new Microsoft Fitness band

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Replies

  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    NextPage wrote: »
    Hi,

    I just contacted Microsoft and they have no clue when they will have the band available in Canada. I started using the Fitbit flex about 8 months ago and I'm now a bit obsessed with fitness technology. Does anyone have a suggestion for something that has the features of the Fitbit flex and an HRM (without a strap)?

    Depends how long you want to wait. Fitbit is releasing a new band next year that measures heart rate continuously, but again, that's the US release dated.
  • Upstate_Dunadan
    Upstate_Dunadan Posts: 435 Member
    I don't work for MS. My Band arrives on Tuesday. I would expect everyone to go out and review the product/reviews if they are interested. The backstory link I posted should also provide insight into the backing this product has at MS.
  • kCalCrusher
    kCalCrusher Posts: 54 Member
    sm4astan wrote: »
    I don't work for MS. My Band arrives on Tuesday. I would expect everyone to go out and review the product/reviews if they are interested. The backstory link I posted should also provide insight into the backing this product has at MS.

    Let me know how you like it. My heart rate seemed low compared to my Garmin so I checked the old fashioned way and it was right on. I've been thinking my resting heart rate was between 80-90 and today its between more like 65-70. Pleasantly surprised =)
  • I got my Microsoft Band today. So far I love it. I have a Garmin Forerunner 220 also and love that. I have only done one run with it so far, but in my first run I found it to be accurate and great data, including 2 things I don't get with the Garmin. I think I would still use the Garmin for certain workouts and races, but I am happy so far.
  • Upstate_Dunadan
    Upstate_Dunadan Posts: 435 Member
    For anyone wondering how the Band and MFP sync (as of right now) check out this thread from over at Windows Central -

    http://forums.windowscentral.com/microsoft-band/320444-myfitnesspal-band-you.html#post2839713
  • jaliving
    jaliving Posts: 57 Member
    To add to this thread, the new FitBit Charge HR does not do notifications from your phone. It only supports Caller ID. No email, no texts, no nothing. The FitBit Surge will support more notifications, although it seems to be much wider than normal wrist work fitness trackers. However, FitBit seems to be one of only two companies whose products sync Steps with MFP. Garmin, MS, and most others only sync Activities and Calorie Adjustments.
  • I received my MS Band on Monday. I love how it tracks my sleep and workouts. Clearly I am a snorer and am not getting the best night sleep I can. I compared the calories burned compared to the elliptical I was using and the actual was less. Totally okay with that. I have friends that have a fitbit and thought it was just a "don't forget to move" band since it was all fake and you could shake your hand to "walk" and get steps and such. I always said it was a good thing to keep you moving (as long as it was not to just move your wrist.) but would never get one until it had a heart rate monitor to truly get a real reading. Love it. Still learning the extra things it can do. Love the chart. Used the Starbucks tile this morning. The cashier was shocked. The vivo/vivosmart looks so ... 3 years ago. The MS Band has an actual screen. Don't get me wrong, I have a garmin 510 for my road bike, so that would work great that way.

    Based on this site, I wish I could put the calories I have eaten in or if it was tied to MFP directly. Go MS Band! Go get one! Go do stuff!
  • Raynne413
    Raynne413 Posts: 1,527 Member
    Unfortunately, I am returning my band. Even with the small, it is just huge on my wrist. The idea of trying to do kickboxing with it on scares me. LOL If I had it tight enough so that it wasn't moving around, it seemed to press just right on the tendons and veins to partially cut off circulation. I'm sad because I was SO excited about it and really interested in the features.

    The calories burned seemed off to me though. I put the band around 8:30, took two 10 minute walks (one of which I tracked as exercise and it said I burned 74 calories) and at 10:30, it said I had only burned around 240 calories for the DAY.
  • dunnodunno
    dunnodunno Posts: 2,290 Member
    Raynne413 wrote: »
    AMTirpak wrote: »
    Raynne413 wrote: »
    I ordered mine yesterday. . . I have a Fitness Band addiction. I've had:

    The original Jawbone Up (the one that was recalled)
    FitBit Ultra
    Basis Band
    Misfit Shine
    FitBit One
    Garmin Vivosmart (my current one)

    I plan on wearing the Microsoft Band and my Vivosmart at the same time to compare the numbers, and I'll use my heart rate monitor during workouts to compare with the MS results. I was planning on ordering the new FitBit, but with this release from MS, I got a little impatient. :) Can't wait to start testing it!

    I have the Garmin Vivofit. It's been my favorite so far. I'm curious about the discrepancy between the two as far as heart rate monitors. Let me know how it turns out!

