anyone own a cheapie fitness tracker that they like?

[slackerinabox]

I'm curious to try a fitness tracker but not curious enough to pay $100. How are these $20 cheapies (xiaomi, a few others on amazon)? I don't need many features, I just don't like exercising while holding my phone so s-health and my samsung's built in trackers are of little use (especially when it comes to sleep tracking)

 

[paperwastage]

sleep tracking by and large is useless...

you need a proper electrocardiogram to track your brain waves and sleep patterns (and a doctor to interpret the data)... these cheap devices only measure your body movements, and can be slightly/very inaccurate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysomnography





what features do you want? step counter (a simple $5 pedometer does the same thing and lasts longer), heart rate monitor, gps?...

 

[Ravynmagi]

I have the Nabu X, which is $50. So this is in between the cheapies and the expensive ones. I also had a Fitbit Force before it, but returned that because I felt $130 was more than I wanted to pay for an activity tracker.

The Nabu X is pretty decent. It's a basic activity tracker. Has no display, instead relays information with 3 LED lights that shine in 3 different colors. You double tap to get feedback on step goals (or other stats if you wish). The band itself is a nice soft rubber that is comfortable and easy to put on. I also like that it's IP67 water resistant, so you could shower with it if you'd like.

The hardware pretty much does everything that more expensive Fitbit does. But the software is where you start to realize you are getting what you pay for. It's the weak spot of this device. The main gripe I have is how slow the Fitness app is to update stats from the tracker. Often I have to wait minutes after opening to app to get the latest results. And you can't even tell if it's updated or if you are looking at old data. Updates have improved this some, but it still needs more work. The other complaint is a lack of social features. Apparently I can shake someone's hand to exchange Facebook information, but I don't want to do that. What I do want is to be able to add other Nabu X users to my Fitness app and be able to compare my stats with their's (like the Fitbit does), but that doesn't exist.

The Nabu X does have an open development platform, others can build apps for the Nabu X. Though so far there isn't very much going on in this area.

I bought two Nabu X's in March and both stopped charging within a few weeks. I've had to have Razer replace both, which took a couple weeks. I believe the new wristbands are a newer hardware revision and I'm hoping they don't suffer the same failure my first two did.

I'm mostly content with my Nabu X. I think it's worth a try.

 

[luv2liv]

my friend has the xiaomi miband. he likes it a lot. the LED also notifies you of incoming text/email/calls, so you can leave the phone in silent mode.
it must be very good cause when i ordered from ebay, the seller from china sent me a fake miband. he charged me the same price as the authentic one too!

 

[uallas5]

The Xiaomi Mi Band. If you're willing to wait, it can be had for less than $16 from China. Here's the Hot Deal thread about it:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2430522

I really like mine, if all you're worried about is the basics of steps/running tracking. It does this quite well. I much prefer it to my Fitbit flex. It's more comfortable to wear and the battery last an ungodly amount of time. I charged it when I got it 43 days ago and it's currently sitting at 22%. I don't use the alarm or phone notifications, so my battery life is probably extended beyond their listed 30 days (I find the vibration to be too weak to use the alarm).

I do use the secure unlock. The app doesn't think it's doing that as it's only really designed to work with one of their phones but the swipe to unlock is very convenient over the pin entry which my company's security software mandates. If I walk away from the phone and go out of bluetooth range I have to enter my pin to unlock.

Depending on how often you check the app, it can take anywhere from 30 seconds to almost instantly to update. Just pull down to force a refresh. There's been 2 app updates with firmware updates since I got it which is nice to know that it's actively supported for a cheap device.

I haven't noticed any real difference in the battery life on my S5.

 

[slackerinabox]

The Xiaomi Mi Band. If you're willing to wait, it can be had for less than $16 from China. Here's the Hot Deal thread about it:
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2430522

I really like mine, if all you're worried about is the basics of steps/running tracking. It does this quite well. I much prefer it to my Fitbit flex. It's more comfortable to wear and the battery last an ungodly amount of time. I charged it when I got it 43 days ago and it's currently sitting at 22%. I don't use the alarm or phone notifications, so my battery life is probably extended beyond their listed 30 days (I find the vibration to be too weak to use the alarm).

