Tag Archives: Fitness

Headspace subscriptions are 50 percent off ahead of Black Friday

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The winter holidays are upon us and despite the festive feelings we might be hoping for, this time of year is often paired with increased stress, worry and anxiety. Fortunately, there are tools out there that can help you manage those negative emotions and enjoy the holiday season to the fullest. The meditation app Headspace is one such tool, and Black Friday deals have brought subscription costs down by 50 percent. You can get one year of Headspace for $35 right now, which is half off its usual $70 price tag.

Headspace's service has features to help users with meditation, sleep tools, mindfulness and general mental health. Its holistic approach made Headspace stand out as one of our top picks for meditation apps.

Reviewer Lawrence Bonk appreciated how well Headspace created progression across its courses, as well as the chance to pick from different instructors so that any user can find the meditation guidance that will work best for their individual brains. This app is also getting the AI treatment. Headspace has introduced an AI companion named Ebb that can help users by recommending meditations and activities to best match their current challenges. 

Since this is a year-long subscription, it's a gift that keeps on giving for whoever you choose to buy this plan for. Having a happier brain is a present anyone can appreciate.

Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/headspace-subscriptions-are-50-percent-off-ahead-of-black-friday-140026192.html?src=rss

This Compact Folding Rowing Machine gives you an All-in-one Gym the size of a Side Table

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For many people, the dream of a home gym often gets snagged on the harsh reality of limited space. Traditional rowing machines, with their long frames and bulky builds, can feel intrusive in a compact apartment or cluttered living room. Rowing machines, although the perfect example of a healthy, full-body workout, aren’t really designed to be space-saving, or even good-looking, to be honest. They’re designed to be used, and then hidden away, which makes their large, cumbersome design unsuitable for most homes (not necessarily just smaller apartments). In comes the JOYSONG Cube Rower, with its IKEA meets Pottery Barn meets Planet Fitness approach. Designed to be compact, multipurpose, aesthetic, and highly effective, the JOYSONG Cube Rower gives you the full rowing machine experience in a space-saving form factor. Its unique design is perfect for rowing, but also lets you do more than 80 other exercises (so you aren’t restricted to just one boring workout), and when you’re done sweating it out, the JOYSONG Cube Rower folds down into a form factor no larger than a side table, with a wooden exterior that allows it to perfectly blend into apartments without looking as obnoxious as a Peloton.

Designer: The JOYSONG Team

Click Here to Buy Now: $649 $999 (35% off). Hurry, only 466/500 left! Raised over $222,000.

The key feature of the JOYSONG Cube Rower lies in its name – the cube. This ingenious design allows the machine to fold up into a compact cube after your workout, taking up minimal floor space. At just 55cm in height when folded, the JOYSONG Cube Rower practically disappears into your home, occupying a fraction of the space your conventional home gym would. Besides, a leather seat on top of the cube means your rower actually doubles as a stool when not in use, giving you a multipurpose piece of furniture that you can exercise with. When it’s time to exercise, the Cube Rower unfolds in minutes, transforming into an extensive rowing apparatus complete with an app as well as real-life training videos you can watch on TV as you row, creating a simulation-like experience that has you feeling like you’re really on a lake with a boat. For users who prefer not to use an app, the rowing machine includes a digital display screen that enables them to track and record their workout data.

Under the JOYSONG Compact Cube Rower’s hood lies a powerful Water & Magnetic Resistance system that provides the resistance required to facilitate your exercise. The dynamic duo of ferromagnets and fluid allows you to experience the smooth feel of magnetic resistance while simultaneously enjoying the realistic dynamics of rowing on water. Combined, they provide up to 30 kilograms of resistance, which can be easily adjusted through a digital panel, making it suitable for beginners who are just starting their fitness journey or seasoned athletes looking for a challenging workout.

Once you’ve set the rower up, strapped yourself in, and set the resistance level of your choice, an app lets you transform your mundane exercise into something truly adrenaline-pumping. JOYSONG’s rowing app boasts a catalog of more than 40,000 real-life training videos that let you visualize rowing in a way that truly feels immersive. Designed to be compatible with large screens like your television, the app lets you broadcast real-life PoV rowing videos that put you in the driver’s (rower’s) seat quite literally. The videos act as a simulation while encouraging you to follow along, while the app captures your workout progress for you.

