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If that was all it did, then that would be fine. This is not a tracker. To stand out from the crowd, Amazon added a few exclusive features to its platform. Amazon created a device that doesn't know what it's supposed to be, instead of a straightforward, budget fitness tracker.
Amazon has a second fitness tracker called the Halo View. The first screenless bracelet was the Halo Band. With the View, microphones were removed so you can check your statistics at a glance. While the microphone has been nixed, you get the typical heart rate monitor and blood oxygen sensor. Similar to other basic trackers, you won't find anything fancy here, so don't expect anything fancy. I got seven days of battery life with multiple daily syncs and three hours of recorded exercise.
What you see is what you get with this tracker. There is no Amazon branding on the Halo View, and from a distance, you could mistake it for a Mi Band or a Fitbit. I lost count of how many people pointed to my wrist while I was testing the View. It is lightweight and comfortable for sleep tracking. It survived multiple showers, but I wouldn't call it durable. The band got caught on a hanger while I was cleaning my apartment. The swappable band mechanism is secure, but a strong tug can rip it off your wrist.
You can buy it from Amazon.
You can only do the basics on the wrist. There are a few simple watch faces to choose from, and you can see the time. You can start a workout, check your daily statistics, and change device settings. That is all. Notifications are limited. You won't get push notifications from apps if you get reminders to move or texts for that.
The hardware is so simple that most of the special sauce is in the companion app. Tracking activity and sleep is one of the features that can be used to track body fat, tone, and movement health. Things start to go off the rails here. The body fat and tone features feel like they were plucked out of my nightmares, but I am not sure why Amazon decided to open this can of worms.
The body fat scanning tool is the scariest thing I have ever tested as a reviewer. It erased seven years of therapy.
The body fat scans involve you taking unflattering pictures of yourself in your skivvies. That is turned into a 3D model of your body. It will show you where you fall in the range of other people matching your demographic. You can see what you might look like if your body fat percentage is between 13 percent and 50 percent. Amazon claims that this feature is twice as accurate as at- home scales and that it is better than the gold standard. The study Amazon sent me was impressive, but it did state that the study had not been peer-reviewed and that the author and funder are both the author and the funder. This is normal for gadgets that claim to have scientific backing but should be taken with a large amount of salt.
Noupscale is a file onchorusasset.com.
The Tone feature is frightening.
The body fat scanning tool is the scariest thing I have ever tested as a reviewer. It erased seven years of therapy in a second. I had a body fat percentage of 36 percent, which was too high compared to other women in my age group. That is similar to what I get on other bioelectric impedance devices, but it is counter to what my doctor told me at my last physical. I got a clean bill of health, my bloodwork was great, and I was told I didn't need to lose weight.
I trust my doctor more than any fitness band, but it is easy to see how this feature could demoralize anyone just getting started or cause more serious conditions. Amazon has educational context about body fat and how it changes over time. Body fat is an emotional metric for many people, and it is easier to obsess over a 3D model of you with a six-pack than read the health literature.
There is privacy. When you try the scans for the first time, Amazon will prompt you to use the cloud backups. It says that images are deleted by default if you don't opt out of backups. From the settings menu, you can manually remove images and measurements from your phone. I was still uneasy despite Amazon being upfront about privacy. Even if no one ever sees these images, I don't feel the benefits of the feature outweigh how bad it was.
:noupscale is a file on thechorusasset.com.
The Charge 5 doesn't look different from the other one.
It would be one thing if there was only one feature. Tone is a feature that analyzes your voice so you can see how others hear you. This was included with the original Halo Band, which faced a fair share of criticism when it launched. The View no longer has microphones, so you have to use the feature on your phone. You will be asked to read passages in a neutral tone during setup. You can let Amazon tone police your conversations once that is all done.
It was very unnerving to see the artificial intelligence tell me in real-time that I sounded sad,couraged, andshy. During a conversation with a friend, I was marked as sounding positive. I was not. I nodded my head as my friend ranted about how much she hated this feature. Amazon says the feature should only analyze my voice, but at times it seemed to track my friend's tone and not mine. It was disconcerting, but it could have been the background noise or poor signal.
