Fashionable fitness
Fitbit Luxe
Pros
- Activity/sleep tracking
- Heart-rate tracking
- Automatic workout recognition
- Stress, skin temperature, SpO2 monitoring
- Sleek and stylish design
Cons
- Shorter battery life
- Smaller display
If you're someone who has refrained from buying a fitness tracker due to the lack of fashionable options, you'll have met your match with the Fitbit Luxe since it's slim, sleek, and stylish. You also get tons of features, including activity/sleep tracking, stress monitoring, heart-rate tracking, and much more.
A different approach
Amazon Halo View
Pros
- Activity/sleep tracking
- Heart-rate tracking
- Stress monitoring
- Movement Health
- Battery lasts around a week
Cons
- Lacks GPS support
- Not very stylish
- Relies on Halo subscription
If you want to better understand your health with unique metrics, you may love the new, affordable Amazon Halo View. It's a lightweight fitness tracker that digs deeper into other metrics such as Movement Health and Body Composition. Remember that you'll need to commit to the Halo membership, though.
Amazon Halo View vs. Fitbit Luxe: Two different approaches
These days, shopping for a fitness tracker produces various options, including the Amazon Halo View and Fitbit Luxe. Your decision between these two will come down to what type of fitness tracker approach you prefer.
For example, the Amazon Halo View is a no-frills fitness tracker largely dependent on its companion app. You get a year of Halo membership for free with your purchase, but there's a monthly $3.99 fee. There are some interesting features here, including Movement Health, Body Composition, and Tone Analysis, so that subscription might be worth it.
If you'd rather have a more straightforward fitness tracking experience in the form of a stylish wearable, you might prefer the Fitbit Luxe. It's packed with features that don't rely on a subscription, including activity/sleep tracking, heart-rate monitoring, Active Zone Minutes, automatic workout recognition, and more.
The Amazon Halo View takes a different approach
In case you didn't know, the new Halo View isn't Amazon's first attempt at breaking into the fitness tracker market. The Amazon Halo band was the first attempt, and it had mixed reviews, partially because it featured a distraction-free design with no display for users to interact with. Fortunately, the Halo View brings some great improvements, including a 0.95-inch AMOLED touchscreen.
The device is extremely lightweight and comes with a soft TPU band, but you can opt for other Amazon Halo View bands if you're not happy with the standard one. What you can do on the device itself is a bit limited. You can see your sleep score from the previous night, view your step count, start an activity, record a heart rate or blood oxygen reading, and check notifications. The good news is the battery lasts for a full week on a single charge.
| Amazon Halo View | Fitbit Luxe | |
|---|---|---|
| Display | 0.95-inch AMOLED | 0.76 inch AMOLED |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, heart rate, SpO2, skin temperature | Accelerometer, heart rate, SpO2, skin temperature |
| Battery life | 7 days | 5 days |
| Water-resistance | 5ATM | 5ATM |
| Automatic exercise recognition | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Female health tracking | ❌ | ✔️ |
| Stress monitoring | ❌ | ✔️ |
While it might seem disappointing that the tracker itself doesn't offer more functionality, the real bread and butter lie in the Halo app. Upon purchasing your tracker, you'll have a full year of membership for free. For most people, this is more than enough time to experiment and see if it's something they want to continue when the year ends. After that, it's $3.99 per month.
One feature within the Halo app that caught my attention is Movement Health, which uses computer vision (CV) and machine learning (ML) to assess the user's mobility, stability, and posture. You'll turn on the smartphone camera, stand in the frame, and follow a few movements displayed on the screen. When the assessment is complete, users receive suggestions for a custom program with corrective exercises to help improve specific movements.
If you're working on improving your diet, you'll appreciate the new Halo Nutrition feature. This section of the app offers personalized tools to help members discover numerous healthy recipes. You can even use this feature to plan a whole week of nutritious and delicious meals. If you have dietary restrictions, set your preferences accordingly and choose from several different menus, including classic, keto, Mediterranean, Nordic, paleo, vegan, and vegetarian.
The Body Composition feature works similarly, but it's more involved. You're instructed to wear minimal clothing when taking these scans. The app uses the camera to take a 3Ds can of your body and measure your body fat percentage. Your results will tell you where you fall for people in your age group and whether your body fat percentage is too low, healthy, or high. Depending on your history and future goals, this feature might be a bit too black and white. It might also make users uncomfortable, which is understandable.