However, if you want to do more than just rowing, JOYSONG also has a variant of the Cube Rower that also packs a home gym in its design. Exactly the same size as the Compact Cube Rower (and with the same foldable format), the ‘Home Gym Cube Rower’ has a few more modifications that lets you do rowing along with 80 other exercises from crunches to bench presses, chest flies, stretches, or even yoga. To facilitate this, the Home Gym Cube Rower ditches the Water + Magnetic resistance system for pure magnetic resistance, along with the ability to simulate up to 40 kilograms of weight, adjustable to 24 different levels for novices and experts. From yoga to pilates, strength training, and other core exercises, the Home Gym Cube Rower lets you switch things up, focus on specific body parts, and frankly do more than just row all the time. Whether you’re looking to improve your cardiovascular health, build muscle strength, or increase your flexibility, the Home Gym Cube Rower brings an entire gym to your home without those pesky membership fees, sweaty people, or bulky equipment.

Both variants of the Cube Rower (with and without the Home Gym) come with the exact same folded size of 618 x 454 x 555 millimeters (24.3 x 17.8 x 21.8 inches), although the Home Gym Cube Rower weighs a little more at 65 kilograms (143.3lbs) as compared to the Compact Cube Rower 52 kilograms (114.6lbs). This is also where the built-in wheel system helps, allowing you to move the Compact Cube Rower around to any part of your house. The outer body for both are crafted from Quercus Rubra or Northern Red Oak, with a strong yet lightweight aluminum alloy frame on the inside. Finally, a leather seat puts you in the lap of comfort while you exercise, and pops right on top of the Cube Rower when not in use, allowing it to double as a nifty stool that you can easily place anywhere around your home!

Click Here to Buy Now: $649 $999 (35% off). Hurry, only 466/500 left! Raised over $222,000.

The post This Compact Folding Rowing Machine gives you an All-in-one Gym the size of a Side Table first appeared on Yanko Design.

This pedal-powered exerciser is your portable power bank for blackouts

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We are living in a vulnerable world where a disaster can strike at any time, without the slightest warning. While power outages as a result of damage to equipment, failure at the end of the provider, or some fault at home are common; outages because of disasters are still rare. In spite of this, governments globally are advising citizens to take simple steps to prepare for power emergencies. To help you through different types of blackouts, the HR Bank is made to provide power independence at any given time and space.

This portable power bank ensures continuous energy at home with comfort and security that you can trust with your family. The versatile power storage device is imagined to store power from almost every possible – renewal or non-renewal – source. The device stores excess energy in its internal 2kWh battery from solar panels and wind turbines and then helps power your home, appliance, and more during blackouts.

Designer: Lukas Avenas

The most interesting part about thee HR Bank is its human-powered ability. When the external energy source is unavailable, the user can pedal this power bank like an exercise bike to generate clean power. With its ability to double up as an exerciser, the HR Bank promotes fitness and can also become a dynamic workstation in minutes using an optional table contraption.

The HR Bank thus functions as a large power bank that can store energy from external power sources or generate its own electricity through pedaling. Through workout, while working on your system, you can generate 50-500 Wh of energy to power your smartphones, laptops or other devices. This robust and customizable power bank cum exerciser can keep you fit and power a smartphone to full charge on 15 minutes of pedaling, while pedaling it for one hour straight can generate enough power to juice up a laptop.

The body of the HR Bank is made of aluminum (for its durability, versatility, and infinite recyclability properties) and it features an electric motor by Tukas EV. Other materials comprising the pedals, saddle, and handlebar are made from birch plywood, vegan leather, and natural leather. The entire HR Bank is highly adjustable so people of all heights can use it by adjusting the saddle, handlebar, or pedal position to their liking. With the handlebars and saddle removed, this power bank cum exerciser can pack up into a size of regular luggage for easy storage or transportation.

The post This pedal-powered exerciser is your portable power bank for blackouts first appeared on Yanko Design.

Samsung will stuff the Galaxy Watch with new AI health-tracking features

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Samsung will add new AI-based health and fitness features to the Galaxy Watch later this year. The company announced on-device AI features on Wednesday, including personalized health scores, tips, sleep indicators and suggested workout routines.

