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The Polar Loop striation sports all the basic social occasion of a fitness tracker — it measures sleep metre , stair involve , activity time and levels , and large calorie burned — and it ’s rainproof , which allowed me to go after my activity while swim . The stria , from Finland - found Polar , also exhibit the prison term of day , and costs $ 99.95 on Amazon , which place it on equality in monetary value with Fitbit Flex and the Jawbone Up . And neither of those is waterproof , nor show the fourth dimension . I wore the Polar Loop tracker for more than a workweek , running , swimming , working out on an elliptical machine and work out with kettlebells , to examine out its mojo . Here ’s what I found .
Overall Rating: 6/10
The gentle - to - use app , band comfort , time of day feature and waterproofness of the Polar Loop are cock-a-hoop pluses for this fitness tracker . Its drawback admit the tricky push button on the band , and the limitations of the information dog , which does n’t include nap quality details , for illustration ; even so , for the basics the Polar Loop is terrific .
Design / Comfort : 6/10
The Polar Loop is extremely comfortable , though its plastic band is stiff than the soft atomic number 14 fabric of theBowflex BoostandFitbug Orb . This seaworthiness tracker must be hack to fit your wrist , which at first I thought would be elaborate ; but using the tiny cock that comes with the Loop to push out the clasp from both sides , and the mensuration tape to figure out how much to rationalize off ( also included ) , sizing was moderately uncomplicated , though a petty tedious .
The Polar Loop band is marketed as the activity tracker that makes you move.Buy the Polar Loop »>
There ’s a television on the Polar site that shows you exactly how to fit your band , though I just seem at the diagram that came with it . ( I should take note that I first measured my wrist with the mag tape snugly around it , but was disturbed I would cut off too much , so I did the cutting in small growth . In the end I cut off exactly the identification number that I first measured . ) After it is cut , the band is easy to get on and off by opening its alloy clutches .
Once I figured out how to cut the banding and reattach the fastener , the tracker matte up astonishing . Since it ’s cut to sizing , I did n’t have to worry about it slip all over , and its comparatively soft rubber and light weightiness made it unobtrusive ; sometimes I draw a blank I was have on it and sleeping with it was seamless . The only time it did seem to get in the style was when I was doing kettlebells . During a move called the " clean and press , " when the kettlebell flips over your deal , the kettlebell would hit my wrist joint , and the band , which was a little irritating .
The only tangible problem I found with the intention was the button used to display the time and activity data . The diminished button sits low-spirited in the band , so it was hard to bear on , and I often had to apply my fingernail or at least push it a couple times to get it to operate .
drug user friendliness : 7/10
The Polar Loop circle links with software you may download from the Polar website , and with the Polar Loop app for iOS and Android . ( antecedently , the band ferment only with iPhones , but now , it also works with Android gimmick . ) I mostly used the sound app , since it synced up as soon as I open up it , picture me sopor time — which is calculate as the long stretch of " down time " during a 24 - time of day catamenia , consort to the internet site — along with telephone number of steps taken , kilocalorie burned and , my favorite , the little icons show the amount of time spend in different activity intensities , from eternal rest to high intensity .
you may tap the icons showing exercise intensity level to get a sense of the types of action each would be . For instance , " Low " intensity would include " Standing study , light-colored household chores , " while " High " intensity would admit " Jogging , running and other vivid activeness . "
When I plug in the tracker to my computer ’s USB one-armed bandit , it updated everything there as well . The software also includes a calendar diary to keep racetrack of all of your data , along with any preeminence you write .
Having the time of day was also a plus , though I could n’t count on out a style to get the time to always show up as the first item displayed ( with theNike FuelBand , if you " double penetrate " on the button , it exhibit the time of sidereal day ) .
A downside of the Loop is that to view the data on each of your activities , you have to click , waitress for the activity to lade , and then click again for the next activity , waitress , and so on . For instance , if I push the release and the showing say " Step , " if I wanted to see the number of step I ’d taken so far that daytime , I had to wait . If instead I want to see the next variable , such as " Calories , " I had to keep click until the display read " Calories , " and then look to see the number . If you just click once it shows , for representative , the clip and then the showing turn off . And since it ’s tricky pushing the button , all this clicking ended up being a pain , so I usually just synchronize it with my phone app and looked at all the figure on there .
Value of information : 5/10
The showing on the iPhone app was extremely useful to show my overall body process sentence and level for the day . The tumid part of the app display record a circle typify a 24 - 60 minutes period , with the active fourth dimension shown in refinement of blue ( the darker blue representing higher intensity activities ) . like a shot , I became aware of the amount of sitting time that pervade my work week when I was park in front of a computer concealment , whereas on the weekend I had much long dynamic prison term .
The app also express me whether my workouts were really providing restrained or intense action levels , but this actually seemed to be a product of how much I was swing my arms while exercising . When I was on the elliptical at the gymnasium , and not swing my arms while " running , " the Polar Loop seemed to register that as restrained bodily process , whereas when I swung my blazon instead of hold onto the elliptical side , the Loop register that clock time as acute activity .
But while the Loop showed me the calories I burn based on my activity , there was no way to input calories eaten during the day .
Also , the eternal sleep sentence always seemed to be at least an hour modest than my actual metre in seam , and on one juncture it present about four hour of sleep when I actually slept for about eight 60 minutes . In gain , there is no dislocation of quality of slumber , so it ’s not that useful if you want to figure out how to get a better dark ’s sopor .
TheFAQs on the Polar Loop websiteare rattling for answering questions about how thing work and for troubleshooting .
In the pool
The Loop seemed to do a corking task of immortalise my activity metre and level when I was float and working out with kettlebells . I wore the Loop while swimming about a mi at a time , and it showed most of it as vivid natural action , which is what it felt like physically to me .
Although you ca n’t cross sophisticated swim prosody ( like laps or stroke ) with the Loop , you’re able to use this tracker with the Polar H7 Bluetooth Smart Heart Rate Sensor , which can register your tenderness rate underwater . Using a marrow - rate admonisher — which is something you ca n’t do with most fitness trackers , including those from Garmin — can give you a better sense of the chroma level of your activity .
Enjoyment / Inspiration : 6/10
I enjoyed wearing this fittingness tracker overall , because it collapse me the basics without too many details .
The display on the iPhone app was motivational , as it gave me an overall picture of my day and how it stacked up to other days . However , the motivational alerts seemed a little generic and only somewhat motivated me . For instance , if I sat for lengthy period I would get an inactivity alarm that read : " You were sitting for quite a few hours . endeavor to break it up tomorrow . "
Also , I was most always well above the daily goal set for me , which was about four hours of low - intensity natural action a day . The Loop sic that prison term based on planetary recommendation for temperate and vigorous forcible activity , your typical day ( I posture in front of a computer most of the day ) , age and gender .
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