Still on the Band

Still on the Band

by Chukwudi Barrah

Seeing a post recently about the Microsoft Band being the best fitness band you never heard about reminded me that I was going to write a review—or rather ended my procrastination in writing a review—about the Band. I've owned mine for five months, paired primarily with my iPhone 6 plus. In that time I have come to the conclusion that the combination of both devices do not meet the requirements for which they were purchased. In essence, I need to change one of these devices.

I know, first world problems, right? Not really. The essence of exchanging hard-earned money for electronic devices—or anything, ever—is to derive some sort of satisfaction from those things, and so far my satisfaction has been relatively low (at least compared with my expectations). Again, I know the argument is that experiences are lower than expectations. I'd argue that that is the case if the expectations are set unreasonably high. In my case, I don't think so.

In summary, what I was looking for in a smart/fitness watch and phone combination is for the watch to have a heart rate monitor and GPS (a music player would be a plus, but that may be asking too much at this time, when the Band is one of the few devices on the market to carry HR and GPS sensors). On the mobile phone side, I just wanted it to do it what it does, call no one, send messages on Whatsapp, and be able to connect to the watch when necessary. See? Not a lot to ask from smart devices. A plus for the phone, which so far only Windows Mobile devices have been able to accomplish, is being able to read my messages to me on my Bluetooth-connected headphones (without a third-party app).

With the Band/iPhone 6 Plus combo, most things worked how they were meant to. I really did not expect much because everyone (or almost everyone) knows Apple loves to keep their ecosystem closed. Microsoft was the same (is almost the same with the Windows Phone). So pairing those two gadgets was not supposed to be a match made in heaven. And it wasn't, as there were the different OS limitations: no Cortana, no tiny typewriter and notifications were from the general notifications tile (you'll see the difference highlighted below). The iPhone found it difficult to hold the Bluetooth connection, several times just dropping off.

At other times, particularly after my runs and cycling, even when both devices are Bluetooth-connected, syncing the watch with the Microsoft Health iOS app was just infuriating. It would indicate that it was syncing, taking up to 10 minutes sometimes, after which I'd find out that nothing was synced. I even resorted to syncing by connecting it to the desktop app instead, just to make sure that I saved my data. At some point in the last week, after I disconnected the Band from the PC (a Mac), the watch would shut itself down. Enough times that I starting thinking about how I would be able to afford another one, if this unit suddenly died.

Made for Each Other

Thankfully, it didn't and I now have a Microsoft device to pair it with and understand where the fault was, if there was one. There wasn't. As already highlighted, it was a Clash-of-the-OS'es thing. Going in, I already expected that the iOS/Band combination will make for poor results but I did not fancy getting a Windows Mobile device just because I had a Microsoft Band. Pairing to the Lumia was fast and relatively easy, syncing happens when it says it is happening, the Band's tiny keyboard (that I have never used, except to test) is now visible, as is Cortana who, however, doesn't fancy responding to people in this part of the world.

Some of the complaints that people have with the Band is the size, bulkiness and flat-fronted shape, which sometimes hurts my wrist if I put it on too tight. But guess what? The rumoured, leaked renders of the next Band has a curved display. So hopefully that helps.

In general, the Microsoft Band is a solid device, and anytime I see a list on some website discussing the best fitness wearing devices available and they do not mention the Band, I automatically assume that many of the people behind that write-up don't know a lot about a lot of things. Sometimes, I can understand why: it is because the Microsoft Band does not have any real competition currently.

Only a handful of devices offer what the Band does—at the price it does, or even more or less—accurate heart rate monitor, check. Notifications (custom tiles for Facebook and Twitter), check. Workouts, (separate from Running, Cycling and its suggested workouts), check. Alarm, Calendar, Sleep measurement, check, check and check. And there's more features. These are just the ones I use often.

However, don't be tempted to buy a Band yet, Microsoft announced that they will be having a hardware-centred event on the 6th of October, it is expected that they'll showcase the next iteration of the Band (possibly called Microsoft Band 2), the long-expected Surface Pro 4, and new Lumia devices, as well as the integration of the recently released Windows 10 with new hardware. I'm looking forward to the event because that is where I decide what device stays: the Lumia 1520 or the iPhone 6 Plus.

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Chukwudi hoards gadgets for fun. Read more of his posts HERE.