Changes

Basis Activity Tracker

1,533 bytes added, 15:20, 13 September 2014
no edit summary
[[File:BasisActivityMonitor.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The Basis Activity Monitor and Health Tracker.]]
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Basis Activity Monitory (Health & Sleep Tracker) Review}}The [http://www.amazon.com/Basis-Health-Tracker-Fitness-Stress/dp/B00GJG5ZEA Basis] is probably the best activity monitor so far, but has some noteworthy flaws. Its superiority to other monitors comes from its broader range of sensors, which include heart rate, skin temperature, and perspiration in addition to accelerometer based movement detection. This gives the Basis far more information with which to evaluate activity, including sleep. The Basis Activity Monitor is <jfs id="B00GJG5ZEA" noreferb="true"/>.[[File:BasisActivity240614.jpg|none|thumb|500px|An example of the information from the [http://www.amazon.com/Basis-Health-Tracker-Fitness-Stress/dp/B00GJG5ZEA Basis Activity Monitor], showing heart rate, skin temperature, and perspiration .]]
=Pros=
These pros raise the Basis above the completion.
* The current activity monitors are just that; they monitor activity. The future is likely to like with full health monitors, that provide insight into other aspects of our health and lives beyond activity. Measuring blood pressure, [[SpO2| blood oxygen saturation]], blood glucose, etc., could provide a huge benefit in understanding our health, but individually and as a culture. Obviously, some of these, like non-intrusive blood glucose sensing, have been sought after for many years and will be tricky to achieve.
=Competition=
* '''Apple iWatch'''. It seems almost certain that Apple will produce some type of watch/activity monitor that will have far better capabilities than the Basis. Of course this is currently vapour ware, and there's no certainty around what this device will actually do, but waiting for the iWatch might be worthwhile.
* '''Wirthings'''. This activity monitor can also record heart rate, as well as [[SpO2|SpO<sub>2</sub>]]. However, both of these measurements require you to explicitly take a recording rather than providing continuous monitoring.
* '''Adidas Fit Smart'''. While this looks rather like an activity monitor, it's actually more of a [[Best Running Watch| sports watch]]. Like the Basis, the Adidas has optical heart rate monitoring. However the Adidas uses the more accurate system from Mio (used in the TomTom), but this approach also rapidly drains the battery giving only five hours of use. It can pair with a smartphone to provide GPS, and in some ways is more of an advanced smartwatch for running then either a running watch or a activity monitor.
* '''Smartphone'''. There are a vast array of activity monitoring apps for smartphones that use the built in accelerometers. These apps require you to keep the phone on you for monitoring, and are not as effective as a watch type monitor, but they are far cheaper. There are also apps that will detect sleep patterns by having the phone on the bed while you sleep. These are rather ineffective, but at least they record how long you're spending in bed.
* '''Zeo'''. The Zeo only functions as a sleep monitor, but it seems to do a much better job. Sadly it's discontinued. * '''Apple Watch'''. The Apple Watch had such promise, but the reality falls far short. The initial indications are that the Watch will only record Heart Rate "on demand" rather than continuously. * '''Other activity monitors'''. There are many other activity monitors on the market, but without the extra sensors that the Basis has, they are poor substitutes. Unless you are after a smartwatch to act as a remote interface to your smartphone or a fashion accessory, stick with the basis.=Sleep Monitoring Compared with Zeo={| class="wikitable" |- valign="top"|[[File:Sleep140619.jpg|none|thumb|x500px|A poor match, with the Basis showing REM with the Zeo showing awake (I'm pretty sure I was awake.)]]|[[File:Sleep140620.jpg|none|thumb|x500px|Some similarity, but not a great match.]]|- valign="top"|[[File:Sleep140621.jpg|none|thumb|x500px|A closer match.]]|[[File:Sleep140622.jpg|none|thumb|x500px|The REM sections match, but the deep sleep is quite different. ]]|- valign="top"|[[File:Sleep140623.jpg|none|thumb|x500px|A good match other than the Basis missing some awake periods.]]|[[File:Sleep140624.jpg|none|thumb|x500px|Not much matching between the two.]]|}