Microsoft Band 2

A superior smart band that helps you to live healthier and achieve more

01 Feb Microsoft Band 2

Microsoft-Band-2[1]When I had the opportunity to review the Microsoft band 2, I was both interested and intrigued to see if it is as good as it sounded. After wearing and testing the Microsoft Band 2 for 6 weeks, I can honestly say it definitely is a superior smart band that has enabled and encouraged me to live healthier; it definitely lives up to its hype.

The first thing that struck me about the band was how fashionable it looked. Having tried and worn other smart bands before, I thought this band looked extremely stylish and was the most comfortable band I have worn. The Microsoft Band 2 is made of Thermal plastic elastomer silicone vulcanate (TPSiV) which was extremely soft and smooth next to my skin. The band was also a very good fit. I had previously used the measuring strip provided to see what size I needed. I could then adjust the recommended band to fit my wrist comfortably. It is advised that the band should be worn snug and should not be sliding up and down your arm. The adjustable strap made it easy to find the best fit for me. There is also a contoured design to the display that makes it very comfortable to wear.

microsoft band 2 sensorsThe Microsoft Band 2 brilliantly features an enhanced array of sensors, including a barometer that counts the floors you climb when you take the stairs, and measures elevation gains while running and biking. The band has two buttons and a touchscreen to help you navigate all the features. There is a mic and barometer on the sides of the band and the heart rate monitor and galvanic skin response contact points are on the inside surface.

A fantastic feature of the new Microsoft band is that it helps you to live healthier by tracking your heart rate, exercise (including daily steps), calorie burn and sleep quality. Microsoft Health also helps you to track these. Microsoft Health is available as a universal Windows app, a dedicated app for iOS and Android devices and via a Web Dashboard. Microsoft Health enables you to set wellness goals and receive actionable insights. It’s a great way to help you live healthier as you can easily track your lifestyle, look at your stats and gain insights into your wellbeing.

By allowing me to track my heart rate, exercise, calorie burn and sleep quality I gained an informative picture of my health. It was also very motivating knowing how many calories I had burnt each day and it was great to identify what activities helped me burn more calories. The step counter was very accurate and gave me a true picture of how many steps I take every day. The band also alerted me when I had reached my step goal for the day. I thought this was a great feature as it alerted me that I had been more active that day and I found this motivated me to continue taking more steps.

I was also very impressed with the sleep quality tracker. The tracker needs to be switched on before you go to sleep and turned off once you wake up. You can then scroll through the information about your night’s sleep. I could see how long I had been asleep for, how long the tracker had been activated for, how many times I woke up in the night, how many calories I burned and I was also given an efficiency percentage. It was reassuring to see this efficiency percentage was always in the 90s!

Another fantastic feature of this new Microsoft band is the Guided Workouts it gives you. I could choose from a selection of workouts to carry out, each one focussing on a different body part or activity. These workouts were fantastic to get me started. You can also custom track your running, biking or golfing where the speed and distance are tracked with the built in GPS.

Not only does the Microsoft Band 2 help you to live healthier but it also provides notifications about your emails, texts and calendar alerts. This feature helps make this band superior to some of the other smart bands available. Having phone, text and email alerts come to my band made me less likely to miss an important correspondence. I loved that I was alerted to any phone calls as I cannot always have my phone on me all day, so I found it really useful knowing if I had had a phone call.

microsoft band 2 lifestyleThe Microsoft Band 2 can also be personalised to best suit the user’s needs. I could choose from a wide range of ‘tiles’ to add to my display so any information important to me could be displayed on the display screen. There are 37 tiles to choose from, including the 24-hour heart rate monitor, steps, text messaging, calls, Cortana, news, smart notifications and calorie tracking. There is even a Starbucks tile that means you do not need to reach for your wallet when in Starbucks, but can enjoy coffee with your Starbucks card ready to scan at an arm’s length! These tiles can be simply added to my band through my phone. I could also choose what colour I wanted the display screen to be, allowing me to choose my own preferred colour for my band.

The Microsoft Band 2 is an excellent band to not only help you maintain a healthy lifestyle and enable you to track your daily activities, but it also allows you to keep up to date with emails, texts and calls. I would highly recommend this smart band for anyone who wants to live healthier and gain an insight into their health and wellbeing.

The RRP for this fabulous smart band is £199.99 and is available from www.microsoft.com/microsoft-band/en-gb.