Anyone using one? The wife has expressed an interest in one for Xmas and there may be some deals on Friday. The cheaper end is of interest but if the deals are good who knows? Recommendations please.

What’s a sports band?

Sports band?

You mean like a FitBit sort of thing?

I’m always wary of things advertised as lifestyle products.

Like those yoghurts that help women poo.

Tell her there’s no short cuts and poke her in a wobbly bit.

Like those yoghurts that help women poo.

They probably would, only most people make the mistake of eating them instead.

Cougar has it.
First post that is

I have the Garmin vivofit 2. Purely because work were handing them out for free.

Good points:
– does encourage me to be more active and meet my daily step goal. It has a little lazy bar that fills up if you are too inactive which is an effective guilty reminder.
– syncs with Garmin Connect. Comes with ANT+ USB dongle to sync with my PC or can sync with my iPhone over Bluetooth.
– monitors movement during sleep to give you a nice summary of your sleep patterns.
– waterproof light and very comfy to wear. I never take it off and I hate watches.
– batteries apparently last for a year.
– does seem pretty accurate. I’ve been for walks counting my steps and it matches closely.

Bad points
– it’s basically a fancy pedometer. No GPS no built-in heart monitor (though it can talk to an HR strap)
– not convinced it can accurately track cycling

I think Garmin have a new one with built-in HR, that seems more useful.

Ta.
Anyone else?

Have had a Nike Fuel Band since 2012 or thereabouts. They don’t make them anymore but the app is great, it works well and I use it every day

Not fussed about targets or goals or trophies but I like to see how much I have (or haven’t) moved during the day

I have a vivosmart – echo most of what Graham has said above about a vivofit. Vivosmart also does some of the basic smart watch features too. The fact it vibrates every time I move away from my phone and loose bluetooth connection is a pain in the arse.

I went for the garmin as I was already using garmin cycling/swimming products and wanted all my data in one place. However I bought this for a departing non sport obsessed female colleague as a leaving present and she really likes it.

Are the Vivosmarts as light and unobtrusive as GrahamS suggests his is? I’m another that doesn’t wear a watch as I find them a bit uncomfortable. I could be tempted by one of these though.

Vivosmart is smaller/slimmer than a vivofit.

I’ve got a Vivosmart, bought the Vivofit for my GF last Christmas as an unsolicited present, fully expecting her to never use it.

She’s really got into it, doing more walking and the fact that she gets rewards through her company health scheme for meeting step targets helps. She’s bought about 10 different coloured bands to use it with too.

I use the vivosmart as a vibrating alarm each morning, bit of step tracking (but not that worried about it), reading phone notifications (e.g. call alerts) and text messages. It also links to ANT+ HR strap and tracks running distances pretty accurately once calibrated. All info gets uploaded to Garmin Connect via my phone. I mainly got it for the phone notifications so I don’t have to dig out a phone from a pocket while road riding to see who is calling/texting.

I’m with Kayak23 but I was thinking Age of Chance, to make it on-topic

Tell her there’s no short cuts and poke her in a wobbly bit.

This, oh please this. And possibly while being filmed.

I bought a Moov Now, paid for it months ago on a Kickstarter type thing, and just received it a few weeks ago. I guess it’s meant to be a sports band in that it tells you how active you have been and how badly I sleep. But what it also does is coach you while you’re running (or cycling but I haven’t used that bit yet) or talks you through a circuit training or boxing routine.

It’s quite smart, was rudely cheap ($40), is waterproof enough to swim with, but does need you to be carrying your phone with you (not while swimming) to hear its instructions.

It has a little lazy bar that fills up if you are too inactive which is an effective guilty reminder.

I’m more than capable of angst ridden self examination regarding the “need” for exercise, I really don’t need anything on my wrist to help me get there…

I’m more than capable of angst ridden self examination regarding the “need” for exercise, I really don’t need anything on my wrist to help me get there…

Indeed.

But it isn’t a “You should really run a marathon” type prompt.
It’s not even a “You should go to the gym this week” prompt.

It’s a “You’ve been sat still for an hour. Get up and walk about a bit” prompt.

I’ve found that little nudge surprisingly effective and I’ve now started to go for long walk every lunch time just to keep my mileage up and keep the lazy bar away for a while.

aha,

cool, although what I really need is something that shouts “Another biscuit?” loudly in a shreikingly accusatory voice until I put it down with a sigh.

I have A fitbit HR and really like it. Don’t use the HR function much but having a creep so you can check your progress without having to get your phone out is really handy. I would certainly say get something that at least shows your progress through the day.

My wife has a Mi fit which at £15 is a bargain but step count seems to be out a bit and no screen or lights to show your stepping progress, but then again it is only £15.

Garmin Vivofit are £40 at Wiggle: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/garmin-vivofit

And Vivosmarts are £79 at Currys/PC World at the moment.

(Note Vivosmarts need charging about once a week. Vivofits should last a year on one battery)

although what I really need is something that shouts “Another biscuit?” loudly in a shreikingly accusatory voice

I’d buy that – but I’d want the option to have a “not angry, just disappointed” voice 🙂

I have a FitBit Charge HR and really like it. It encourages me to walk more, I can track workouts (by setting it to record a session – and I can see my peak heart rate etc) and it also monitors sleep and heart rate (including resting heart rate).

I’d recommend one.

How about a withings activite?
Doesn’t do much compared to others, e.g. no gps, no HR.
Doesn’t look like a sports band – which may be a plus.

For lady stereotypes.

For man stereotypes.

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/11/withings-activite-review.html

http://www.withings.com/uk/en/store/details/activite-pop

That looks nice but features suffer. A bit of a case of form over function – and that rarely wins.

Didn’t realise you could get these to do heart rate. The moving thing doesn’t interest me much as I know I spend pretty much all day every bluddy day running round like a maniac. But the HR thing, especially resting HR and the sleep monitoring would be v interesting.

Which is the best model for HR monitoring? How do they work without a chest strap? Are they that accurate?

HR works by detecting the changes in colour as blood pulses through you – there are smartphone apps that use the light and camera to do the same. I think the wristband ones use an IR light.

They are pretty accurate, see the DC Rainmaker reviews. They have trouble with sports that involve lots of arm muscles, such as rowing.

The Garmin uses a sensor from Mio under licence I believe.

Yeah on mine (a Charge HR) they say to tighten it and push it slightly up the arm when exercising which felt a little uncomfortable at first but I have got used to it now.

I really find it useful to know how hard I have pushed myself on my regular 1 hr spinning sessions at the gym.