10 Things To Consider Before Buying Your Fitness Gadget

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Getting into shape, losing weight, and moving more each day are all really tough to do. An activity tracker can help, though. Seeing how much exercise you get (or don't get), day-by-day and week-by-week, can motivate you to start taking the stairs more or walking the dog an extra lap around the block. At the very least, it will make you more mindful of your present activity level, which is a huge first step to getting fit.

 

The best fitness trackers on the market today are highly evolved cousins of pedometers from yesteryear. They're smarter, more accurate, and do a whole lot more than measure how much you walk. Paired with a companion Web account, mobile app, and maybe a few auxiliary devices, they give you better insight into the habits that make up your lifestyle, including sleep, calorie consumption, heart rate, blood pressure, and more. And many fitness tracker are waterproof for swimming.

But not all of them track everything you'd expect, and not all are worth your money. If you're shopping for your first activity tracker, We encourage you to find one that will be best for you and your needs. Take a look at our advice for how to choose a fitness tracker.

Fitness Band Type

Fitness Band Type

What form factor do you want? Activity trackers are usually bracelets, watches, or clip-on devices.
Bracelets and watches are hard to lose, which is good. Bracelets and watches can get in the way, though, like when you type on a computer or wash dishes, and they're not always eye-catching accessories to your outfit. Clip-on devices are smaller and can be worn discreetly on a belt loop or can be cliped on to your shirt pocket. For eg Jawbone UP24.

Activity
 

Activity

Many devices are well suited for counting how many steps you take in a day, whether you're puttering around the house or jogging. Many of them also track your sleep (more on that in a moment). But they are not generally ideal devices for gathering deep data about sports activities, such as running, cycling, or swimming. Sports watches are often more expensive and include GPS tracking capabilities and other sensors that measure things like pace and cadence. That kind of data collection is much more complicated than simply using a three-axis accelerometer (what most activity trackers use) to count your steps. For eg TomTom Multi-Sport.

Cardio

Cardio

Speaking of heart-rate monitoring, there's a whole class of fitness gadgets that are just heart-rate monitors (HRMs), although you can also buy activity trackers that come with an HRM built-in. Advances in technology for heart-rate monitoring have made it possible to do away with the chest strap variety and measure heart rate right through your skin. One activity tracker, the Withings Pulse O2, can read your heart rate through your fingertip.

Sleep Data

Sleep Data

Many activity trackers record your sleep. When they do, they generally watch for movement using a three-axis accelerometer to a more sensitive degree than they do during the day. You often have to log your bedtime and waking time, or put the device into and out of sleep-tracking mode. In the morning, you'll see a report showing when you rolled over or moved enough to be counted as awake. For eg MIO Link.

Apps

Apps

The app (whether it's a mobile app or Web app) is absolutely vital because it is how you actually make sense of the information the tracker collects. Fitbit's app and website, and part of the reason is it lets you record all kinds of data that an activity-tracking device itself can't, such as the number of calories you consume or your blood pressure. If you need to get a total body analysis, you might want to look for a system that can incorporate a smart bathroom scale, and both Fitbit and Withings do. For eg Jawbone UP24.

Battery

Battery

You wouldn't go in for a fitness band which would die by the end of the day and require charge frequently. Generally we would recommend a fitness band with a battery life of 4 days or a week at most. Some fitness bands can last till 10 days or even a month if they are powered by a coin cell battery. For eg Garmin Vivosmart.

Body

Body

Before purchasing a fitness band you would consider a fact, which is does this fitness band only target a certain body part or a certain body activity. Such as fitness band can also calculate how much are you sweating or loss of protein, not necessarily your heart or any other body organ.

Comfort Factor

Comfort Factor

Fitness bands and Fitness watches can be distractfull while washing your face or some dishes. You need to buy a band or watch in which you would feel comfortable in. Material used can also be a major factor along with the design. Some users have felt that their fitness watches are too big on their hands.

Price

Price

One of the major factor would be price too. If your fitness band or watch would cost more than your budget then its not worth having a fitness band having such a high price tag. After all a budget friendly fitness band would be apt for you.

Compatibility

Compatibility

Your fitness band should be compatible with all gadgets such as smartphones, PC's. As all fitness bands have bluetooth in-built in them and have android OS running on them. So basically you won't face much problems from them and with bluetooth you can transfer all your data in the blink of an eye.

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