    Will do. I really like the Vivosmart now that they have all of the initial horrid issues fixed (I originally want to run it over with my car LOL), but I liked the idea of the in-depth sleep analysis, being guided through workouts, and the 24/7 heart rate.

    Is the 24/7 heart rate on your wrist as accurate as a chest strap HRM?

  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    Fitbit Surge in my future. Done so many of the rest for the last few years and keep going back to my MotoActv from years back, but I've needed an update.
  • ssathya
    ssathya Posts: 2 Member
    I would have gone with Microsoft band but a Fitbit Flex was forced upon me by Microsoft along with my Lumia 830.

    Would love to know how Microsoft band works. Initial reviews seem to be mixed; s/w issues can be fixed over time but the width of the band - many people have raised concern about it.
  • Raynne413
    Raynne413 Posts: 1,527 Member
    ssathya wrote: »
    I would have gone with Microsoft band but a Fitbit Flex was forced upon me by Microsoft along with my Lumia 830.

    Would love to know how Microsoft band works. Initial reviews seem to be mixed; s/w issues can be fixed over time but the width of the band - many people have raised concern about it.

    It was REALLY uncomfortable for me, but I do have smaller wrists.
  • In a effort to bypass the adjustment issues can I just do the following each day?

    Take total caloric burn from MS band - MFP suggest caloric intake = extra calories available for consumption that day?
  • ZeroCooll21
    ZeroCooll21 Posts: 5
    edited November 2014
    dunnodunno wrote: »
    Is the 24/7 heart rate on your wrist as accurate as a chest strap HRM?


    Microsoft Band heart rate sampling frequency

    Exercise modes (Run and Workout): Heart rate records every second
    Sleep tracking : 2 minutes on, 8 minutes off. Repeats throughout duration
    All other times : 1 minute on, 9 minutes off, and repeating the cycle

    Chest strap HRM use electrical signals right from the source so its going to be your best bet. That being said all fitness tracker should be taken with a grain of salt. While it might not be as accurate as a full time chest strap it does give insight on changes throughout the day.
  • Upstate_Dunadan
    Upstate_Dunadan Posts: 435 Member
    In a effort to bypass the adjustment issues can I just do the following each day?

    Take total caloric burn from MS band - MFP suggest caloric intake = extra calories available for consumption that day?

    I'm using the Band and love how it integrates into MFP. At this time, it is only transferring over workouts to MFP to adjust daily calorie allowance. It does not transfer steps, but that's fine with me. A person's normal level of activity (which includes steps) is pretty easy to calculate (on average) so that (minus just a touch) is what I input in MFP. I then eat any extra calories I get from the Band passing my workouts to MFP. They how up as General Exercise. Theoretically, I believe if I were to burn through calories on my Band in excess of what MFP calculates (with Band exercise addition), then it would show as well as extra allowance under the Microsoft Health calorie adjustment that shows under Exercise. That's not happened yet, but I'm ok with it.

    So the only thing I think missing is counting steps if you are actively going on long walks, etc. for exercise, in which case I'd turn on your workout tracking before you start. If I just walk around the house and yard a bit more than yesterday, I don't care about tracking those extra 1-2 calories in MFP.
  • I'm getting two inputs from the band into MFP with the negative feature on. With a workout it adds calories to the bank but also puts a negative number that is greater. It doesn't matter how many calories it says are burned on the band it subtracts that number.

    My question is if MFP says my goal is to eat 1,380 calories, can I subtract the total burned calories for the day on the band from 1,380 to get how much extra calories are available?
  • indianwin2001
    indianwin2001 Posts: 296 Member
    herrspoons wrote: »
    What happens after strike 3? Do you go Bold and Caps on me?

    This poster perkins contributes nothing in his posts but negativity.Just ignore him
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    can it be worn in water? If not, it isn't useful to me.
  • Upstate_Dunadan
    Upstate_Dunadan Posts: 435 Member
    I'm getting two inputs from the band into MFP wie negative feature on. With a workout it adds calories to the bank but also puts a negative number that is greater. It doesn't matter how many calories it says are burned on the band it subtracts that number.

    My question is if MFP says my goal is to eat 1,380 calories, can I subtract the total burned calories for the day on the band from 1,380 to get how much extra calories are available?

    Is 1380 your base daily goal? You know you can actually set this to whatever you want?

    If 1380 is your base goal, and let's say the band says you've burned 1500, then yes, I think you could reasonably assume you have 120 more calories.

