What's on your Band 2 wish list?

[jwpear]

With rumors of Band 2 supposedly being in the works, what improvements or new features are you hoping to see? What do you hope remains unchanged, presumably because it's already a solid feature?

Improvements/New features

1. Better Covering Durability. Twice now, I've had the covering on the battery compartment wrinkle up and eventually come off, exposing the metal. I believe this occurs because I rest my wrist on my MS ergo keyboard while typing all day.
2. Non-Corrosive HR and GSR Sensors. I've had to exchange my Band twice since release because of corrosion on the GSR sensor that made it difficult to charge the Band. It also lead to irritation of my skin. I get about three months before the corrosion gets so bad that it inhibits charging and causes skin irritation.
3. Current Time on Activity. I'd like to see the current time displayed on the main run, bike, and workout displays during those activities. Often, I have a hard stop at a certain time. I want to be able to monitor this while doing the activity.
4. Better Scratch Resistance. I'd like to see a scratch resistant screen used. I hate having to use a screen protector. It cheapens the device and starts peeling off over time.
5. Walk Tile with Better HR Tracking. I'd like to see a walk tile so that the Band records the correct activity and hopefully tracks HR better during walks, particularly on a treadmill. I will occasionally walk the treadmill at a high incline to get my HR up without stressing my knees too much.

Stays the Same

1. HR Tracking. I find the Band HR tracking to be pretty accurate for most of my activities--biking, weight lifting, elliptical. I hope this continues. My only wish here is that it improves on the treadmill (see walk tile above).
2. Cool feel. Despite its bulk and payload of sensors, I find that the Band feels cooler--less hot and sweaty--on my wrist than other fitness devices. For example, I find that the Fitbit Charge feels hot and sticks to my wrist more than the Band does. As I mentioned above, the durability of the material admittedly needs work.
3. Automatic and Manual Sleep Tracking. I love the sleep tracking on the Band. I find that it works better than the Fitbit Charge. It's easier to understand the sleep chart and I like having both a manual and automatic mode.
4. Ability to Wear Face In. It was odd at first, but after using the Band for a while, I have concluded that wearing it face in is the superior way to wear it. It's so easy to flick my wrist up during a workout to see my activity stats. It's only a wrist flick; whereas, wearing on the outside requires moving my entire arm to see the face.

 

[golfingasu]

Smaller would top my list of wishes. I don't hate the size now but it could be smaller with a better fit.
Personally you could get rid of several sensors like the uv sensor IMO.
Durability and battery lasting a little longer would be next.

 

[CumarKing]

1. More colorful.
2. Individual GPS function with emergency lock position and call help app.

 

[Warren Dean]

I would like to see the ability to read the screen data like Fitbit, across the long axis of the screen. I dislike wearing it face down due to clunking around on stuff and hitting it on the desktop.

 

[Nate Silver]

Increased durability of battery covers and screen bezel. Support for Ant+ sensors. Walking (outdoor and indoor), hiking, and indoor cycling apps.

 

[Cody Patterson]

I want to keep the ability to wear it with the main unit on the bottom of my arm, it makes it really easy to just flip up my wrist and use it. But I'd like ot to have a bigger screen, so that it is more usable. More functions that are less health focused.

 

[Bryan Trach]

1. Smart alarm(wake me up during light sleep cycle so I feel less groggy)
2. Food tracking in app
3. Microsoft Band and Microsoft Watch versions.(Some of us like a more stylish watch like option)
4. Scratch resistant screen
5. Social integration features in app(similar to fitbit, I want to be able to challenge friends)
6. Weight tracking in app(Microsoft need to come out with scale or allow us to import data from Withings/ Fitbit scale
7. Allow IFTTT API integration.

 

[anon(5327127)]

1. The same device, pretty much. I like it
2. Softer fit to the skin. It's not bad but I'd prefer it to fit like a watch.
2. Battery life. Battery life

That'll do me.

