Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

**UPDATE/SPOILER ALERT: This will be my last update for this product as I have decided to return it, but that doesn’t mean you should.** This updated review is going to be long, and probably better suited for a YouTube video or a platform like Reddit, so for those of you who don’t want all the details: tl;dr: The Halo View’s minimal free features included, while helpful for assessing trends, are less accurate than competitors and leave a lot to be desired. If you plan to use the paid subscription service after the free trial ends, the app interface, recipes, videos, and added features make this a more competitive entry-level fitness tracker. Now onto the full review… First, let me say that, subjectively, the design is nearly perfect. It’s has a very small footprint, but still has a large enough screen to easily read the time and data. It’s also comfortable to wear throughout the day and during exercise. The band it comes with is not the easiest to put on or adjust, but I still prefer this design style to a standard watch band like you’ll find on a Fitbit. I also appreciate that the touchscreen interface itself is responsive and menus are easy to navigate. While I wish the menus were customizable, in my opinion, the Halo View beats every other tracker on the market in the design category. I’m not a fan of the old Fitbit style charging clip as I find it cumbersome and inconvenient. Unfortunately, Amazon decided to adopt this charging method (you’ll see that Amazon has borrowed a lot from Fitbit, for better or worse). There are cheaper fitness trackers even than Amazon’s that have begun using magnetic charging, which would have been a great option, and advantage, for this device. Setting up the band and syncing with my Amazon account and iPhone 12 was easy. It’s disappointing that you can’t sync any data with Apple Health (according to the app, you can only sync with Weight Watchers and John Hancock Vitality), but even Fitbit doesn’t sync directly. I wish this was made a bit clearer prior to purchase; Amazon’s advertisement of “Made for iPhone. Works with Android.” seems misleading in this sense. As far as features go, if you’ve ever used a Fitbit, you’ll feel very comfortable navigating this device. You can choose various Home Screen clock layouts in the settings, change screen brightness, haptic feedback, raise to wake, etc. Swiping left or right will display your current data and swiping up or down will allow you to navigate settings, timers, etc. Unlike Fitbit, you can’t get call notifications. If you opt into text message notifications, there’s no way to see them again once they’ve disappeared from your screen. I do like the integrated Home Screen button and prefer this to Fitbit’s side button. The data tracking capabilities are where major disparities between the “free” and paid subscription features really stand out. Without a paid membership, the band tracks steps, heart rate, calories, number of activity sessions, time asleep, and sleep temperature. - As others have mentioned, steps are not accurate. The Halo View uses an accelerometer instead of GPS (or a combination of both) to track steps. This is pretty standard; however, based on my experience, Halo View’s accelerometer sensitivity settings seem high. I’ve compared my average daily steps to both Fitbit and my iPhone, and the Halo View typically has me at around 2,000 more per day. - While measuring HR on any wrist band is typically going to be less accurate than a chest strap regardless, again, the Halo View seems less accurate than competitors in this category. It regularly reads me 10-15bpm higher than my true HR. - The number of activity sessions only works accurately if you log the exercise you’re doing from your band. Keep in mind that if you do use the band to start/stop your workout, you also lose function and access to clock, timer, etc. while tracking. - Calories are estimates only, no mater what tracker you’re using. When you consider how far off the steps are, you can imagine that calories are going to be off as well. - Finally, of the 4 days/nights that I used this band, it only knew that I was asleep once and tracked it. There’s no way to manually set the band to track your sleep, so you have to hope that it’s working properly if you want any of this data (free or paid). I also don’t find tracking only time asleep very useful, which is all you get without a paid membership. The paid features, when they do work, are what really make this band, and the entire Amazon Halo experience, useful. With the membership, you get access to your activity score, training zone, sleep score (including sleep stages: deep sleep, rem, etc.), movement assessment, and other insights. While these additions are great, tracking metrics like activity score, sleep score, sleep stages, and even things like HRV come standard (without an additional paid membership) from competing brands for a similar price point. I should also mention that, since I only used the Halo View for 4 days, I can’t give an accurate assessment of the battery. That being said, after 4 days, it was on track to meet or exceed the claim of a 7-day battery life. Overall, the lack of useful and accurate “stock” features has led me to return this band. After all, I purchased a Fitness Tracker, not just a watch with a touchscreen display. If I was planning to use the membership past the 12-month trial that came with my purchase, I think that the investment would likely be worth it, and that’s probably what Amazon is hoping for from the majority of its customer base. If they had decided to follow a similar model to competitors, where the band itself tracks the most valuable metrics and the membership gives you insight into weekly/monthly/yearly trends (along with the workouts, nutrition, and movement assessment), I think there would be much more added value, especially at such a competitive membership price. There is a lot of potential in Halo View and with the Amazon Halo service, but to charge $80 for a touchscreen watch that “requires” an additional $50/yr to also use it as a health/fitness tracker? I will stick with my Fitbit for now. NOTE: For the people who aren’t familiar with step count and calorie accuracy on devices like these: - This Halo View uses an accelerometer to “calculate” steps. If you’re sitting on the couch and moving the watch quickly for any reason (scratching your head, raising and lowering your arm while eating, etc.), that can (and probably will, in most cases) count as “steps.” How do you get an accurate count? Use a more expensive band or tracker with GPS. - The calorie counter is an estimate (just like the BF% your scale shows you when you step on it). If you’re trying to live and die by this number, you’re going to have a bad time. Instead, use these estimates the same way you should be using the BF% reading on your scale - understand that, while it may not be exact, it can still offer general guidance. Once you have a baseline, you can start to gauge whether, on average, you’re burning more or fewer calories based on daily activity, even if the actual number isn’t accurate.