Withings Pulse O2 Activity, Sleep, and Heart Rate + SPO2 Tracker for iOS and Android, Blue

The Withings Pulse O2 is an advanced activity and health tracker. Versatile, it offers all wearing options: slap it on your wrist using the wristband, attach it to your clothes with the clip or simply drop it in a pocket. It tracks your activity all through the day (including steps, elevation, distance, running and calories burned). At night, slide the Pulse O2 in its wristband and launch the sleep cycle analysis to precisely assess your sleep quality. In addition to the daily and nightly tracking, you can also measure your heart rate and your blood oxygen level by putting your finger on the back of thedevice. Contact: https://withings.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

Note: I bought an open package Amazon warehouse deal with the Pulse to cut the costs down a bit, the display on mine (not the actual device) stopped working after 14 days. My review is still 5 stars because when I e-mailed Withings (through their site support channel) they got back to me that same day to get more information. The next day (after a reply) they gave me instructions on sending my device in for inspection. Two days after I sent it out I got an e-mail with a one-time coupon code for a brand new device.

Also, I see a lot of reviews on tracking devices saying that step counts are not accurate, this was the biggest thing holding me back until I shook the irrationality of it. 1. Are these people actually counting all the steps they take during the day? And why is it that every time people say whatever device that gives them MORE steps is the one that is accurate? 2. What matters is that with more activity you are getting higher numbers. That’s the point, to improve, not to get perfect statistics. 3. If your tracker is off by 150 steps per day (compared to others, or compared to moving the device around/wearing it differently) it’s not a big deal. When you’re aiming for 10,000 per day, you shouldn’t be worried about 150.

PROS of  Withings Pulse O2:

– The sleep tracking is awesome, when my deep sleep is off by 30 minutes, I notice the difference. The night that the Pulse tells me I only got 3 hours of deep sleep are the mornings I feel extra tired. (Before looking at what the statistics are.) This is important for me to pay attention to so I can take note of what makes the difference in getting a good sleep.

– Comfy: If you’re used to wearing watches, this is no different, a basic rubber band that’s no different than the average digital watch. If you don’t like the watch, this comes with a belt clip which clings pretty well.

– Looks good: I got the FitBit for my mom and it’s a bit bulky compared to this and honestly hard to put on (as opposed to the normal watchband this device comes with). I was tempted to get the Basis because it tracks heart rate constantly (as opposed to this which you have to take off and put your finger on), but the thing is huge and ugly. Something that attracts attention. When the display times out on this (after a few seconds) it’s a thin and hardly noticeable wristband. (Also, for those curious about the sideways display you can change the settings via the phone app so that the time displays vertically which is easier to read from your wrist, and you can make it the default display when you turn it on.)

– Lots of data: This tracks not only steps and sleep but elevation and mileage. It really does know the difference between taking the stairs and the elevator. If you’re rising and not stepping, you don’t get the elevation points. 😉

– App: The Withings app tracks and graphs everything. The graphing is more valuable with the Withings scale (unless you want to manually do weight and things) but the device automatically syncronizes with your phone via bluetooth.

CONS of  Withings Pulse O2: (Does NOT include step accuracy.)

– Bluetooth: When I first got my device it had to update as I was setting it up. This screwed up my phone and I had to restart the setup process multiple times to get it to work right. I think it’d be better if this could plug into the computer and interact with software from there. It charges via USB, why not interact with a PC? (Seriously, I get that smart phones are popular, but they are not quite on the level of regular computers yet, let’s not go crazy.) The Bluetooth is slow and might fail if the phone is moving around too much. It takes a while to get used to, but the device will eventually sync, if it doesn’t by the end of the day do it manually and hold the phone very still over the device.

– App: The app is buggy, it crashes a lot and is generally slow to load. It’s much easier to just look at your online profile through a normal browser on a normal computer.

– The sun: You can’t see the display outdoors during the day, not even if you put your hand over it and squint. The display totally fails against the sun and it’s impossible to read with a bit of glare. If you’re inside or if it’s dark, it looks great, but don’t count on looking at your step count right after an outdoor run, wait until you get inside.