Following a full-on health and fitness daily regime, going to training, exercising at the gym or simply wanting to make sure that you stay healthy and keeping track of your daily activities, here are 5 best health and fitness wristbands to get you started.Generally, these wristbands perform the following functions:
activity tracker (rest, moving or sleeping)
pedometer or step counter calculates the steps taken and distance traveled
calories burned, moving and resting time
sleep monitor lets you see you sleep pattern at night
set goals (sleep, steps, exercise, calories burned, distance traveled)
most devices are water proof so you can take this to swimming and shows time of the day
log and sends this wirelessly to an App (and/or) Internet portal so you can access your personal dashboard and track your activities either online or via an app
We will look at the following and how they compare:
Garmin Vivofit £86.32
Fitbit Flex £74
Misfit Shine £99.95
Polar Loop £66.91
Jawbone UP £79
Garmin Vivofit (RRP £99.99) Online £86.32
The Garmin Vivofit Wireless Fitness Wrist Band and Activity Monitor is a stylist, lightweight, comfortable and waterproof (50m) health watchband with over 1 year battery life.
Time
Steps taken, Distance travelled, Calories burned and Activity Tracker
Goal countdown
Inactivity alert (learn your activity level) with red bars appearing if you sit still for too long
Monitors your sleep
Online dashboard
Battery life over 1 year
Colours available: Black, Blue, Purple, Slate, Teal
Assigns a personalised daily goal and monitor your progress, reminds you to move – the longer you are inactive, the more red bars appear). Wirelessly sync Vivofit with Garmin Connect, a free on-line fitness community portal. The online dashboard shows your progress and allows you to track your activity between training sessions.
Also available Vivofit with Heart Rate Monitor, the Vivofit can be paired with a heart rate monitor (available to purchase separately) for use when you are taking part in fitness activities.
Rating: 3.9 Stars
Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity Tracker and Sleep Wristband (RRP 79,99) £74
This is a straight forward wristband with no screen but has a series of LED indicator. It records the steps taken, distance traveled and calories burned. It record the active minutes as well as the sleep hours including the quality of your sleep. You can also set a silent wake alarm to when you are ready to get up and start your day. The band is water resistant so you can take it outdoor. Use the online and mobile tool to set and track your goals as well as interact with others and see how you perform on a leader-board.
step counter, distance, calories burned and active minutes
monitor how long and how well you sleep
silent wake alarm
LED lights show your daily progress against your goals (also notifications and milestones)
Set goals, view progress and earn badges. Share and compete with your friends
Syncs automatically via Bluetooth with mobile devices and computer
Log food, weight, and more on Fitbit website (dashboard) or apps (iOS and Android)
NFC enabled, launches Fitbit app by tapping (Android only)
Colours available: black, slate, lime, navy blue, pink, teal and violet.
Fitbit Flex also works with other fitness apps, Sparkpeople, LoseIt!, MyFitnessPal, MapMyFitness, Runkeeper and Endomondo. Supplied with the actual Flex tracker, one small and one large wristband, charging cable, wireless USB dongle and Fitbit account. You can buy three pack accessory bands in teal, tangerine and navy.
Rating: 4 Star
MisFit Shine (RRP £99.95)
Here is a rather conventional looking wristband in a typical watch profile minus the digital or analogue clock face. Instead, you get a shiny metal disc made from air craft grade aluminium with LED indicators arranged in a circular fashion. The Shine tracks your daily steps, calories used during sports such as swimming, cycling, running and football. Available in Black, Topaz, Champagne and Chrome. Removable from the rubber wrist band, you can also attach this to a necklace as a fashion accessory
Tells the time
Calculate steps, distance travelled, calories burned and sleep monitor (light, deep)
Activity tracker (cycling, swimming, scoccer, tennis)
Water resistant to 50 m
Syncs via Bluetooth to Shine app (iOS and Android) where you can set goals, view stats, trends and insights
Battery life 4 months (coin cell battery)
Rating: 3.8 Star
Polar Loop Activity Tracker (RRP £79.50) £66.91
The Polar Loop lets you track your daily activities using motion analysis technology. You can set targets for yourself by choosing the different levels of activity from low to high intensities and work towards them.