One of the Galaxy Watch’s big AI upgrades is a new Energy Score, which learns from various personal metrics to provide “comprehensive health insights.” The model draws on a variety of sleep data, including when the wearer went to bed, how long and how well they slept and their heart's rate and variability during sleep. Physical activity during waking hours is also taken into account.

Along similar lines, the Galaxy Watch will also add Wellness Tips, which take that data analysis a step further with “insights, motivational tips, and guidance” relative to your personal fitness goals.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch resting on a blanket. Its screen says
Malak Saleh for Engadget

Sleep features are also getting AI-enhanced upgrades, offering extra insight into your nightly habits. New sleep algorithms can analyze sleep movement, latency, heart rate and respiratory rate. They’ll join existing tracking features like snoring hours, blood-oxygen level and sleep cycle.

For hardcore runners, the Galaxy Watch is getting new aerobic threshold (AT) and anaerobic threshold (AnT) heart rate zone metrics to help you stay within your optimal training windows. High-intensity cyclists get some love, too, with Functional Threshold Power (FTP) metrics. Samsung says calculating the latter will only take 10 minutes of consistent cycling (at 4km/h or faster).

A new Workout Routine feature will let you string together different types of exercises for a personalized regimen, letting you transition from one to the next without stopping. Meanwhile, a new Race feature will task you with trying to beat your previous times on a set route.

Samsung teased that the Galaxy Watch may not be the only device receiving new AI-based health features. “The introduction of Galaxy AI to Galaxy Watch is just the beginning of this process and we’re excited to showcase even more integrations across our Galaxy portfolio very soon,” the company said. Samsung may officially launch its Galaxy Ring wearable (initially announced in January without details) at its next Unpacked event in July. The Oura-like device will track sleep based on heart rate, movement and breathing, offering personalized advice.

The new Galaxy Watch features will arrive in the One UI 6 Watch update later this year. Samsung says “a limited number” of Watch owners will be able to try them in a beta program starting in June.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-will-stuff-the-galaxy-watch-with-new-ai-health-tracking-features-120057305.html?src=rss

Samsung will stuff the Galaxy Watch with new AI health-tracking features

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Samsung will add new AI-based health and fitness features to the Galaxy Watch later this year. The company announced on-device AI features on Wednesday, including personalized health scores, tips, sleep indicators and suggested workout routines.

One of the Galaxy Watch’s big AI upgrades is a new Energy Score, which learns from various personal metrics to provide “comprehensive health insights.” The model draws on a variety of sleep data, including when the wearer went to bed, how long and how well they slept and their heart's rate and variability during sleep. Physical activity during waking hours is also taken into account.

Along similar lines, the Galaxy Watch will also add Wellness Tips, which take that data analysis a step further with “insights, motivational tips, and guidance” relative to your personal fitness goals.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch resting on a blanket. Its screen says
Malak Saleh for Engadget

Sleep features are also getting AI-enhanced upgrades, offering extra insight into your nightly habits. New sleep algorithms can analyze sleep movement, latency, heart rate and respiratory rate. They’ll join existing tracking features like snoring hours, blood-oxygen level and sleep cycle.

For hardcore runners, the Galaxy Watch is getting new aerobic threshold (AT) and anaerobic threshold (AnT) heart rate zone metrics to help you stay within your optimal training windows. High-intensity cyclists get some love, too, with Functional Threshold Power (FTP) metrics. Samsung says calculating the latter will only take 10 minutes of consistent cycling (at 4km/h or faster).

A new Workout Routine feature will let you string together different types of exercises for a personalized regimen, letting you transition from one to the next without stopping. Meanwhile, a new Race feature will task you with trying to beat your previous times on a set route.

Samsung teased that the Galaxy Watch may not be the only device receiving new AI-based health features. “The introduction of Galaxy AI to Galaxy Watch is just the beginning of this process and we’re excited to showcase even more integrations across our Galaxy portfolio very soon,” the company said. Samsung may officially launch its Galaxy Ring wearable (initially announced in January without details) at its next Unpacked event in July. The Oura-like device will track sleep based on heart rate, movement and breathing, offering personalized advice.