 

[Ian_Superfly]

Required: :devil:

• Waterproof, you should be able to run in a heavy rain and you should be able to have it underneath a ski-jacket while sweating etc etc.
• It must be more resistant to wear and needs a scratch resistant screen (I’m on my second band and even this is about to fall into pieces).
• Sensors must withstand sweat and cleaning.
• Custom made training programs (i.e. programs you do by yourself, and w/o GPS).
• More comfortable to wear (especially for the smaller sizes. I use a Large band and it is not that bad to wear. My girlfriend uses a small and it is really clumsy on her wrist).
• More correct/friendly support (I'm not the only one which band is collapsing for, take your responsibility MS)
• Screen that works with sweaty hands (stole this from "realwarder"...).

On the wish list: :angel:

• Less bulky design.
• Good looking/or more descrete (so you can wear it more frequently). I can not use mine when wearing a suit (for the shirts).
• More info on the screen. 4 info fields during running is a strong wish from me.
• Better app with more functionality (scan food for calories etc etc).
• A test program/an exercise to find out the real max heart rate (my max is about 15bpm higher than my theoretical max).
• Be able to share training programs with friends (I.e. “I did this today, try to beat it…”).
• Longer batterylife would be nice (even though I don’t recognize the battery time as bad)
• The possibility to use the band to peak the fitness/performance for a special date (i.e. tougher trainings the month before and less training the last two weeks but do NOT judge just by days, judge by heart rate and analyzed recovery time).
• An alarm that does work in sleep mode. Maybe also with "optimized Wake up time".
• The possibility to use GPS in workout mode. I would like to use this for inlines etc without screwing up the statistics for running and biking.
• Faster sync with phone/web. The syncing via BT is very slow and I guess the transfer can be optimized.
• Cortana in more countries… <-- MS you are far behind Google/Apple (and soon also Facebook (??)
• Cool advertisement world wide making MS hip and reduce the loser image…
  

:eck: Another thing that is related to the "wish list": As it seems pretty obvious that the Band is not “heavy duty”/resistant/tough (you read the correct word…) enough to be used as a real fitness band, I really hope that Microsoft will sell the Band 2 with some real trade in offer for Band 1 (even for us who bought it in Europe).

 

[realwarder]

Screen that works with sweaty hands.

 

[Ian_Superfly]

Screen that works with sweaty hands.

I agree 100% with this. My band does not work (the touch screen) once I started a work out/sweat (I have to Clean/dry it first).

 

[realwarder]

I agree 100% with this. My band does not work (the touch screen) once I started a work out/sweat (I have to Clean/dry it first).

Yep. if it gets any sweat on it then you have to wipe it entirely dry before it starts to respond. Even then can be a challenge. Very annoying.

People who use it more as a notification tool have never got frustrated trying to swipe right to start a new run activity!

 

[realwarder]

[*]Better Scratch Resistance. I'd like to see a scratch resistant screen used. I hate having to use a screen protector. It cheapens the device and starts peeling off over time.

I had two screen protectors when new after adding a minor scratch on day one and getting worried about the screen. The protectors made the Band look bad when they started peeling off though. After the second ran out of life I left the screen bare, and despite picking up lots of tiny surface scratches, I have to say once you get past the initial couple and annoyance of the 'perfect' screen having some scratches, they don't actually matter at all. When the display is on you cannot see them. Even when off, its fine. For me, screen protectors are a waste of money on the band!

 

[TLRtheory]

1. Rounded Display
The Galaxy Gear Fit has this figured out... and with the fact that human arms are curved (and not flat) it's quite strange they didn't figure this out in R&D beforehand.

2. Thinner Bezel, Thinner Body
The Microsoft Band is chunky and fat... and therefore very unattractive. I was so pleasantly surprised when I saw the Microsoft Band and it was so close to the mock-up at the top of this post. Didn't take even a day of ownership to feel like this got in the way too much. I actually ended up selling mine and went back to my Nike FuelBand.

3. Less Obtrusive Clasp
The absolute worst of the design is the way it secures it's connection. It sure is a creative method of making sure there's some room for adjustment, but it makes an issue with thickness even thicker. I had to actually adjust my keyboard's position so that my band would hang off the table so I could still work.

4. Smoother Screen
The screen animations just aren't smooth. I know this may be the necessary compromise to keep the battery life from being as bad as - say - the Apple Watch, but I'd really like to see this screen animate quick enough so that it at least doesn't feel like it's stuttering clumsily through itself.


My ideal MS Band 2 would likely have a more realistic bottom section, but it would look VERY close to the mock up heading this post.