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

[rory753]

yeah, I've noticed the lag too. my activities take about 24 hours to get from my band to strava. but they get there. I think they put the router for the transfer on Pluto, so it takes a while for them to beam the data back and forth.

 

[MrRAG]

It needs a driving mode, that is it

 

[thatdennis]

Definitely the waterproof, it has none. I mean compared to my Sony Smartband Talk, the Band is a hassle.

With the Sony Smartband talk, it automatically records my sleep*, doesn't break when I take it swimming/bathing, and is overall light and comfy. I don't need to worry about anything - just charging it.

The Band though, while very informative and helpful, adds chores to my life. Turn on sleep mode*, take it off after a workout to clean it and take a bath, and makes charge an extra device everyday.

*My Band also broke after a few months of use, so I can't test the automatic sleep thing. Also that's another thing, bad longevity. 4 months to be exact, seriously Microsoft?

Yeah if they made it similar to the Sony Smartband Talk but keep the running/heartbeat tracking program, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[wlcohagan]

It's frustrating that the heart rate function is so wildly inaccurate. It shows a rate that is 15 - 20 points above my actual heart rate! That's enough to cause my heart rate to go up!

Seriously, I've measured it on the band while my cardiologist's nurse was taking my pulse. Band's value was 18 points high.

Is there some way to recalibrate this function? Can I exchange the Band for one that works?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/pointers for solution.

Bill

 

[DroidUser42]

Thanks in advance for any suggestions/pointers for solution.

It's sensitive to how it's worn and your personal physiology. My own experience shows it's accurate when there's no motion, but when there's movement, it can get confused.

It seems to do better "face down" when I exercise. My best is when I open it as wide as it can go and I rotate it on my wrist 45 degrees. Although it's not really practical. My point is to experiment. Some say tighter, some find looser works.

I'm on my 3rd Band due to trying to find the right size. All 3 were like this. My body is just not fully Band-compatible.

 

[emperor_skull]

The fact, that is not available everywhere

 

[Jcmg62]

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!!!

Totally agree with this. The MSN Health & Fitness App is an incredibly helpful app which covers all aspects of healthy living, diets, calorie & step tracking, medical research, nutrition, exercise videos, food information, workouts, symptom checker.....it is pretty much a one stop shop from a health and fitness perspective.

as far as I can tell Microsoft now have three health platforms; MSN Health, Health Vault & Microsoft Health (anyone else seeing the emerging pattern here....health, health, health....)

Why would you tie Health Vault and Microsoft Health together through the connected apps feature and leave the most immersive and expansive app out of the loop?? It doesn't make any sense.

For me, Health Vault is actually one of the least useful apps. It's basically just a place to jot down a few notes about your general health and occasionally update it with some body measurements. It never actually done anything with that information. Truth be told, I'd forgotten all about my HealthVault account until I bought the Band last month.

I sometimes get the feeling that there's still far too much diversification at Microsoft, it's like they take a project to a point then lose interest. Imagine the scene at the Microsoft project office..."Hey Bob, love what you've been doing with HealthVault over the past 5 years, very awesome, but I'm taking you away from that and sticking you on this crazy new platform called Bing Fitness....it's gonna be the next big thing!"

2 years later,"Hey Bob, remember when I said Bing Fitness was the next big thing...I lied. You've just wasted 7 years of your life...congratulations! We're starting all over again with this crazy new thing called Microsoft Health! Bob....Bob, put the gun down Bob...don't do anything rash!!"

Anyhoooo, Microsoft should just focus on one supercharged, fully comprehensive, powerhouse health and fitness platform and stop creating a new halfbreed model every time someone gets hold of a budget and decides that what MS absolutely, definitely, categorically need is another health app.

 

[pechio]

Why do I have to sign in every day I want to use the Microsoft Health App (iOS)?

 

[DroidUser42]

Why do I have to sign in every day I want to use the Microsoft Health App (iOS)?

Beats me. I just open up the app on my Android. I don't get a login unless I'm going to a web page such as "Connected apps".

 

[Jonas Hendrickx]

I want a Microsoft Band that looks like the Motorola Moto 360

 

[68Guns]

my issues are when a call comes in my band only vibrates the once now this could be me and i have not found the settings also the lack of not been able to reply to emails.twitter etc on t

 

[mfm77]

I'm going to post this in a separate thread but thought I would share here. After 6 months of no huge issues, I'm having my first pretty significant problem with the Band: notifications for updates that happened quite some time ago and, in some cases, after I cleared them from my Band. Just now, I received a notification for a Mets score from two days ago, even though I swear I cleared it when I got it. I'm not sure if it's a Band issue or an iOS issue, but seeing as how my phone doesn't show me the same notification, I'm thinking it is a Band software issue. It's a minor nuisance, but a nuisance nonetheless. Has anyone else had this occur?

 

[jleebiker]

The fit. I REALLY tried different sizes and the combination of the narrow design and the aggressiveness under the band, I just couldn't do it. :-(

 

[zei20t]

After having it a few weeks, its getting REALLY annoying having to clear notifications in 2 spots.

Also, the band should vibrate until you have answered (or rejected) the phone call. I don't look at my band sometimes as I assume its an email/text, Then I miss a call when my phone is on silent (while at work)

 

[goofus828]

The lack of apps for the iPhone.

I wish there was a way to use my PC to download the windows apps for the Band then update my Band with them.

 

[gleneston]

This: I want to support Microsoft BUT the MS Band is TOO big/bulky.

 

[rory753]

...Also, the band should vibrate until you have answered (or rejected) the phone call. I don't look at my band sometimes as I assume its an email/text, Then I miss a call when my phone is on silent (while at work)

I agree that there should be different settings for vibrating that tell you if you have a txt notification, phone notification, messenger notification, etc, but I definitely don't want the band to ring continuously until I look at my phone or dismiss it via the band. I hope that they add this kind of functionality in the future, though...

 

[cacophonyx]

It's simply that if I don't get to a notification before the screen goes back to sleep, there's no way of finding out what it was... it could have been an email - or a text. It would be simple to fix - just make the 'Action' button display the last alert when it's gone back to sleep. When the watch is asleep, the action button doesn't do anything... is it just me?

Minor niggle: if I've dismissed an alert, I don't want it showing as unread...

 

[StygianSentinel]

For me, as someone who has only had the thing for mere hours, it's the fact that the small Band is still way too big on me. I'm a small person with very thin wrists and so the Band slides down about an inch or two from where my actual wrist is. It's a rather perplexing problem. I had the opportunity to try on a medium and so I figured that a small would fit just fine, but it slides on me, despite the clasp being ion the smallest setting. If anyone has any ideas I'd appreciate it.

 

[DroidUser42]

I agree that there should be different settings for vibrating that tell you if you have a txt notification, phone notification, messenger notification, etc,

IIRC, the length of vibration is an indication. Texts and emails are short. Phone and calendar alerts are long.