The new Galaxy Watch features will arrive in the One UI 6 Watch update later this year. Samsung says “a limited number” of Watch owners will be able to try them in a beta program starting in June.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-will-stuff-the-galaxy-watch-with-new-ai-health-tracking-features-120057305.html?src=rss

This $599 Exoskeleton gives your legs Superhuman Powers while helping you save 50% energy

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It isn’t Iron Man’s suit, but it’s still a pretty big augmentation to humans and their capabilities.

The promise of great technology is to make life easy for everyone… the only problem is that a lot of times, it takes YEARS before great technology can become accessible to everyone. EVs were very niche before they weren’t, DARPA (the defense research wing of the US government) played a pivotal role in developing the internet for communication on the front lines in the 1960s before the internet finally became household technology. Cameras were incredibly specialist equipment before they became small enough to fit into a smartphone, and exoskeletons were originally developed for military personnel to give them superhuman strength, before ending up in warehouses to allow workers to lift heavy objects without using all their energy. If you went online, chances are you wouldn’t be able to simply buy an exoskeleton for yourself (or you’d probably end up paying thousands of dollars for it), but the folks at Dnsys are hoping to make the technology accessible to all humans.

The $599 X1 is an exoskeleton that aids with mobility by giving your legs an extra set of mechanical muscles. Powerful enough to reduce the energy you spend walking/running/trekking by a staggering 50% and reduce your load by nearly 83 lbs, the Dnsys X1 runs on a set of 900W motors that output 1.2 horsepower with a top speed of 27km/h (16.7mph), allowing you to walk, climb, and run with more agility and less exertion. The entire device, which straps to your waist and thighs, weighs a paltry 1.6 kilograms (3.5 lbs) and has a battery that offers a range of 25 kilometers, allowing you to push your boundaries further without being restrained by your human limitations.

Designer: Dnsys

Click Here to Buy Now: $599 $1198 (50% off) Hurry! Only 10 left of 890. Raised over $1,000,000.

The X1 hopes to shatter the misconception that exoskeletons just belong in warehouses. Quite like Apple’s Vision Pro became one of the first VR headsets to actually be seen in real society, with people wearing them in cafes and subways, the Dnsys X1 aims at being the exoskeleton for all kinds of outdoor use. You could be an explorer or trekker looking to cover lots of ground, a backpacker trying to walk large distances with a heavy backpack, a photographer looking to navigate an outdoor location with a lot of gear, or just a fitness enthusiast looking to get in your movement while protecting your knees and legs from strain or injuries. The X1 gives your legs a set of helping hands (or helping legs, if you want to switch the idiom), allowing you to move faster, farther, and with much less energy.

The hallmark of the Dnsys X1 is its ultra-lightweight construction, weighing a mere 1.6kg, thanks to the utilization of aerospace-grade aluminum alloy and carbon fiber. This not only ensures durability but significantly reduces weight, making it an unobtrusive companion for any journey. The exoskeleton’s sophisticated motor, the DNA-1, embodies sheer power, delivering 1.2 horsepower and a torque of 50 Nm/kg, which, in simpler terms, is similar to the power performance of a Formula One race car.

Making an exoskeleton isn’t as easy as simply slapping motors onto a body brace. The X1 employs advanced AI algorithms to adapt to the user’s walking pattern, offering instantaneous walking assistance that makes every step feel lighter. This AI innovation, combined with state-of-the-art motion sensors, enables the device to conserve up to 50% of the user’s energy, essentially halving the strain of carrying heavy loads during challenging treks or climbs. Imagine exploring the wild with the ability to walk or run with less fatigue, climb higher, and embark on longer adventures, all while protecting your knees and reducing the risk of physical exertion-related injuries. The X1’s clever design also enables all kinds of movements, aiding you with walking forwards and backwards, sideways, upwards, or even any odd movement that would result from you walking on an uneven path or terrain.

Different modes let you achieve different tasks. A regular mode gives you a maximum range of 25 kilometers (15.5 miles), aiding with load reduction and energy conservation, while a Boost mode, activated simply by pressing a button on the sides, gives you the full effect of the X1’s 1.2 horsepower output. The regular mode is perfect for walking and climbing, while the boost mode is the equivalent of going full throttle, allowing for more machine power that gives you maximum speeds of 27km/h or 16.7mph. Conversely, instead of having the X1 boost your performance, you can even flip to a Workout mode which restrains your walking ability, making you put more effort in. Designed to be the equivalent of training with weights or resistance bands, this mode is for maximizing your exercise, making it perfect for strength training and isokinetic exercise. The resistance mode also helps reduce impact on your knees during downhill walks, helping prevent injuries.