Tells the time
Steps counter, distance traveled, calories burned, monitor quality of sleep (restful, restless and percentage restful)
Rest, sitting and daily activities tracker
Inactivity alert with Polar Flow mobile app (iOS and Android)
Syncs to Polar Flow mobile app via Bluetooth or custom USB cable
Keeps 12 days of activity data
Waterproof for swimming
Provides guidance and motivation, Training Diary on Polar Flow web service and app
Battery life: 5 days (rechargeable with USB cable included)
Accessory: H6 and H7 Bluetooth heart rate sensor
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Jawbone UP Fitness Tracking Wristband (RRP£79) £79
Designed to look more like a piece of jewellery or accessory, the Jawbone UP hides the fact that it is a piece of fitness tech very well. The step counter works together with the UP app (iOS and Android to show you if you have reached your goals, motivates you to perform better, compares your performance to other users (the UP community) and track your history.
It also monitors your sleep and tells you how much deep sleep you had in the night and how long you’ve slept for. The wristband can be set to vibrate as a wake up alarm. Available in three sizes; small, medium and large and in three colours; Onyx Black, Mint Green and Bright Blue, it does have a certain appeal in its design.
Track your activities: track distance, steps, calories burned, time spend active vs idle
Track your sleep (light vs deep sleep)
Log your food and water intake, take photo of your food, scan a barcode, browse UP gallery or search the database to help track your calories, fats, carbohydrates, protein, sugar, fiber and sodium intake.
Set daily goals, and work towards this, tracking your progress over time.
Wake alarm and Idle alerts
App also provides insight, tips and help to achieve your goals.
Battery Life: 10 days
Rating: 3 Stars
Others:
Fitbug Orb (RRP £49.95)
One of the affordable fitness tracker, the Fitburg Orb syncs with KiK, your personal digital coach that lets you set weekly step targets, reminders and event sends you encouragements, The device works by sending daily activity stats wirelessly to the Fitbug app. Available in Black, Pink and White.
Rating: 3.7 Stars
Sole GO! Fitness Band (RRP 89.99) £77
Typical features; steps taken, calories burned, distance traveled are all logged on the band. When you go to sleep, it monitors and breaks down your sleep pattern. As with all the other Fitness wristbands featured here, you can set goals (targets) even for steps, exercise, calories burned, distance and even sleep on the device.
There is also a dedicated exercise mode and an alarm to notify you if you haven’t moved for a while. Syncing via Bluetooth with a smartphone it also pulls weather information which is quite neat.
Sony Mobile SWR10 SmartBand Activity Tracking Wristband £65.25
Sony Smartband works with Lifelog Android App (Android 4.4 or later) to track your daily activity. Yes, not just your fitness and health activities but your social and entertainment life as well. It also notifies you of incoming call and message through vibration alert and lets you ‘bookmark’ special moments in your day by pressing the Life Bookmark key. The device is waterproof (IPS58 rated) and also works as a media remote (tap function).
Lifelog app and Sony SmartBand tracks not only your physical activity but your social and entertainment moments as well. It tracks where you have been, what pictures you took, where, when and how you communicate with your world.
Steps counter (running or walking), calculate speed,
Sleep monitor (sleep pattern), monitor body movements and calculates and measures the best time to wake you up
Wake up alarm (silent vibration)
Set daily goals, monitor your progress and challenge yourself to perform better.
3 LED indicator lights up to show that the SmartBand is active
Bluetooth Sync and NFC pairing, Micro USB for charging
Three pack colour wrist straps are available as option[Red/Blue/Black - DarkGreen/LightPink/White - Purple/Yellow/Pink ]
Rating: 3.9 Stars
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