There is a whole new trend of smart bands prevalent is the tech market these days. It’s become a norm to get hold of a smart band with a smart phone to make your life even smarter. But to pick the right, you need guidance about the specifications and features of smart bands.
Here are your top 5 features you need to check before making a purchase decision:
Multimedia
The multimedia capabilities of smart bands are severely limited compared to the capabilities of smartwatches – almost always they are simply not designed to, for example, make voice calls and play music. And the battery will not last long.
But some models compare favorably with analogs by the presence of precisely these functions. Should you buy a band with a microphone and speaker? We would not recommend doing this – if this functionality is important for you, it would be better to choose the right smartwatch after all.
GPS, NFC and Bluetooth
Unlike smartwatches, bands are equipped with much weaker batteries, so it is almost impossible to find a model with GPS support on sale – the GPS module of a smartphone is almost always used for positioning.
With NFC, it would seem that the situation should be better, but no, bands are also equipped with an NFC chip very rarely. Fortunately (or unfortunately), contactless payment systems are poorly developed in Belarus, and for almost nothing else, NFC in bands is not used, so this is not a very important parameter.
But it’s worth paying attention to the Bluetooth version. The fresher it is, the less battery power the device will consume during communication sessions with a mobile phone (and they occur regularly). We would not recommend buying a band with Bluetooth version older than 4.0 LE.
Battery
Some smart bands last for weeks on a single charge, while others only last for a few days. Naturally, we are talking about standby mode, in which the device does not actively monitor the owner’s performance. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to the parameter that shows the operating time in active mode. The number of hours that the battery can provide in this mode is not indicated by all manufacturers, but usually this time will be enough for any sports workout, so you should only worry if you are a professional athlete. Huawei fitness band 4 should be your best pick if you want to enjoy a longtime battery timing.
The charging method should be mentioned separately. It will be better if it is wireless charging (rare and expensive) or a standard (micro) USB port. Proprietary ports and memory will make themselves felt if your charger suddenly breaks down – it will not be so easy to find a replacement.
Screen
Many models are equipped with a screen – it allows you to seriously expand the functionality and increase the convenience of work. It all depends mainly on the taste and thickness of the wallet – it cannot be said that high resolution and support for displaying different colors are critical for the tasks that a fitness band performs. But the large color touchscreen display definitely makes the device prettier and more convenient.
Here you should pay attention to two important characteristics: the presence of the backlight and the technology of the screen production. Without the first one, you simply won’t see anything on the screen if you go for a run in the evening. Well, OLED and AMOLED displays outperform LCDs due to much higher contrast and energy efficiency when displaying mostly black.
Sensors
A set of various sensors is one of the key characteristics of any band. How accurately a device can track a user’s workouts and whereabouts largely determines its value.
Many models have a built-in heart rate monitor – perhaps this is a basic function that you should start from. Heart rate is one of the main indicators of human health, and a heart rate band will help you quickly find out how successful and useful your workout was. However, not all models can continuously measure the heart rate – usually, to measure, you need to give a specific command and wait a little.
A gyroscope (unlike an accelerometer, which is almost everywhere), bands are rarely equipped, but its presence allows much more accurate monitoring of the user’s movement, counting calories burned and even the quality of sleep.