Body fat is an emotional metric for many people, and it is easier to obsess over a 3D model of you with a six-pack than read the health literature.
My friend asked me who would want this after I finished testing. I could only come up with a scenario where I practiced for a speech or presentation. I can't imagine why anyone would whip out their phone to get a tone policed. If you recorded a video of yourself or asked the people closest to you, you would get the same feedback from everyone present.
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The most basic tasks can be done from your wrist.
It is easy to criticize Amazon for being weird with Halo, but there are some things it does well. The health feature is the highlight. Five minutes of exercises like lunges and squats are recorded on your phone. You will see a breakdown of how stable or mobile your trunk, hips, lower body, and shoulders are. Recommendations for exercises to strengthen those areas will be based on your results. It reminds me of Apple's Walking Steadiness feature, which warns you when your mobility puts you at risk of a major fall and exercises to improve stability. Amazon has a more proactive version.
It was frightening to see the artificial intelligence tell me that I sounded sad, discouraged, andshy.
Amazon gets credit for putting educational content into the app. I don't like some of these features, but at least there were explainer articles and videos to help me understand them. Amazon could have done a better job organizing this content. The app feels cluttered and I often felt like I was in a rabbit hole trying to find one feature or explainer.
I appreciated that the focus of the game was on how many minutes of moderate activity you get each week. You get a certain amount of points depending on your activity levels and heart rate, and you can add up to 150. The American Heart Association has a commonly used baseline. It allows for more flexibility for beginners.
Noupscale is a file onchorusasset.com.
The strap might pop off if you tug too hard, but you can see why.
I am confused by how bare-bones workout tracking is. This is the only tracker that does not track pace for running or walking. There is no gps data on your phone. You can only measure progress by steps and calories burned. You can see your heart rate averages, as well as minutes spent in light, moderate, or intense activity. If you want to see how far you have come, or if you want to be more active, this is not helpful.
Amazon has a library of instructor-led workout videos. It is the store brand version of Apple Fitness Plus. It gets the job done and will appeal to people who don't like trainers. In early 2022, you will be able to see your metrics on screen. I did a core and strength workout. I wish Amazon did a better job organizing the workouts. It doesn't mean anything when you call a core workout "All levels" I thought I had picked a moderately difficult workout. I fell on my face while trying a more advanced plank variation. Another strength workout was done at the speed of light, with barely any time to check my form, switch weights, or rest between sets.
Noupscale is a file onchorusasset.com.
It is adequate to track sleep.
It is also satisfactory to track sleep. You get a daily sleep score, a graph that tracks your sleep stages, and other metrics from Amazon. It's difficult to measure accuracy outside of a clinical setting, but my data was mostly in line with what I got on Oura Ring. It was not perfect. The View did not catch on when I was awake. The two devices disagreed on how long it took me to fall asleep. The View held up against one of the best sleep trackers out there.
It is the most affordable tracker that offers this many features. After the first year, a monthly subscription for the game is only $3.99, which is still a lot cheaper than other fitness apps. You can get a lot for the price, but if you want a simple tracker, you can always use a Mi Band, or one of Amazfit's plethora of trackers. They won't ask you to take pictures of yourself in your underwear.
This feels like a tracker with an identity crisis. Half of its health features are bad for your mental well-being. They feel like an Amazon tech showcase, not tools to help people. The other half is built thoughtfully. Amazon put a lot of effort into making sure that those just starting out on their fitness journey were well-equipped. I would be shocked if a beginner felt encouraged by the 3D body fat models, as it is missing some basic metrics from workouts. Amazon could have easily built a simple, affordable tracker and left it at that. It had to get weird about it.
Amelia Krales is a photographer.
Every smart device requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it. It is not possible for us to read and analyze all of these agreements. We are going to start counting how many times you have to agree to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people can't negotiate.
To use an Amazon View, you need to pair it with a mobile device. The phone's terms of service, privacy policy, and any other permission you grant are included. You have to have an Amazon account.
You agree to the following by using the View Halo.
You must agree to share data for the Amazon Halo's body fat, tone, and movement health features. You must agree to the terms of service if you link the two. You must agree to link your accounts if you choose to do so.
Whatever your phone requires, and four mandatory Amazon policies. There are agreements for health features.