The Tone analysis feature analyzes the level of energy and positivity in your voice.
The Tone analysis feature was previously available on the Halo band, but the microphone was built into the tracker. This time, you'll need to use the smartphone app to utilize this feature. The Tone analysis analyzes the level of energy and positivity in your voice. Amazon says this feature is designed to help you better understand how they may sound to others.
While taking the mic off the tracker was a step in the right direction, there are still concerns about privacy with the Tone analysis feature. According to Amazon, when you capture real-time Tone sessions with your phone, the temporary recordings are stored on your phone while being processed. After that, they're automatically deleted. While this might be enough peace of mind for some users, I still question whether anyone actually finds this feature useful, to begin with.
The same type of privacy settings are in place for the Body Composition feature. Regardless of how fit you are, these scans are pretty intrusive, and most people wouldn't want them getting into the wrong hands. Amazon says the body scan images are processed in the cloud and automatically deleted. After that, your 3D body model and scan images will only exist in your Halo app unless you have specifically opted for cloud backup.
You can have fitness and fashion with the Fitbit Luxe
When you're seeking a stylish fitness tracker, the Fitbit Luxe should be at the top of your list. It's fashionable without compromising on essential features, which is essential to health and fitness enthusiasts who want both. If you're already a fan of Fitbit, but you've been holding out for something fashionable, you'll love the Luxe.
It comes in a sleek and sturdy stainless steel case with a flexible silicone band. Similar to the Halo View, the Fitbit Luxe bands are interchangeable, so you can always switch things up when you feel like a change. The AMOLED touchscreen is relatively small at just 0.76 inches, so swiping can be tricky at times, and the text is small.
The Fitbit Luxe is packed with all the features you could possibly need.
If you've ever used a Fitbit device before, you know that they all offer some of the same basic features. The Fitbit Luxe is packed with all the features you could possibly need, including activity/sleep tracking, 24/7 heart-rate monitoring, stress tracking, guided breathing, Active Zone Minutes, and 20 exercise modes with SmartTrack automatic exercise recognition. It also offers skin temperature readings and blood oxygen monitoring.
Another perk that users will appreciate is the Health Metrics dashboard. This feature is available in the Fitbit app and provides you with detailed metrics, including your heart rate variability (HRV), breathing rate, and resting heart rate (RHR). Users can spot trends by taking advantage of the seven-day view of these metrics. If you're interested in a Fitbit Premium subscription, you'll also be able to track your monthly trends and personal ranges.
So, what sacrifices do you have to make for a fashionable fitness tracker? For starters, this tiny but mighty device only offers five days of battery life. This isn't a bad figure, but Fitbit is known to provide longer stretches than this. Also, while you don't have onboard GPS, you can use connected GPS through your smartphone — something you won't find on the Halo View.
Amazon Halo View vs. Fitbit Luxe: Which should you buy?
By now, you've probably got a good handle on how different these trackers are. First, you'll want to decide how important the physical design is. If you want something that can double as a fashion accessory, it's pretty clear that the Fitbit Luxe is the better option. It's also a solid choice for those who have no interest in a tracker that requires a subscription. The Luxe provides some tracking metrics that you won't find on the Halo View, such as stress monitoring, female health tracking, and guided breathing.
Perhaps you have no use for a fashion-focused tracker. If that's the case, you might be drawn to the Amazon Halo View. The subscription fee might be annoying, but it's small enough that most users who enjoy the device will be able to swing it. The Amazon Halo View isn't your typical fitness tracker, so make sure you know what you're buying. It can easily track steps, heart rate, and calories burned. More importantly, the Halo app provides you with deeper insights that will help you monitor your progress and improve your health and fitness over time.
Fashionable fitness
Fitbit Luxe
Fitness and fashion combined
From $131 at Amazon $150 at Best Buy $149 at Walmart
If you want a solid fitness tracker without having to sacrifice your love for fashion, the Fitbit Luxe is for you. It's more expensive, but a subscription isn't required. The display is small, and the battery life isn't terribly long, but it's a great choice for stylish folks who want the basics.
A different approach
Amazon Halo View
How much do you want to know?
The Amazon Halo View might be cheaper, but it also heavily relies on the Halo membership. Without it, it's a very basic tracker that can monitor your heart rate and track steps. If you like all the perks of the Halo membership, the ongoing subscription might just be worth it.
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