Good morning! How did you sleep last night? Were you wearing two different fitness trackers? Sweet, me too and now I am not the only nerd out there, right...? So, yesterday arrived one of the newer fitness trackers on the market called, MIO SLICE, I was quite excited to try this one after watching several videos online and the emphasis on heart rate instead of mere step count, calories, distance, and speed. So, if the emphasis is on the HR, why is the following missing:
1. easy to read HR data during a workout
2. feedback on your HR readings after a workout
3. average HR, lowest HR after a good night's rest
4. quick and easy synchronization with the app and device
5. audio feedback during a workout
Back in the year 2002, 2003, 2004 and up to today, March 8, 2017 there are so, so, so many, yeah, there are plethora of fitness devices on the market waiting to be purchased and with the vast abilities to provide coaching during workouts. The Mio missed the mark. Not only did they release a fitness product that tries to be a smartwatch, sans alarm, but also the SLICE has severe issues synchronizing with the cloud. Yes, I used that silly coined phrase, "cloud", which truly means a server with a fancy flash hard drive connected to hundreds of other servers stored in a remote location near Pineville, Oregon. Okay, here is what my first five hours looked like.
14:00 - open the box, and had trouble putting on the device
14:15 - created an account and then wanted to go on a walk with the MIO Slice, nope, no dice, it wanted to force me to update the firmware prior to even using the app or the tracker - ugh!
15:00 - after charging the tracker in my car ride home the app allowed me to move forward and the initial sync was smooth
17:00 went for 90 minute run and walk
18:00 tried to sync my 'Slice' to see my new PAI score and... nothing. The sync progress window nearly made it to 100% and then just stalled
18:10 after restarting my iPhone 7, closing the Mio PAI 2 app, and reopening the app I tried again, nope
18:20 synchronization success - yeah and now the app registered a different Pai score than the device, what? Oh wait, and my one-hour plus run, nope, no history or any data
The following Day, March 8, 2017
The step count method becomes a bit boring after four years of tracking 10,000 daily steps as your goal. The ability to correlate step count and how it relates to heart rate, better sleep, and a lower resting heart rate, yeah, this is my current interest as I still wait for Fitbit to add reporting enhancements to their already awesome sleeping feedback. I was excited to see how Mio presented my sleep feedback and... disappointing. I had been awake for nearly an hour and quickly synced the Slice (no server delays this time) and there was no sleep data and my run from yesterday, 03/07/2017, was still missing.
08:00 - nearly three hours after being awake I did another sync and low and behold there it was
In comparison, here's the detail from Fitbit - the app was translated into Italian, which is my second language, if you need help interpreting the data let me know and I can add English screenshots as well.
If you click on the sleep section there is no expanded view. However, here at the expanded views of the HR data, which are nice.
 |
| The resting heart-rate data was close to the Fitbit Blaze output during the same night's rest |
 |
| Home view of the app - it shows a PAI score of 38 whereas the Slice tracker still shows a 43... what? |
 |
| workout details after a 90 minute run and walk - the step count was nearly 1,500 steps below the Fitbit Blaze Here's the screenshot from the Fitbit app - 
Perhaps comparing the Mio Slice to the Fitbit Blaze is an unfair advantage for the Blaze is over one-year old technology whereas the Slice was released months ago. Regardless, the Mio is the 20th tracker I have used and it will be returned over the next three or four weeks. They have a 60-day return policy; however, I don't think I'll need that long to make my decision. Both Fitbit and Garmin have more finely tuned apps and devices. Perhaps in 2018 the folks over at Mio will be able to release different technology, hardware, and software.
I'll post more reviews over the days of March, 2017. Feel free to comment and ask any questions.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over One Week Later... - March 16th, 2017, Thursday
New Day and now getting dis-sensitized to the nuances of the Mio realm of fitness tracking. I strive to keep an open mind day after day; however, it is becoming more and more difficult. Here are list of negative points
Cons
1. no alarm
2. no edit function for missed sleep cycles
3. no feature to add or track naps
4. no social media integration
5. no weekly reports
6. no method to share a workout
7. no GPS integration
8. the screen is nearly impossible to read outside
9. no audio feedback from the device or the app
10. no website integration for more data, analysis, or leaderboard
11. does not work with swim workouts
12. does not list any stats from the workouts except heart rate
13. heart data is not numerically detailed enough
14. battery life is lame for what the watch is doing
15. heart-rate accuracy does not appear any better than Fitbit, Garmin, or Withings
16. wear ability of the device - not that comfortable
17. durability - the band and device are one piece - Fitbit and others have made this costly mistake! Based one my five years of Quality Assurance with more than 11 fitness tracker(smartwatch) vendors I doubt the band would last much longer than the one-year warranty period.
18. lacking any communication or coaching to motivate the Mio Slice wearer
Pros
1. simplicity of use
2. synchronization is automatic
3. water-proof
4. charge dongle is magnetic and easy to connect the Slice and charge time is brief
Any thoughts on this brand, have you used any of the Mio brands from previous years...?
------------------------------------------------------------------
Update from the Athlete Geek wearing two fitness trackers
------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Today was did not start off normally. My urge to return to the swimming pool was unlike the exercise motivations of past years. Both mind and body awoke me nearly 30 minutes prior to my #Fitbit Blaze buzzing my wrist (since the Mio Slice has no alarm). Regardless, it felt great to be excited about working out again. I have lacked such a luster for burning off ice cream since 2009. Unsure why the ghost of triathlons past has been such a distant friend, I don't care, glad to have reason 73 to wake-up back in my life.
Is there such as thing as being too plugged in?
     YES! Wearing too fitness trackers daily for more than one week use to be fun, a challenge, a nerdy task gladly accepted, at one point, it becomes too much. The Mio Slice is no longer a valid pursuit and has become a feckless thing on my valuable wrist real-estate. It goes back on the morrow for a full refund of $129.00. The next device, well, how about we use Social Media - chat me which device your eager to hear about - your thoughts please?
The Samsung Gear 3?
The Garmin Fenix 5?
Sincerely,
Peter
Update date - the new sleep data updated on Fitbit.com and within the iPhone app. Here's a view of my cycles last night, 03/28/2017
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment