What's the single most frustrating thing about the Microsoft Band for you?

[raydwatts]

So then the trick is to start ALL RUNS in your house. I suggest basic stretches on the couch, with a beer in one hand and a bacon double-cheeseburger in the other.

-Matt

mine often start with a coffee and a banana

 

[gadgetrants]

mine often start with a coffee and a banana

Sadly, mine do too. I hope my doppelganger is living it up a little more than I am.

​-Matt

 

[DroidUser42]

Actually guys. Just tried in my house and it locked within a minute. I guess I was starting the timer before it locked and because I was moving it was playing catch-up all the time.

Moving doesn't help. And if you're in range of your phone, it may use AGPS to get a quicker lock.

 

[DroidUser42]

For me it's the fact that runs are not being tracked due to it almost never getting a GPS lock. I ran a 5k this morning and when I looked for it there was nothing.

Just to be clear, the run itself is being recorded - it's just the track that's missing, right?

 

[Jcmg62]

Have had the band for a week now, wearing it 22-23 hours a day. No doubt the biggest gap in the device is its lack of even basic water resistance. The next model needs to resolve the water proofing gap.

It would be cool to see actual battery percentage readings, which is something Microsoft could add with a software update.

Other than that, its a pretty darn awesome bit of kit

 

[astondg]

No doubt the biggest gap in the device is its lack of even basic water resistance. The next model needs to resolve the water proofing gap.

The Band does have IP7 water resistance. A 50m rating like a lot of watches would be nice but the Band has some basic resistance.

 

[Daniel Heinrich]

The look of the Band, after wearing it a few hours. Many scratches on the frame. The Band looks used and ****ty. Sorry, but wearing the Band as recommended, with the display downside, makes it scratching over the desk and after that, it looks worse.

You can't use any proctetion foil on the Band, because the display is a litte bit lower than the frame. Putting a foil flat on it, is impossible.

 

[Daniel Heinrich]

Just to be clear, the run itself is being recorded - it's just the track that's missing, right?

10k run yesterday, no problem with the gps. track was full recorded.

 

[TLRtheory]

The look of the Band, after wearing it a few hours. Many scratches on the frame. The Band looks used and ****ty. Sorry, but wearing the Band as recommended, with the display downside, makes it scratching over the desk and after that, it looks worse.

You can't use any proctetion foil on the Band, because the display is a litte bit lower than the frame. Putting a foil flat on it, is impossible.

I noticed that immediately after putting the screen protector on that was supplied with my MS Band.

 

[astondg]

I found that the protector looked horrible initially but I squeezed out as much air from under it as I could and then over the next 12hrs or so the protector seemed to fit better and better. Now there's no longer any air/bubbles under it and it looks ok.

 

[Brandon Keenan]

The lack of a battery notification through the main page. The small battery icon when swiping to the right is insufficient. It just gives a general idea of what the battery is but why is it so difficult to put a percentage or time until dead in the settings. I have used this for 2 days now without charging and it seems to be at 50% all the time. I have the companion and bought the battery indicator but that's somewhat inconvenient as you have to open it every time to see it the battery or wait for the auto refresh to update it.

Another thing that's annoying is when I look at sms/email/notifications on the band or the phone, it should sync what I look at and do not look at. I end up seeing notifications twice for the same thing which is annoying.

On a side note, I thought that it would get scratched up easier and be beaten up quickly. I put an armorshield I got off amazon as soon as I got it from Bestbuy and so far so good. Covers the whole of the screen and gives holes for the uv sensor, microphone and ambient light sensor. I wear it down like they advertise in the commercial. I am surprised that the band clasp isn't completely scuffed already considering its a polished type of surface.

 

[raydwatts]

I think mine will be sent back and a refund claimed as it is not synchronising to my PC again. I'm fed up with having to spend several hours every 2 days trying to get through to help chat and sort it out. It is a waste of my time.

