Wearable smart gadgets have recently been gaining popularity, and of all their variety, fitness trackers are perhaps the most successful - they are not as expensive as smart watches, but they are quite functional. What is a fitness tracker? These are “smart” bracelets that help track the user's physical condition.
Of course, for the most part, the target audience of fitness trackers is active people involved in sports. However, is their purchase justified? Are fitness trackers really necessary and convenient, as it seems to their developers, and will not the faithful “friend” of every modern person - a smartphone - replace them with ease? Let's get it right.
To get started, we will remind you the main options of trackers. We will not consider any individual models, because, as well as the unlimited tariffs of the "big three" of such , so all trackers are similar in functionality.
So, here are their main options:
- Options for athletes - analysis of class time, counting calories burned, steps taken, etc.
- Sleep analysis - fitness trackers can track the phases of sleep and its quality, can wake a person during the fast phase (most favorable for awakening)
- Synchronization with smartphone and PC
- Notification of calls, SMS and other events that occurred with the smartphone
- Time demonstration
However, it is important to note that the last two options are not available in all trackers.
In general, as you see, there are not so many opportunities. In addition, even with the available options, in fact, not everything is smooth. One has only to go to some portal of reviews and start reading about the impressions of the owners of fitness trackers, it immediately becomes clear. There are a lot of complaints, but we highlighted only their main ones.
The main problem is the inability to configure the tracker for different types of activity. Of course, there is a primitive set, for example, walking, running, jumping. But, for example, if you want to calculate how many calories you spend doing in the gym on various simulators, your tracker can no longer help you in this matter.
The second important drawback is inaccurate data. The software algorithms of most trackers are very doubtful, many "happy" owners write that sometimes calories for walking are counted and when you sit, but, for example, strongly gesticulate.
Another not very pleasant moment - trackers interact, as a rule, only with special companion applications, which are often not only not very functional, but also work with constant lags.
And finally, about sleep analysis - a feature that attracts so many users. Of course, the user does not have the opportunity to check how well this option works, but in 2007 the American Academy of Medicine decided that for an accurate determination of the current phase of sleep, it was necessary: an electroencephalogram from the frontal, central and occipital canals, EOG recording, as well as the electromyogram of the chin muscles. So it’s unlikely that a “smart” little thing on your wrist can really understand what phase of sleep the user is in.
In general, as you can see, most of the declared options for fitness trackers are nothing more than the fantasies of their manufacturers. However, you should not be upset. There is an ideal gadget for sports and, most likely, you carry it in your pocket every day - this is your smartphone.
What are its advantages? Firstly, when calculating physical activity, he can use not only built-in sensors, but also access to . This fact provides more accurate data and allows you to evaluate more activity parameters, for example, acceleration and pace. Secondly, today there is a huge amount of software for smartphones, these programs allow you to evaluate the productivity of a lesson in almost any sport - from table tennis to dancing. In addition, a special application can turn a smartphone into a “tracker” of sleep phases. Of course, it will be the same conditional and inaccurate as in fitness trackers, but the fact remains - such an opportunity is available.
It should be noted that the smartphone will give the opportunity to listen to music, because few people like to play sports in silence. In addition, if on a morning run you suddenly come across a head to photograph the dawn, a smartphone will come to the rescue here.
And, of course, using a smartphone instead of a fitness tracker is a great opportunity to save, and since the current crisis in the country you should try to save on everything, including servicing not directly from mobile operators, but through dealers, through the Communications Corporation ”For example, which, incidentally, not only provides mobile communications cheaper, but also often gives golden cell numbers.
Perhaps the only advantage of fitness trackers is their compactness. Freedom of movement is important for athletes, and they often will not know where to attach the smartphone at a time when the fitness tracker can be conveniently positioned on your hand.
Of course, in the final analysis, it's up to you to decide what to choose, but perhaps if you make a choice in the direction of a fitness tracker, you should not take some expensive model, it is unlikely to work more accurately, but it will cause damage to the wallet. However, again, you decide.
The article was prepared on the materials of the site www.corporacia.ru