In the zone.
We're rounding off our
month-long look at great fitness and sporting equipment with one very
unique device. Most activity trackers and heart rate monitors are
either clipped to your clothing or worn on the wrist. But that isn't
where your heart is, is it? To get the most accurate reading, as well
as turning the notion of activity tracking on it's head, we check out
the MyZone MZ-3.
The MZ-3 by MyZone is a
small, self-contained tracker, that has been designed to be worn on
the chest, as close to your heart as possible. Although this can
therefore get the most accurate reading of your heart rate, the MZ-3
also changes the way you think about your workouts, measuring and
placing emphasis on effort, as well as actual distance, speed, and
time.
Thin, smooth, and flash
drive-sized, the tracker itself features two metal studs on the back
onto which clips a stretchy chest strap. Attach it, strap it around
you, and you're ready to go. As with any other tracker it will record
all your workout data, allowing you then to sync that with your
smartphone running the MyZone app. There you can see your progress,
set daily goals, and also connect with other people through the app's
pretty impressive social aspect.
However, the MZ-3
differs in many ways to standard trackers. For a start it can measure
your efforts with a 99.4% EKG accuracy, giving you instant readings
so you can track your heart rate as you go, no matter what you're
doing. Further more, the app can interpret all that data and take
into account your body type and length of time you've been
working-out to display your effort. You might have run three miles
every night for a week, but it can tell which if those sessions
required the greatest amount of effort on your body's part, rewarding
you accordingly.
Uniquely the MyZone
MZ-3 can also connect with other apps and devices, so if you have an
established favourite running app you should be able to sync the MZ-3
to it. Also (and this is something we were unable to try, not being
members of any gym or club) the MZ-3 can connect with display systems
available to gyms, meaning that as you work out in a group, your
heart rate, effort, and other data, can be displayed on screen with
everyone else's. Actually, pretty glad we couldn't test that
particular feature.
In use, the MyZone MZ-3
is comfortable and discreet, but it does take a couple of days to get
used to having the band around your chest. The strap feels like how
we assume a bra feels to wear (yep, blokes here), but the tracker
itself is barely noticeable. Get the strap to the correct tightness
and it'll stay there, seemingly very securely.
The app is also very
well put together, with all functions being quite intuitive. If
you've never used an app like this before it might take a while to
fathom out, but as soon as you sync the MZ-3 to it after your first
workout, everything will make sense and you'll be presented with all
the info you need.
There are a few
downsides to all this, however. For one, the MZ-3 is pricey, weighing
in at £129.99. That is a lot, and if you're merely looking for a
tracker to count your steps and measure your distance, you can get
something for a tenth of that cost. There are also some limitations
in convenience, what with it being a hidden-away tracker. Unlike a
wrist-worn device you can't see any of your data quickly and easily
without looking at your phone, and there are no physical controls for
your music.
Still, if the data
captured by the device is your number one priority, and if you are
actively looking to challenge yourself and work out in a group, we
really can't fault it. For those taking their fitness seriously, it's
a winner.
£129.99