The X1 starts at $599, a massive 50% reduction over its original $1198 retail price. It includes an app that also works to monitor device status in real-time, and track medical-grade health data such as hip joint mobility and step frequency. Each X1 ships with a smart battery capable of kinetic energy recovery (KERS) for high efficiency, a charging dock, and a charging cable. The Dnsys X1 ships globally starting July 2024.

Click Here to Buy Now: $599 $1198 (50% off) Hurry! Only 10 left of 890. Raised over $1,000,000.

The post This $599 Exoskeleton gives your legs Superhuman Powers while helping you save 50% energy first appeared on Yanko Design.

This $144 battle rope boasts a clever ‘ropeless’ compact design for small homes and anywhere workouts

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Whether you set up a home gym or have a gold membership at the fitness center down the street, you can always have a reason to skip the workout. But if you are among those who can skip a beat but not a session with the battle ropes; you would need the Z-Rope! A ropeless battle rope solution without the installation challenges, noise problems, and accessibility restrictions.

We come by hundreds of CrossFit accessories that vouch by their heart to assist you with full-body workout anywhere, any time. The new Z-Rope differs from them at the usability and functionality level. It’s highly portable, lightweight, and is an accessory that would let you indulge in high-intensity training in pin-drop silence. Just mind your breath, grunting, and foots taps, please!

Designer: Zest Up 

Click Here to Buy Now: $144 $180 (20% off) Hurry! Only 5 Days Left. Raised over $315,000.

It’s not easy to make space for fitness equipment in your apartment or carry all the routine accessories when you’re traveling for work or leisure. In either case you are deprived of choices and/or either have to settle for less or go without exercise. Z-Rope steps up as a solution worth considering for two reasons: it is a ropeless battle rope that fits conveniently in your backpack (measures 19×1.5 inches and weighs less than 2 pounds), and can let you workout like you would with battle ropes – without disruptive noises, furniture damage, or potential setup costs – at the convenience of the home or wherever your life takes you.

The Z-Rope is thus tailored for small spaces and gym enthusiasts who travel and find it difficult to get gyms with battle ropes in their locality. It enables the user to not only reap the benefits of battle rope workout, but the makers say, it can help them with 13+ workouts, including cardio and strength training at personal convenience. The full-power training with the ropeless battle rope can help, “effectively in building muscle, stamina, and endurance,” the makers note. For reference, 10 minutes of intense workout with the Z-Rope can provide cardiovascular benefits equivalent to an hour of tennis or 2 hours of running.

As for the design; the baton-like Z-Rope is highly durable. A pair features comfortable EVA foam handles attached to elastic springs. This design – without the ropes – mimics the wave movement of traditional battle ropes – operating almost noiselessly, so that you can exercise freely at home or in your hotel room late at night or in the early hours of the day. Like with the traditional battle ropes, the Z-Rope has been tested to not only help users with the strength training of arms and upper body, it also assists in toning the core muscles and provides strength and substance to the lower body through consistent use.

The Z-Rope is perfect for on-the-go workouts but also for compact homes where storing gym equipment becomes a bit of a hassle. Measuring just 19 inches long and weighing 900 grams (1.9 pounds), the Z-Rope unlocks a healthy lifestyle without the size, price, and commitment of a Peloton. The Z-Rope starts at just $144 and begins shipping as soon as May 2024.

Click Here to Buy Now: $144 $180 (20% off) Hurry! Only 5 Days Left. Raised over $315,000.

The post This $144 battle rope boasts a clever ‘ropeless’ compact design for small homes and anywhere workouts first appeared on Yanko Design.

The Garmin Forerunner 55 GPS running watch drops to a record low of $150

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Spring is so close now that it's almost in our grasp. Say goodbye to wearing a huge coat to go to the gym and hello to outdoor activities. With that in mind, there many great GPS running watches out there to track your time in the sun, including the on sale Garmin's Forerunner 55. The smartwatch is down to $150 from $200 — a 25 percent discount that brings the device to its record-low price.

