Update: this stopped working completely after a couple of months. Would not purchase again.
Original review: I mainly wanted this as a sleep tracker for when I travel. I have a Beautyrest sleep tracker under my mattress, which gives detailed and surprisingly accurate info on what time I fell asleep, what time I woke up, whether/when/for how long I woke up in the night, and how much deep, light, and REM sleep I got. (I was skeptical of its ability to detect REM sleep, but sure enough after a few years of use, every time I wake up remembering one of my dreams, that tracker showed I woke up from REM sleep.)
I wore this new tracker for a week while also using the Beautyrest sleep tracker in my bed and compared the results. First thing to know is that this didn’t record any sleep at all unless I had it strapped to the inside of my wrist, although it can detect heart rate even when worn as a watch. This can be uncomfortable as is easy to inadvertently press the button and make it vibrate. Second thing is that it divides sleep into light and deep only, and I’m not sure how it’s defining those terms. The amount of deep sleep it counted each night was significantly more than the deep sleep the Beautyrest tracker counted, but less than the sum of deep and REM sleep the Beautyrest tracker counted, if that makes sense. Third thing is that this tracker gave me higher numbers for total sleep every night that I used it. One night, it was only 3 minutes higher, which is nothing. But another night, it was 56 minutes higher. On average, this tracker recorded 22 minutes more sleep per night than the Beautyrest tracker did. And while the Beautyrest app gives me precise estimates of times I fell asleep and woke up, so that I can compare it with external sources (e.g. I remember falling asleep halfway through that hourlong episode I started at 10, which tracks with it saying I fell asleep at 10:34, and I know I got up with my alarm at 6, which tracks with it saying I woke up then), the app for this sleep tracker doesn’t give me that info. (It gives you “average” times you fell asleep and woke up, so I guess you get that precise estimate the first time you use it, but then never again. Poor app design rather than limits of the device, I guess.) So I’m inclined to think it’s less accurate than the Beautyrest one I’ve been using.
The heart rate readings appear to be low. I compared it with the results from a fingertip pulse oximeter that also has a heart rate monitor; after a bit of light exercise, this device gave me a reading of only 83 bpm, while the fingertip pulse ox gave me a reading of 115! After I sat down to take that measurement, I remained seated while I tried to measure my heart rate manually, putting a finger on my wrist while timing myself for a minute. I came up with 99 bpm, which seems to validate the other device that read 115–I was resting now. I then measured myself again with this device and the pulse ox, still sitting, and got numbers that were much closer–96 bpm from this one, 100 from the other one. But why would the numbers on this one go UP after I’d been resting? I don’t think I trust this data.
The good news is the step tracker is pretty close. I measured myself walking 40 steps and it counted 41. But it’s annoying that you can’t see it count up as you walk; you have to open the step function, check the number, walk, then open it and check it again. And it doesn’t always refresh right away.
You have to create a profile to access your data on the app, and you have to manually sync it each time. You can only see remaining battery life of the device on the app, not on the device itself, though it does appear to last well over 24 hours on a full charge.
Overall I’d say this is a bit like a cheap home scale that doesn’t agree with the one in your doctor’s office. If you’re using it as a rough guide to help track your progress, or to game-ify your fitness goals, it might work for you. But if accuracy is important, spend the extra money to get something better.
Genie - Research Bot
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