How are your New Year
resolutions going? If yours was to get fit and get in shape, did you
manage further than 2nd January? If you are struggling to
meet your exercise goals then don't listen to those motivational
speakers or fitness gurus – just look to your wrist.
The Shine Activity
Tracker from Misfit Wearables is a teeny tiny device that is packed
with intelligence. By wearing it during a multitude of activities
(including sleep) you can track your fitness progress, set yourself
goals and work to beat them. And, you know, look really cool while
you're at it.
We've had some
experience with activity trackers before when we tested the WithingsPulse. However, the Shine seems to be a stripped down, more usable,
more style-conscious alternative. The Shine itself is about the size
of a coin (albeit a fat, bulbous one) that, once the battery is
installed inside, is completely sealed and waterproof. The fact that
the Shine takes an (included) button cell battery is a refreshing
change from other USB charged gadgets. Because of this there is no
open port to worry about and of course no charging time. Once the
battery is dead, swap it and you're away.
Speaking of interface,
the Shine has no buttons at all. To check your progress at your
pre-programmed goal (set via the smartphone app) you simply tap the
front face of the device and embedded low-level lights will... erm,
'shine.' Of course all this happens thanks to a bluetooth connection
with your phone, and much like the Withings' tracker, you first have
to sync and programme the Shine. Fortunately, thanks in no small way
to the easy, user-friendly layout of the app, this is a breeze.
Once synced and set-up
you are ready to attach the Shine to yourself and get out and about.
The gadget itself comes with a wrist strap and also a magnetic fob,
meaning you have a choice of wearing it from the offset. We found
that the results for step-count were more accurate if the Shine was
worn by the fob attached to our hips as it is a far better place to
track footfalls. Wearing the Shine with the wrist strap was fine for
sleep tracking, especially due to the device's low profile, size and
weight. Once on our wrists and sleeping, we had no idea it was there
at all.
The app is great as it
really allows you to track what you've been up to, helping you to
achieve your fitness goals. The data captured by your phone, after a
sync with the Shine, is laid out nicely as a graph allowing you to
clearly interpret what you've done.
All in all we were very
impressed by the Misfit Shine Activity Tracker, mostly because of how
simple it is. It may lack such features as a pulse measurer and LED
display, but if anything that just adds to the device's charm. This
is perfect for those that are doing lots of different activities and
who don't want to have to worry too much about recording it all.
£99
Available from
www.johnlewis.com
