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Amazon Halo is Amazon’s new activity tracker device designed for overall health and wellness improvement. It comes with the option of a subscription service for expanded features, and its goal is to hone in on your readings, from heart rate to exercises to sleep patterns.
The Amazon Halo boasts a wide array of capabilities, so let’s break it down and see if it delivers on its claims.
Table of Contents
Look and Feel
The first thing you might notice from looking at the Amazon Halo is that it doesn’t have a screen. Almost every activity tracker up until this point has at least some kind of interface for users to adjust settings or view stats.
Amazon Halo goes for a streamlined look and leaves the interface interactions to an app that syncs to the tracker. From your phone, you can view your stats and other information you’d commonly find on a smartwatch.
Deviating from the typical leather or soft plastic strap that often accompanies activity trackers, the Amazon Halo’s primary model provides a woven fabric strap that comes in three colors. However, there are accessories so that you can swap out straps.
The accessory itself is unintrusive, perhaps even more so than its competitor, the Whoop activity tracker. Most people say that the band is comfortable, though some say it’s not great for sleeping.
Some users also relayed discomfort with specific exercises, especially ones that utilize arm motion.
Pros
- Comfortable under most circumstances
- Available in three colors
- Swappable wristbands
Cons
- Less comfortable for sleeping
- Somewhat uncomfortable for select exercises
Features
The Amazon Halo is a simple, screenless activity tracker that tracks your habits and helps you improve them. Halo follows your body composition, tone of voice, sleep patterns, and overall activity with a monthly subscription.
Movement Intensity Tracking
Information garnered from the tracking device shows up in a compatible app and thoroughly attempts to read your body’s exertion. It emphasizes tracking intensity and duration instead of the usual step-counting, which doesn’t account for those two things.
Instead of steps, Halo counts your energy using its point system. It identifies when you exert yourself and assigns you points accordingly. Although the tracker cannot always tell what kind of exercising you are performing and then requires post-workout data editing.
Labs
The subscription also comes with labs, including features like Headspace, at-home workouts, and guided meditations.
Body Fat Scanner
The app’s body fat percentage scanner aims for a more accurate picture of your health, claiming that body fat percentage is a better health indicator than weight or BMI.
A common misconception is that to get a read on your body fat percentage, you must take a naked photo of yourself for the tracker to read. This conception is not valid, though the instructions advise minimal clothing that does not affect your shape.
Users have cited the body fat percentage analysis as accurate and eye-opening. It allows you to go beyond face value and identify any fat on your body and where it rests.
Voice Tone Analysis
The tone of voice analysis feature aspires to provide you with feedback on what you emote as you converse with others. This feature has caught some users off-guard, especially as society shows increasing concern over being “watched.”
Pros
- Uses body fat percentage over BMI and weight
- Accompanying labs provide a wide array of assistive features
- Focuses on intensity and duration of movement, not steps
Cons
- Tone of voice analysis may be invasive
- Screenless structure may not suit everyone
Performance
What the Halo says it can do is one thing, but the actual execution is another. After extensive research, we’ve narrowed down where this device excels and where it has room for improvement.
The Amazon Halo’s accuracy has overall been given a thumbs-up for each of the main features it provides. It tracks activity with reliability and focuses on more important things than vague “steps,” which are often misguided and inaccurate.
Sleep Tracking
The sleep tracking feature executes its purpose well, though some issues have come up if you nap for a short period or if you sleep, wake up, then sleep again in relatively short order. The Halo is stronger at monitoring an average nighttime sleep session.
Body Fat Tracker
The body fat percentage tracker has been met with raised eyebrows and knee-jerk reactions because people assumed that one must be naked for the body fat scanner to work. These assumptions are not correct, and the feature works just fine wearing undergarments.
Voice Analysis
The voice analysis feature, which also raised a few eyebrows, is the most significant technical drawback. Keeping this feature on nearly cuts the battery life in half, lasting around five days. Whereas without it, it lasts ten.
While an interesting feature, it’s not a popular one. Not just for the battery drain, but its overall usefulness. The battery life’s quality varies from person to person, most claiming that they feel the device should last a little longer.
General
People gave mostly positive responses to how it tracks activities. However, some felt that it takes a toll on you mentally, although it promotes incredible fitness. Constant monitoring for every movement and being assigned points for it does not suit everyone’s needs.
The device’s performance and design are in their first stages, with some bugs and kinks that need work. Over time, the Amazon Halo is likely to be an affordable and accurate activity tracker.
Pros
- Tracks activity accurately and consistently
- Reliable sleep monitoring
- Valid depiction of body’s condition with body fat percentage
Cons
- Voice analysis drastically drains battery life
- Still in the early stages of bugs that need addressing
- Subscription-based service
Final Verdict
Overall, the Amazon Halo buyers have praised the device for its accuracy and groundbreaking approach to activity tracking. The voice analysis feature’s battery draining requires adjustment. It’s also debatable if such a function is necessary.
The Amazon Halo’s strengths lie in its accurate tracking of activity and properly weighing which workouts are more intense than others. The fact that it’s screenless may take some getting used to, but in the end, it allows people to track their activity and health without the burden of having a screen attached to their wrist at all times.