    If 1380 is what it says after adding or subtracting throughout the day, then no, I don't think you could easily calculate what's remaining.
  • Upstate_Dunadan
    Upstate_Dunadan Posts: 435 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    can it be worn in water? If not, it isn't useful to me.

    Not waterproof, no.
  • sm4astan wrote: »
    Is 1380 your base daily goal? You know you can actually set this to whatever you want?

    If 1380 is your base goal, and let's say the band says you've burned 1500, then yes, I think you could reasonably assume you have 120 more calories.

    If 1380 is what it says after adding or subtracting throughout the day, then no, I don't think you could easily calculate what's remaining.


    Gotcha, that answers my question. I wasn't sure if it was one of those its so simple it can't be type of things ^_^ The Up24 I've been using didn't report as many calories being expended so it was throwing me off.

    Yah I see you can adjust, until I see a nutritionist I'll just leave it be.

    Thanks man
  • earlnabby wrote: »
    can it be worn in water? If not, it isn't useful to me.

    If you're looking for a swim type one check out the Moov Fitness tracker.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited November 2014
    earlnabby wrote: »
    can it be worn in water? If not, it isn't useful to me.

    If you're looking for a swim type one check out the Moov Fitness tracker.

    I am looking to eventually upgrade to a fitness tracker that has an HRM. I have a fitbit flex which is water resistant and I am happy with it for now. None of the new fitbit models can be used in the water, so if I want to upgrade to one that includes an HRM I will need to go elsewhere. Unfortunately, the Moov does not have an HRM but it it looks really nice. I will keep that in mind if I need to replace my flex before they invent something that has all of the features I want.

    58841349.png

  • mcoombs79
    mcoombs79 Posts: 2 Member
    My only issue is my adjusted calories due to the workouts I do with the band do not show up in my mobile MFP app. I can only see that adjustment when I am on their full site. I do not have the negative adjustment set on MFP... that may be why. I'll keep you posted!
  • donnysoule
    donnysoule Posts: 1,185 Member
    got it..... use it...... LOVE it....
  • exmsde
    exmsde Posts: 85 Member
    I picked one up yesterday. So far so good. Took the dog out for a 3 mile hike and loved having that much information on my wrist. I've always worn a watch, and was wearing an LG G watch before this (and using a Fitbit One for fitness tracking) so it took me about an hour to forget I'd switched devices. But otherwise I could see the Band taking a day or two (or more if you hate things on your wrist) to get used to. HRM seems reasonably accurate based on historical experience (but not a direct comparison). Only thing I'm slightly bugged by is that it doesn't seem to have an altimeter, and I got used to using that as one of my tracking characteristics on the Fitbit One. With HRM capabilities I'll probably forget about not being able to count stairs :-)

  • cwlsr
    cwlsr Posts: 71 Member
    [/quote]

    You obviously have some interest in the product or you wouldn't keep posting in this thread....and irrelevant comments at that. Relax, you can still use it on your Android or Mac. Unlike those guys we play well with others.[/quote]

    I will keep it short! I believe I might be a better and fairer judge whether Microsoft plays well with others. My first computer was IBM's first personal/business computer the XT running Microsoft DOS operating system. I have observed Microsoft's behavior and been aware of their business practices since 1981. I respectfully disagree with what seems like a bias opinion since you are employed by them and are promoting their product. This opinion is not a judgment of their new product but of your characterization of Microsoft's behavior.
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
    AMTirpak wrote: »
    sm4astan wrote: »
    Have you seen the marketing video for the band? Shows a guy jumping out an airplane (skydiving) and the HRM going through the roof. I don't think it was simulated.

    Yeah..I work for Microsoft (I don't deal with the watches though). Its real. Theyve been dumping money into marketing so I'm sure we will be seeing a lot more commercials. I've had the FitBit, bodybug and Garmin...the Microsoft Band is my fave.

    What a coincidence… She works for Microsoft and her favorite fitness band is the Microsoft band.
  • I have the band, the hrm when I use in on a treadmill or elliptical is way way off. Today on treadmill it said 150bpm, I was at about 90. May be from motors, etc. Other than that, it's great. As for battery life I gave decided to charge it regularly when I am sedentary.
  • While I have been wearing the Band since it was released, and I love it, MFP seems to be posting all calories--and then some-- burned via the Microsoft Band. It's putting in a "microsoft health adjustment" in the 1500-2000 calorie range every day. This is a new problem, happening for the last week, and even occurs when I do not wear the Band or no longer have it linked to MFP through the Microsoft Health app. Does anyone else have this problem? How do I fix this, other than deleting the entry at the end of every day?
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