Gadgetory

every mile every calorie every rep when you're working hard it all counts and everything has to be accurate I'm I'm going to be better with pocket now and this is PocketNow fitness you'd be shocked at the amount of requests we get every single day of people asking us to recommend a good wearable for fitness surely this is the era of smartwatches and fitness trackers but not every one of these products is designed to address all the needs of somebody that wants to take Fitness seriously so just like we review smartwatches and smartphones we've decided to create a separate segment that only focuses on the fitness capabilities of a specific wearable this is episode 1 of PocketNow fitness and we decided to start it off with the Microsoft band like its predecessor the second-generation Microsoft band continues to be a polarizing product it looks far better than the previous model but continues to stand in between being a SmartWatch and being a fitness tracker out of the box you get the band two front and center and inside you're greeted with a lot of literature and a proprietary magnetic charging and sync table it's curved design invites you to use it on your dominant hand as you would a fitness tracker but the problem is that even its hefty size and weight we doubt that you'll also want to use a regular watch on your non-dominant wrist because of the amount of bulk you'll be carrying it is a heavy product and the battery enclosure within the class mechanism makes it even more uncomfortable when trying to flex your wrist to make matters worse none of the components of the band are replaceable and within just a few weeks of wear and tear we really wonder if this van will be able to withstand the full year of use on the positive front the bevy of sensors hidden within makes up for a lot of its shortcomings this is one of the few smart wearables out there with a combo of a built-in GPS an active optical heart rate sensor and even a UV sensor for your skin in addition to the usual accelerometer gyro ambient light sensor and others it's also one of the few wearables that supports almost all the smartphone and computer platforms out there and even better you don't really need to carry your phone on a run for the band to work as it'll simply sync your data with your device or computer once you're done all this combo of specifications proved to be a mixed bag when using the Microsoft band 2 while training the device doesn't really have much memory so this means a few limitations that are rather annoying on one hand you're limited to only 13 live tiles of usage options which you can switch around within the companion application but which limit the things you're able to track at the same time that low memory also means you should sync your band continuously and if you decided to leave your phone at home you won't be able to use the band too for carrying music which is rather sad point that aside the Microsoft band 2 is extremely accurate for most of the trainings that I used it for on an average day I start with a four to six mile run followed by an hour of weight training and then 30 minutes of spinning to discharge and my experience was rather good running is definitely one of the devices strong points a band to does take a while to catch on GPS signal but it's smart enough to allow you to start running while it finds the satellites once you're on the road you'll notice that it's very accurate at calculating your mileage your average pace and the ammo that display is just perfect when trying to read your stats on the go the heart rate sensor is also fairly accurate when compared to the polar 870s strap and you know what I'll admit that even with the awkward design I was never bothered by the feel of the band - during my 6 mile run and I can't really say the same about a chest strap indoor cycling or spinning with this device is also rather Pleasant just like when running the heart rate sensor is fairly accurate and monitors your whole workout and I really didn't feel bothered by the band - at any time and again the display is also very pleasant to use as the numbers are very easy to read while you're training probably the only activity where I truly didn't like the Microsoft band - was with weight training the class mechanism is simply too uncomfortable when doing dips and pretty much most of the reps you do whenever you have to use your arms the band - would definitely benefit from moving the battery to the top of the unit since flexing your wrist is a downward movement that you have to do all the time this activity even affects the accuracy of the heart rate sensor which was around a hundred calories below the polar h7t when weight training speaking of the battery this is also something you truly have to consider when buying the Microsoft band - on an average day when you don't train the bent could pretty much last up to two days but Microsoft only commits to 5 hours of battery life when tracking yourself with a GPS and that was about right if you're like me and you're runway trained and then spin on one day the band is most likely gonna survive but this is no triathletes wearable the Microsoft band 2 also tracks other fitness activities like golf and even when you sleep and the Microsoft web application is rather complete and giving you a full training session when working out the only question left is if you're really willing to use the band too when sleeping for example as again it's not the most comfortable wearable out there and the battery doesn't last more than just a few days overall using the Microsoft band 2 was good but this product just isn't for me your mileage may vary but my bad experiences with weight training were enough of a deal-breaker for my needs at $250 and considering the things that it can do right and the storage limitation that it has I'd rather buy a garmin vivoactive for a little less money on Amazon and with a chest strap included if you're invested in the Windows Phone platform your choices are rather narrow but if you're on any other platform you might want to skip and wait for the Microsoft band 3 or by any other wearable out there the only problem is that other competing wearables are either not as smart or not as good as the Microsoft band 2 when it comes to fitness anyways that's it for episode 1 of PocketNow fitness we do hope you like this segment and be sure to share if you liked it in the comments down below and by giving this video a thumbs up if you like what you saw I am hi Midori better thank you very much for watching and please don't forget to follow us on social media and subscribe to our youtube channel as well we will see you on the next video