I do use the secure unlock. The app doesn't think it's doing that as it's only really designed to work with one of their phones but the swipe to unlock is very convenient over the pin entry which my company's security software mandates. If I walk away from the phone and go out of bluetooth range I have to enter my pin to unlock.

Depending on how often you check the app, it can take anywhere from 30 seconds to almost instantly to update. Just pull down to force a refresh. There's been 2 app updates with firmware updates since I got it which is nice to know that it's actively supported for a cheap device.

I haven't noticed any real difference in the battery life on my S5.

Thank you - ordered! What app do you use? Is it compatible with 3rd party apps or do you have to use the Xiaomi one? Is it full on chingrish or pretty solid?

 

[uallas5]

I just use the official app from Playstore though others have used 3rd party ones for better phone notifications, which I personally don't use so the regular app is fine for me. There isn't any chingrish though it is a pretty basic app.

 

[buddyr]

I am going to buy this one http://www.coolwearable.com/safeband
It is about 70 USD and has a lot of abilities.

 

[Zee]

mi band and i love it

 

[jhansman]

Although this thread is pretty old, it still came up on my "Mi band" search, so I'll see if I can resurrect it. Just got the Mi Band 2 for under $20, and so far I like it. It's HR monitor is as least as accurate as my Edge 7, and with the apps that now support it (especially Notify & Fitness for Mi Band), it provides quite a bit of info now. I did, however, sleep through the wake up alarm I set for it last night. My phone typically vibrates at wake up time, which bugs the wife, so I was hoping this gizmo would be a better solution. Anyone else have one, and if so, how does it serve you? TIA.

 

[jhansman]

Oops. Hit the wrong button. Mods-please delete this post if possible.

 

[uallas5]

My Mi Band 2 serves me quite well. Honestly the battery lasts so damn long that the last 2 times I needed to charge it, it ended up having run out when I'm away from home and don't have the charger LOL. I haven't used the heart rate monitor that much. When I did on the treadmill and I was also using a strap style heart monitor it tended to report my rate as too low in comparison. Steps seem quite accurate though. I haven't used the alarm at all so I can't help you there.

 

[TheActiveIndian.com]

The MI 2 Band is one of the cheapest fitness trackers available in the market today. Xiaomi has made a lot of improvements in this new band. The data - step tracker and sleep tracker is pretty much accurate.

I've used MI2 in the past but wanted a more Pro band and therefore got myself a Garmin Vivo HR+ to monitor my heart rate accurately as I do a lot of HIIT.

But yes MI2 is a good product that provides value for money. You can review more detailed reviews on various fitness bands my website - link in my username.

Hope that answers your question.

 

[core2slow]

fitness tracker has prove to be consistently useless. Get the cheapest one you could find and have fun with it.

 

[NutBucket]

I agree its pretty much a placebo effect if you will. Lots of steps = feel better about yourself.

I have a Fitbit flex which was under $50 refurb. Seems fine. The sleep thing is kinda pointless in the sense of it cannot identify restful sleep. Sometimes I move a lot but wake up refreshed and other times I hard move and wake up exhausted. It's not scientific but at least you can see how much time you devote to sleep?

 

[zerogear]

I'm using Xiaomi Mi Band 2 ($27) -- with Mi Band Tools ($4.00) and these two exports to Google Fit -- I'm also using Sleep as Android which links to Mi Band Tools

From all the trackers that I've used, most of the wrist heart rate tracking are inconsistent. Microsoft Band was quite good in this aspect, but it was bulky. Steps are accurate, alarm is vibration alarm -- depends on the person if you awake from it or not.

 

[jhansman]

Honestly, when my wife and daughter both got Fitbits, I thought it was just the latest fad. Now that I have the Mi 2 Band, it has become part of my consciousness. I walk more, pay more attention to how much sleep I'm getting (and the quality of it), and when I hike, monitor my pulse when I hit the steep trails. I'm glad it's on my wrist, and I'd buy it again in.....(wait for it, wait....) a heartbeat.