Microsoft Band

wearables

It looks good, but the reviews are mixed to negative. See here: Microsoft band reviews.

vorn182

Yes I've lost interest.  Looks like I'll be sticking with my Pebble.

Tobers

I put up a review here (actually photography related!):

Tracking Twickenham Shoot with a Microsoft Band - Tobinators

Yes, as soon as it is in range of your phone it syncs over bluetooth and the data appears in the app on your phone for detailed analysis. The Band displays a summary of your activities as well.

bellso

Really liking my band [friend grabbed me 1 whilst in the USA back in November] - but not really as a health tracker. Use it more for it's notifications.

The guided mini workouts are quite cool for a coach potato like me [2 young kids = no energy or time for gyms!]. I can see a version 2 being a lot more polished though - and i guess will be sold Worldwide??

vorn182

So, I decided to get one of these. I got one brand new from eBay.

My initial thoughts are very positive, it works perfectly, does exactly what it is supposed to.

I'd read reviews where it was taking 7 minutes to lock on to gps, mine locks as quick as my Garmin watch which is usually less than a minute.

The heart rate monitor was also complained about, it seems pretty accuse to me, again I tend to use a Garmin strap so I've got a decent idea of what to expect from my heart rate, and so far it seems fine.

As for comfort, I hardly notice mine, I can't decide whether to wear it on the inside or outside of my wrist, I went for a medium and have not felt uncomfortable at all, at night it doesn't bother me in bed either.

Microsoft health is pretty cool, I've found my sleep pattern to be the most interesting to look through but the more I play with it, the more interesting things get.  I never thought I would be bothered about a steps count, but I'm finding myself checking it to try and reach my goal, which can only be a good thing for the health conscious.

Notifications work well, coming from a pebble it's much the same, I've got an iPhone so don't have the luxury of using cortana or the new keyboard, but I've read that it all works well.  It's much easier to read the screen when it's on the inside of my wrist.

Battery seems to last as well as quoted, I haven't done too much gps work yet, but for general use it seems fine.

I've not tried the guided workouts yet, but will do soon hopefully!

My only concern so far is the build of the Band. I have had mine a couple of days and the bezel around the screen has already picked up some light scratches, I should have put a screen protector on from the start... But too late now.  Reading other forums, this seems to be a problem with them, a bit of gorilla glass would have solved this so I expect the next Band to have it.  

The rest of it feels very premium to me, it makes me wonder whether I should be wearing something like this all the time and at work etc... But that was the point of it I guess.

brumhee

On sale in the UK from 15th April for £170.

Not sure about this for me at the moment. A guy at work has a Geat S which seems more along the lines of what I would be after. Personally not interested in the 'health' aspects.

oasismark

This is sparked my interest, i have a pebble, but wanted more from a smart watch, so i was going to get the apple watch, but this seams to do a lot more for half the price.

Yes i wont get answer calls or reply to txt, but it will it least tell me if i need to answer a call or reply to a txt urgently.

mjward

Doh. I've just ordered a Fitbit Surge yday ... Couldn't see a UK release date for the Band but it does look an excellent bit of kit. Might buy one for the Mrs for comparison reasons only

vorn182

Replying to texts etc is only on windows phones which is a shame, notifications work more or less the same as a Pebble on iOS.

oasismark

Yep not as good as apple watch but better than nothing.

Regarding scratches & scuffs, with phones, there's always the initial 'dont even breath on it' few days/weeks, then you normally get a case, and by a few months you don't really care about small dinks, as long as the screen is ok.

Phone are kept in pockets, but all smart watches are going to be warn out there where they WILL get knocks and dints, all the time.

At £180 i think i can accept its gonna be a used product, that wont stay box fresh all the time, i will wear it for football, and expect it to get knocks.

At £340 for the apple watch i think id be more protective and certainly take it off for football.

BTW if you pre-order from the MS store, you get a free £10 screen protector, from today up till launch i think.