel on the wrist?
2. Do you like how it looks?
3. How is the screen interaction? Too small, just right...
4. Does Cortana have full functionality through The Band?

Tell us all the details! Please :smile:

 

[crelim]

1. The size is good for my wrist. I would not call this the most comfortable device on my wrist, but I am slowly breaking into the band and its starting to get a lot better even in the few hours I have had it on. I am finding that it is most comfortable for me with screen on inside of wrist.

2. I did not really like the way it looks but its quickly starting to grow on me. I really like the band side of it and since I am wearing the screen on the inside, the outsize facing portion of my wrist looks good with the nice black band. Under the hood it is SO good that I am ready to overlook the cosmetic appearance!

3. You would be surprised that how good the interaction works even on this tiny screen. I have had no problems interacting with the device. The notifications and haptic feedback is great and I can quickly dismiss them with a single swipe-click. Whats really interesting is that I am finding myself use Cortana a WHOLE lot more. his morning while driving I just mumbled into my wrist and lo and behold, I had navigation running on my phone!

4. For most part the functionality is great, for example you can send text messages, emails, reminders etc. For things where Cortana has to show you a lot of info (like a web search) it says that she has opened it on my phone, and I should see that! Things like weather, conversions or quick questions, she answers in text form right on the freakin band!!

 

[crelim]

1. I would not say this is the most comfortable thing I have worn on my wrist but it is not bad at all! I find that wearing it on the inside of the wrist is much better and also that as I am breaking into the band, it becomes more and more comfortable. In fact in just the last few hours it feels a lot more comfy than it did when I just had put it on. It is a bit different that previous smart bands I have owned, but its well worth it.

2. I find the looks of it OK, but really under the hood it functions SO well that I am happily overlooking the cosmetic appearance. The band/strap side of the device looks pretty slick and since I am wearing the screen on inside of my wrist, the outside of my wrist looks good IMO with a nice black band with a subtle windows logo on it. This thing has great potential and I cannot wait for software updates that MSFT will do. It is full of hardware sensors and capabilities. I think great things are yet to come!

3. You would be amazed at how effective the screen interaction is despite it being small! The tiles really help and the notifications are very effective. I can easily and quickly dismiss notifications with a simple swipe and click. The email and message notifications are detailed enough that in some instances I have read an entire email or got the gist of an entire text just by glancing at my band!

4. Cortana integration is really awesome! I am noticing that I am using Cortana a lot more since I got the band. I can just mumble to my wrist and things happen.. ha! This morning while driving I just spoke into my wrist and had navigation with address punched in all going on my dash-mounted phone. That was just magic.

 

[kayb27]

Completely agree with all of your points. I've been wearing mine for about 3 hours now and I'm starting to get used to the feel on my wrist. Biggest problem in getting accustomed to it is how rigid the entire band is (for obvious reasons). Functionality is awesome. One thing I did think of, how sweet would it be to have double tap to wake? Oh and, have you figured out of to change what's displayed in the 'me' tile? I'd rather see distance than steps.

 

[crelim]

Kayb27, You CAN change what it shows!

When on the home tile (the one with time), just press the smaller button and will cycle through all the different health metrics!! Also if you click the 'me' tile, it goes into detail for each health metric including real-time heart-rate.

Also make sure you turn on the clock mode! Mine always shows time now in a "low power" mode,

 

[leo74]

Love mine too! It just totally rocks... Everyone at the office is now asking me about it and they all (and the vast majority of them are Apple users) think it is amazing.

 

[Xsled]

What type of notifications show up if you have notification center turned on in the band?

 

[crelim]

Kayb27, You CAN change what it shows!

When on the home tile (the one with time), just press the smaller button and will cycle through all the different health metrics!! Also if you click the 'me' tile, it goes into detail for each health metric including real-time heart-rate.

Also make sure you turn on the clock mode! Mine always shows time now in a "low power" mode,

See images below for example of (1) Distance on me tile and (2) Clock mode activated (band is in sleep mode) and (3) realtime HR in me tiles details.

 

[crelim]

What type of notifications show up if you have notification center turned on in the band?

Any notification that your phone pushes to phone's notification center shows up. I can see all sorts of apps, like Whatsapp, Instagram, Clash of clans, and a bunch of other random apps. I went into my phone's settings (not band or band's app) and just turned off some apps that I don't want pushing updates to the notification center. I tried with iOS but suppose should be similar with WP or Android.

 

[kayb27]

Thank you!!! I tried clicking in the tile, cycling through the metrics, long pressing, the app, everything but the action button LMAO.

 

[crelim]

Thank you!!! I tried clicking in the tile, cycling through the metrics, long pressing, the app, everything but the action button LMAO.

No prob! BTW I just tried the UV feature and it says "45 minutes to sunburn" LOL.

 

[vineet_vpns12]

Hey you all rich people out there.
Enjoy the band. While I'm playing the band... Pooo pooo poooo .....

 

[Xsled]

Any notification that your phone pushes to phone's notification center shows up. I can see all sorts of apps, like Whatsapp, Instagram, Clash of clans, and a bunch of other random apps. I went into my phone's settings (not band or band's app) and just turned off some apps that I don't want pushing updates to the notification center. I tried with iOS but suppose should be similar with WP or Android.

Thanks for the reply. No interactions with those notifications though I assume?

Also, how does if feel on the wrist while typing on a keyboard? Do you find that you will need to take it off for working at a computer?

 

[theefman]

What type of notifications show up if you have notification center turned on in the band?

On my 1520 I've had email notifications come through but nothing from the action center itself.

 

[idokamaroq]

Can't answer your question about notifications (I'm updating my phone right now)
But as for the typing, it seems ok. Wearing with the screen down: My laptop is fairly thin, and when I type, the band sits off the edge of my laptop and barely touches the desk. I imagine the lift of an actual keyboard would probably be about the same. Wearing with the screen up: doesn't touch the desk at all.

 

[Xsled]

Do you have that function turned on in the band?

Ultimately, what I am wondering is if there is any way to see Skype notifications.

 

[valadon]

I am not having much luck getting my Band to stay locked onto my heartrate. Can you check your Band and see if you are having a similar problem?

 

[theefman]

Do you have that function turned on in the band?

Ultimately, what I am wondering is if there is any way to see Skype notifications.

For me, I assume. I don't see anywhere to turn on notifications in the band itself but in the Health app its turned on.

I am not having much luck getting my Band to stay locked onto my heartrate. Can you check your Band and see if you are having a similar problem?

No problem with mine, stays locked. Tried giving the sensors a wipe?

 

[S640]

Does anyone have a trick to choose to only notify for emails to a specific account? I see the VIP feature in the notification settings for the email tile, but you have to manually enter senders to be notified for, and you can only enter up to 10 of them. Perhaps right now email notifications (other than the VIP thing) are an all or nothing proposition, but I hope in the future they allow us to select which accounts send notifications to the Band.