The Garmin Forerunner 55 is a slightly upgraded version of the company's 45S (which we rave about here). It comes with features such as a heart rate monitor, respiration rate, menstrual tracking, pacing strategies, and more. It also has a GPS that helps track distance, speed, and location and creates pacing strategies for a selected course.

While it's billed as a running watch, the Garmin Forerunner 55 also works for activities such as pilates, cycling, breathwork and swimming. As a smartwatch, the battery can last 20 days, while being in GPS mode gives the watch 20 hours — way more time than it takes to go for a run, stop for a snack and run back.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-garmin-forerunner-55-gps-running-watch-drops-to-a-record-low-of-150-133443716.html?src=rss

The best cheap fitness trackers for 2024

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Achieving your fitness goals doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. Keeping track of your progress will be crucial, but not everyone needs to drop hundreds of dollars on the best smartwatches out there. The average affordable tracker might offer just the right tools to help kickstart your health journey, like a heart rate monitor, sleep quality data and so on. And, after testing a number of affordable fitness trackers, I can say with confidence that you might be surprised by how much a $100 (or less) wearable can do — a welcomed treat for those who don’t want to spend a ton of cash on an Apple Watch. Many of these gadgets go well beyond being glorified pedometers, providing in-depth reports on how you're sleeping at night or giving you a breakdown of your heart rate variability during a workout. But given their price, there will be some sacrifices. To help you decide which is right for you, I tested a number of the best cheap fitness trackers available today to find the ones that are worth your money.

All of the best fitness trackers should have at least three features: a program to track workouts or movement of some sort, the option to monitor and collect sleep data and the ability to measure health metrics like heart rate and blood oxygen levels (though, the readings might not be super accurate). Don’t set your sights too high and expect metrics like blood pressure monitoring; for that, you’d need to invest in a more expensive wearable like a Samsung Galaxy Watch, which will set you back over $400.

A cheap workout tracker can be great for someone looking to keep tabs on small, achievable goals like 10,000 steps before sundown or 30 minutes of a HIIT workout to get your heart rate peaking. An experienced long-distance runner looking to train for a triathlon might opt for a more expensive device that can measure cadence or ground contact time, and can track more customizable workouts, offer different sports modes or give deeper insights into performance data.

At the very least, a budget workout tracker should be able to offer fitness tracking features beyond walking and running — otherwise, it would just be a pedometer. The number of activities a device will recognize varies. Some will get funky with it and consider skateboarding a workout, while others won’t be able to track a jumping jack.

At this price, you can expect a device to measure a mix of cardio, machine workouts and strength training. With each, you might get a numerical or visual breakdown of heart rate activity, overall pace, and calories burned per session. Although some cheap trackers can offer a really good overview of heart rate zone activity during a workout, a more technically advanced device might be able to go a step further and explain what your results mean and coach you on how to keep your heart rate in a specific bracket so that you can burn more fat per workout. I found that the more budget-friendly the device, the more likely it is that a tracker will fall short when it comes to smart counseling or offering predictive insights beyond a given workout. If a budget tracker does happen to offer some semblance of a coaching program, you can expect it to sit behind a paywall.

Workout tracking and planning your recovery is just as essential to any fitness journey. A sub-$100 device should be able to tell you how long you’ve slept and provide a breakdown of deep, light and REM sleep activity. It's not a guarantee that you will get a sleep “score” or insights on how to get better rest — that data is usually found on more expensive wearables. Also, because these trackers aren’t designed for bedtime specifically — be mindful of comfort. The bands and watch face on a budget fitness tracker may not be ideal for getting some good shut-eye.

Not all activity trackers, budget-friendly or not, are designed to seamlessly integrate with a smartphone. The trackers tested for this roundup can’t directly make calls or send texts to contacts on a paired smartphone. They can, however, display and dismiss incoming calls and notifications via a Bluetooth connection. You can forget about checking your email or paying for a coffee from your wrist using these more affordable devices.

Most cheap fitness trackers also won't include a built-in GPS. Instead, they usually depend on a paired smartphone to gather location data. The drawback of using a fitness tracker without GPS is that it might not provide as precise for tracking distance or pace. You also can't use a budget tracker to get turn-by-turn directions during a walk or while running errands. For the more outdoorsy consumers, having GPS could be a key safety feature if you want this kind of functionality at your fingertips.