If it does not sync to my PC then I cannot extract the GPX so it is useless as I use strata to track my runs.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

It is slightly too big. Today is the first day in wearing it to work and the double cuff of my shirt cant go over it. Hmmm not a great look.

 

[littlebib]

yes the GPS is on, it just shows several reminders during the run saying it cannot get a lock do you want to continue, I tap yes when I stopped it there was no run recorded. Q do you wait for it to lock? And then start running? like Nate suggests. Or just run as that would affect the time recorded.

Sounds like I'm late on this one, but yes, I always wait for the GPS to lock. As I said, it locks faster than my Garmin (yeah, I'm running with both...but not much longer) so I end up waiting around for that to lock. Counting steps is nice indoors, but if I'm outside, I want my GPS tracking.

 

[raydwatts]

Sounds like I'm late on this one, but yes, I always wait for the GPS to lock. As I said, it locks faster than my Garmin (yeah, I'm running with both...but not much longer) so I end up waiting around for that to lock. Counting steps is nice indoors, but if I'm outside, I want my GPS tracking.

I would start the run and let it lock while running, but I seem to cracked that one now as I suspect I was starting the timer confirming to go instead of waiting to lock beforehand.

It's a moot point anyway as my band is being returned soon due to it not syncing via USB so the gpx file is unextractable. As I use strava along with all my friends and running club mates I cannot upload my run via the phone sync, only via the USB using UnBand so I would have to use another device to track my runs and ?170 for a device that only counts steps and heart rate is an expensive luxury, especially as I will probably need a new running watch soo due to the now short battery life of my old Garmin 305 due to battery degradation over time.

 

[mfm77]

Actually guys. Just tried in my house and it locked within a minute. I guess I was starting the timer before it locked and because I was moving it was playing catch-up all the time.

Whenever you are running, you want to start the run on the Band a few minutes before so that it can pick up the GPS. Remember: once it locks, you still can wait until you begin the run to start tracking on the Band. Once it picks up the GPS, you rarely should lose it. I lost it once (still can't figure out why) but have never had an issue since the firmware updates, and that includes running a half marathon in NYC with many tall buildings.

 

[quieterhue]

Fit/comfort.

I am a petite female with very small wrists. Though the band comes in a size small, Microsoft did not actually scale down the display part of the device, which makes the fit very awkward for smaller wrists. No matter where I position it on my wrist it feels awkward and bulky. Because it is too wide, there is gaping on the sides, which causes it to slide and twist unless I make it very tight, which puts an uncomfortable amount of vertical pressure on my wrist and impedes motion. I am trying to get used to it, but I feel as though I am constantly fiddling with it and adjusting the tightness depending on what I'm doing.

Though I would never buy an Apple watch, I really appreciate that they created a smaller version in which the device itself is scaled down. I tried on my friend's Apple watch the other night and the difference, in terms of comfort, was night and day. This is something I hope to see in the next version of the Microsoft band. I really enjoy the band from a functionality perspective, but at this point I'm not sure I'll be able to get over the comfort issue.

 

[rory753]

Band just added support for strava. if you link your health account with strava, it will upload the tracks to strava. you no longer need to do this circuitous route to translate a gpx file.

 

[raydwatts]

Band just added support for strava. if you link your health account with strava, it will upload the tracks to strava. you no longer need to do this circuitous route to translate a gpx file.

I've linked the accounts but my run recorded (with a gps track)and is showing in the health vault, but was not uploaded to strava, or at least not as I can see on my phone.

I think I may have an answer to this from the Strata support forums and on Microsoft Answers forum. Apparently there is quite a lag between the activities being recorded and then showing on Strata, but they will have the correct timestamp when they appear.

Won't sync with Strava. Help! - Microsoft Community


Here's hoping

 

[jacob103]

My frustration is why didn't they integrate the band with MSN/Bing Health and Fitness app. I mean Health and Fitness has step counter, exercises, food diary, and symptom checker. Like come on Microsoft get your head in the game!!!