Buying a smart watch or a fitness tracker bracelet is a fashion trend. Today, such gadgets are purchased not only by athletes, but also by those who want to look stylish and modern. Often such buyers pay attention only to the brand and appearance of the watch, while skipping the selection based on technical characteristics and set of functions.
A health bracelet can become more than just a stylish accessory. It can help in planning time, tracking the effectiveness of physical activity, and drawing up a training plan. The article provides a list of the best fitness bracelets according to Sports.ru. Among the proposed options, it is easy to choose the model that will be the best for you.
Introduction
A more popular name for such devices and devices is “Fitness trackers”, from the English word “to track, tracking” - to monitor, monitor. And the word fitness in the name means that they are intended to record your sporting achievements, but not only. Such sensors will help you monitor the number of steps, distance traveled, calories burned, and so on. As practice has shown, the most convenient form factor, which does not annoy you, does not take up space and is practically invisible both during daytime activity and during sleep, is a bracelet. This smart fitness bracelet will be our test subject today.
Waterproof
One of the important selection criteria is the presence of moisture protection in the device. Many may think that this is relevant for swimmers or water sports enthusiasts, but do not forget that there is always a risk of getting caught in the rain, and no one takes an umbrella with them for a run in the park. In addition, any athlete sweats during training, and even if the straps of budget models are usually made of hypoallergenic material, the tracker itself may not be protected in any way. This means that over time it can fail if it is not protected from moisture. Thus, when choosing, it is better to give preference to a waterproof fitness tracker.
Another point related to moisture protection: when purchasing, you should clarify what exactly the device is protected from. There are different levels of protection - just from splashes, from water in the pool, or full protection from salty sea water with the ability to dive to great depths.
How fitness bracelets work
First of all, it’s worth making a short introductory excursion into the principle of operation of a fitness bracelet. How exactly is the most ordinary bracelet without wires, antennas and external sensors capable of collecting information about your activity and even sleep? Of course, everything depends on electronics. Each bracelet is equipped with an accelerometer, a kind of spatial positioning sensor. It consists of two boards and a counterweight placed between them. When the body moves, the load begins to move, and in contact with the electronics allows it to read information about the position of the object in three-dimensional space, and as a result, about your activity or inaction.
We will talk about the method of reading heart rate data in the second part of the article, but for now, I will only say that we will not choose the best fitness bracelet, since each user chooses objective evaluation criteria for himself. For some it’s autonomy, for others it’s functionality, for others it’s high standards of dust and moisture protection, etc. Our task here is to make a small comparison of fitness bracelets and understand what opportunities they provide to the user.
Sleep analysis
Sleep monitoring is gradually becoming one of the basic functions of trackers. However, there is still a lot of debate about the benefits of this option. One thing is clear - those who wear bracelets around the clock will be able to receive detailed information about their sleep. In this case, we are talking not only about the number of hours, but also about the phases of night rest. Moreover, expensive models can not only wake up the user at the right time with soft vibration, but also independently calculate the phases and optimal time of awakening so that the owner of the device wakes up rested and fresh.
How to set up a fitness bracelet
Immediately after purchasing and unpacking a fitness bracelet, you will often not be able to use it right away. But there’s nothing scary about it, everything is extremely simple. Some bracelets need to be registered on the manufacturer's website before you start using them. Other bracelets do not have a display, and information from them can only be read and analyzed by pairing with a smartphone or computer, which will take some time. And in general, any electronic device needs to be charged before use.
Setting up a fitness bracelet is quite easy. Charged and ready to go, you place it on your arm. Download the proprietary application to your smartphone and turn on Bluetooth. When you first launch the application, the program will establish a connection with the bracelet and prompt you to enter user data or register with a proprietary service, depending on the manufacturer. If the connection with the bracelet is not established automatically, you need to go to the application, enter “settings”, click “connection” and the smartphone will search and pair with the bracelet within a few seconds. Next, you will often need to enter some of your anthropometric data, such as height, weight and age. At the end, you may be asked to set a goal - that is, for example, the number of steps per day that you should take, so that you know what result to strive for. That's probably all. Registration will be completed, the application will go into normal mode and begin reading data from the bracelet.
What types of devices are there and how do they differ?
Based on functionality, bracelets are divided into 2 types:
- Fitness trackers. They are devices with a basic set of options. They help measure the number of steps taken during the day, monitor sleep, and count your pulse. They look like thin straps or clips. Some models can be used in conditions of high humidity.
- Smart watch. Combines the functions of a tracker and a watch. The gadget synchronizes with a smartphone, which allows you to receive messages, answer calls, and open mobile applications. You can use some smartwatch models without connecting them to your phone.
