UA Band and Fitness Trackers

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jordanacrowder
jordanacrowder Posts: 6 Member
edited April 2016 in Fitness and Exercise
I recently received a UA Band Fitness tracker. I am just trying to figure out the usefulness of it. I still have to use MapMyHike to track my workouts anyway otherwise the band would just log a long slow walk. MapMyHike doesn't seem to actually connect to the UA Band at all, whenever I try to it just disables my bands ability to connect completely. It only monitors resting heart rate without the strap, so does my iPhone with the Heart Rate app.

This just seams to be a gloried pedometer and doesn't seem to offer anything in addition to the apps and step tracking already use on my phone. The data from both the iPhone and the Band when using steps, heart rate app, sleep cycle, is very similar. I thought it would be useful for sending me notifications to get up and move to reach my goals, but it doesn't even do that. It just seems to be another thing i have to carry around with me and another app I have to use.

Did I just buy a $180 pedometer? If anyone has one, please help me see the benefit. Sorry if I'm writing it off, it's just my first impression so far, feeling buyer's remorse. I also think that maybe a tracker that has continuous HR as well as floors climbed may be more beneficial to me. Thanks in advance for your advice.

[Mod Note: Topic has been moved from another forum]

Replies

  • alikonda
    alikonda Posts: 2,358 Member
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    jordanacrowder wrote: »
    I recently received a UA Band Fitness tracker. I am just trying to figure out the usefulness of it. I still have to use MapMyHike to track my workouts anyway otherwise the band would just log a long slow walk. MapMyHike doesn't seem to actually connect to the UA Band at all, whenever I try to it just disables my bands ability to connect completely. It only monitors resting heart rate without the strap, so does my iPhone with the Heart Rate app.

    This just seams to be a gloried pedometer and doesn't seem to offer anything in addition to the apps and step tracking already use on my phone. The data from both the iPhone and the Band when using steps, heart rate app, sleep cycle, is very similar. I thought it would be useful for sending me notifications to get up and move to reach my goals, but it doesn't even do that. It just seems to be another thing i have to carry around with me and another app I have to use.

    Did I just buy a $180 pedometer? If anyone has one, please help me see the benefit. Sorry if I'm writing it off, it's just my first impression so far, feeling buyer's remorse. I also think that maybe a tracker that has continuous HR as well as floors climbed may be more beneficial to me. Thanks in advance for your advice.

    First off, you probably want to post this in the Fitness category as this isn't really a contentious/debate topic.

    In any case: Pretty much @ glorified pedometer. I like it because I don't carry my phone everywhere, so a wearable step tracker is more convenient for me, and I kinda like the UA Record full-day view. I also have the UA HRM, which works nicely with the band, showing coloured lights for various heartrate zones. This is the first HRM that seems to give me accurate readings, so it's nice to know that I can try some HR training in my running, and I don't have to carry my phone for that. So I look like a geek when I head out on my runs (GPS watch on one wrist, UA band on the other) but at least I have lots of tasty data! =P

    I *loved* my Jawbone UP and thought it had some better customization options, but the bands just. kept. dying. I have only had the UA Band for a little over a month, but I'm hopeful it'll live longer than the average UP.

    If you're not getting idle notifications, it's probably because you don't have it set up correctly in UA Record. In the upper right corner, you can tap UA Sync -> UA Band and adjust your Preferences from there.
  • jordanacrowder
    jordanacrowder Posts: 6 Member
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    Thanks alikonda! I appreciate the feedback.

    Anyone here have experience with the Garmin Vivosmart HR?

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