You also might find that an inexpensive fitness tracker is harder to navigate than a more advanced smartwatch. Whether it be a screen size issue or simply not having a smart enough interface, don't expect every feature to be one that you can engage with directly on your wrist. Oftentimes, you will need to pull out your smartphone to log information or access more in-depth health data.

The quality and build of displays and bands will also vary in this category. Don’t expect the highest resolution OLED displays or the fanciest materials in the bands. But you can expect some level of sweat and water resistance.

I didn't have high expectations of the Wyze Watch 47c, but I was shocked at how little this tracker can do. The 47c can only track walks and runs. It has a dedicated widget, a small logo of a man running, and when you tap it, it begins measuring your pace, heart rate, calories burned and mileage. It does not auto-detect or auto-pause workouts and it doesn't differentiate between a run and walk. Most importantly, this device can’t track any other exercises. It’s basically a glorified pedometer.

The 47c was also my least favorite to sleep with, mainly because the square watch face is so large and heavy. Even if I did manage to sleep through the night with it on, it only gave me a basic sleep report.

The Garmin vivofit 4 has a tiny display that is not a touchscreen and all navigation happens through one button. The watch face is impossible to read outdoors and the exercise widget is also very finicky. To start tracking a run, you have to hold down the main button and flip through some pages until you get to a moving person icon. Once there, you have to press the bottom right corner of the bar and hold down and if you press for too long or in the wrong spot, it’ll switch to another page, like a stopwatch. It’s incredibly frustrating.

Once you start a run though, it will start tracking your steps, your distance — and that's pretty much it. It does not auto-detect or auto-pause workouts. It doesn't alert you of any mileage or calorie milestones.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/best-cheap-fitness-trackers-140054780.html?src=rss

Amazfit Helio Ring joins the fray with a focus on athletes’ well-being

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Now that smartwatches have more or less become more acceptable in society, it seems that the wearable tech market is setting its eyes on less conspicuous and less distracting designs for monitoring one’s health and fitness. And just like smartwatches in their early years, smart rings just aren’t resounding yet with people, though that could only be a matter of time. There hasn’t been much variety yet in this nascent market, which isn’t surprising given the physical limitations of a ring. Wearable tech brand Amazfit, however, believes it has something unique to offer, at least to athletes and very active people who are just as concerned with their mental health and recovery as they are with their steps and heart rate.

Designer: Amazfit

The niche that smartwatches have found themselves in seems to revolve around fitness and health, with features like activity tracking, health monitors, and the like. While those are indeed important metrics, they only represent a part of one’s overall well-being. Mental health is just as important, and giving your body and mind time to rest and recover is critical as well. Those are the points that the Amazfit Helio Ring is trying to emphasize in order to differentiate it from the likes of the Oura Ring, currently the leading name in this very young and small market.

In a nutshell, the Amazfit Helio Ring takes the same data collected by sensors inside the ring but interprets them in a slightly different way. Of course, it still records your steps, tracks your blood oxygen levels, and even monitors your sleep, but it frames that information in light of stress levels, your mental health, and most importantly, how well you’re taking steps to recover from those. Amazfit will propose actionable steps to guide you toward recovery, which unsurprisingly include getting enough sleep and meditation.

As for the device itself, the Amazfit Helios Ring is a bit of an outlier in that it doesn’t try to masquerade as a piece of jewelry. The dotted pattern on its surface is a dead giveaway that it is anything but luxurious, giving it a more rugged appearance that its target audience won’t mind anyway. In fact, it is intentionally designed for this group of people, using “skin-friendly” titanium alloy and ensuring water resistance of up to 10ATM, for those times when you need to take a swim.

The Amazfit Helios Ring can be used on its own, with or without an Amazfit smartwatch. Of course, you will need to pair with the mobile app, but you will also need to subscribe to the Zepp Aura rest and wellness service to really use the data it gives. A purchase of the ring will include a three-month free trial, but there are no pricing details available yet.

The post Amazfit Helio Ring joins the fray with a focus on athletes’ well-being first appeared on Yanko Design.