Yakibest Halo View fitness tracker, with color display for at-a-glance access to heart rate, activity, and sleep tracking – Active Black – Medium/Large

10/9/22 update: stick with it and use this to your advantage. Yes, you will find that you’re sedentary for hours, but that’s reality. What you do in those hours that you’re not, matters. I have gotten very close to my goal of 150 points several times and reached out a few times and, finally, i exceeded that this week. How? Dancing 20-25 minutes a day. That’s it. It took me over the top and i still have eight hours left before it switches over to zero. Be mindful and instead of the points discouraging you, have them motivate you! If you use the information this band gives you to your advantage you’ll reach those goals. Mine is to move my body at 51 years of age, to keep that mobility and stability and keep track of my heart rate. It has done wonders to keep me motivated to do that. Yes, even on the weeks i don’t reach my goal. I still move more than without the band. Keep going! Use the info!

9/26/22 update: i cannot express enough how much i love this thing! I do the workouts and have become more tone and lost inches. I love the new features they loaded to it: the live heart rate that also shows up on my screen when i do my workouts and the weekly insights to see how i did for the week.

It seriously keeps me moving and motivated. It helps me keep and eye on my health with bring able to see my heart rate trend and sleep habits. My mobility has improved so much since getting this.

On my wish list: an area within the app where i can log my food so i don’t have to switch apps to do that.
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**update***

i just did my second mobility screening through the app, after having done the recommended mobility and stability exercises. I’ve improved. Not only through the app does it show improvement, but i feel it and can notice that i’m improving. I added a photo to show the changes from two weeks time.

Definitely, there could be improvement, but i am still so happy with my purchase. It motivates me more than any other fitbit or similar that i’ve owned.

It’s kept the charge for me for about 8 days before i charged this last time. I tested to see how long it would actually go on a full charge. I think that’s pretty great. I’ve gone back to just charging when i shower, so mine is usually 100% full daily.

I do wish we could see our heart rate while sleeping and have it in the stats from that evenings score.

I’m am still 100% happy with it. I even came back and got one for my mom. She’s lost three pounds since she’s had it. Three pounds she hasn’t been able to lose in a year. I’ve lost 2 lbs in my first two weeks.

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i bought this specifically for the sleep tracker. I went with this over the halo band only because it was on sale for $44. I had my heart set on the band because i am not a fan of the fitbit look. Boy, am i glad i went with the halo view!

First, i don’t even notice it’s on. It is a little difficult to put on so i have to hold it against my body to get the peg in the hole.

It’s easy to charge and it charges quickly. It holds the charge very well. I just charge every morning after i wake up and it’s not even necessary to do so because it could easily take me through several days before needing to charge.

Now… The sleep tracker is great! It seems very accurate because my husband always has said i fall asleep the second my head hits the pillow and this says the same. I did wake up a few times throughout the night and this reflected that. My body temp isn’t showing yet as it takes a few days to get a baseline. So i’m loving this feature!

I like how it tracks your heart rate throughout the day. It shows you your resting, high, and current. You can view this both in the app and on the device itself.

You can check your blood oxygen level from the device. It’s fairly accurate when i compare it to my meter on my finger. It’s just a little lower using the device.

It counts your steps and it’s about as accurate as my phone and my fitbit. If you’re not moving your arm it doesn’t always register. I expected this and since it’s not really anything i was concerned about this isn’t a big deal to me.

You can set it up to wear on either arm.

The body composition feature within the app is so cool! It seems fairly accurate from what my numbers are from having been tested at a facility. Darn close! I love that each time you do it you can compare to your previous photo and numbers to see how your body changed. Love this so much!

I also love the mobility assessment. It takes a video of you performing some basic mobility movements and gives you your assessment, then creates a plan for you to help increase your mobility through recommended videos for you to do. Everything is all right there!!

There are so many great recipes! So many challenges. There are sleeping audio sci-fi that you can listen to that are amazing while you’re relaxing in bed. Music to drift off to sleep to, to clear your mind. Too much to list!

So many workouts to follow along to! Many skill levels!

There’s really so much that is available in the app that i can’t even talk about them all!

It recommends a goal of 150 points for the week of movement. I had it yesterday for six hours and by the time i went to bed i was at 24 points doing light housework, grocery shopping, and a low cardio workout from the app. It’s very motivating to get you up and moving!

There’s a challenge to eat and apple a day that you can set a reminder for. Water intake. There’s so much.

I’m so happy! I absolutely love it. I ended up buying one for my mom.

Update:

this really works! I’m updating this review as i’ve been using this continuously for more than a week, and i would hate to see that some people miss out on the positive benefits of this device, just from reading some of the negative reviews that have been published. Please look at the positive side of this device, that i as an actual health care professional, have experienced.

This is about improving health, and i can see the benefits taking shape already. Everything i measure, i pay attention to, and it improves. With this device i track my exercise every day, biking, running, power walk, whatever i do. I’m tracking and measuring it, so i’m thinking about it. I want to look at this device and see my numbers improve, so i exercise more. People are motivated that way, we have a natural tendency to want to improve, especially if we are the type of person interested in a device like this in the first place.

Here is my personal experience with this device, with the aid of comparisons at my work place:

i’ve tracked my sleep every night. I have access to medical grade sleep equipment, because i work in healthcare and i can compare. So, no, this isn’t the same as a device the doctor will use, but yes, this is surprisingly close and a good night-to-night sleep tracker. This tracks micro-arousals from sleep much better than other fitness watches i’ve tried in the past. It establishes a trend that allows me to track and regulate and improve my sleep habits. It doesn’t have to be perfectly accurate to allow me to trend data and improve, so long as the trends are accurate, and they are.

The heart rate tracker and pulse oximeter for blood oxygen saturation work really well. I took this to work and tried it on myself and with three different co-workers who were interested. The heart rate was accurate to within 4 beats per minute compared with our medical grade devices, not spot on, but very good and allows me to easily trend data. The pulse oximeter was spot on in 2 of 4 tries, off by 1 point in one try, and off by two points in one try, again, very good and within the stated accuracy range of our professional devices; this is particularly impressive since we were measuring at the back of the wrist with the halo device.

Other technical aspects: the accelerometer for tracking overall steps and movement is sensitive and works well. Remember it is about trends, not using a clicker every time i take a step to see if the step count is one-to-one perfect. If i am stationary but moving a lot, the halo will reflect that, which means i’m burning a little more energy than if i’m stationary and not moving hardly at all, like reading or watching television. I try to improve the count each day because i’m aware of the numbers, and i might use a hand grip strengthened, or light dumb bells, for example while watching television, in order to be doing something, and the accelerometer knows i’m moving and improves my score.

So in all these tests, yes, what gets measured gets managed, and this is a great device for this purpose. After more than a week using this device and paying attention to the metrics, i am already feeling better, i have more energy each day, and i am sleeping more regularly.

The halo membership: i can’t see why anyone would complain about this, it is free for twelve months! I think after twelve months i would know if it’s worth $3.99 a month to continue. Well i already know. I would pay for it right now if i needed to. I’ve used some of the included programs such as mobility and measured my score and began some of the simple exercises. These are fast to learn and perform, geared for people of all fitness levels, and once again provide me with real measurable metrics that i can track, manage, and improve.

The strap and watch face: i like this strap and the way it attaches. It is impervious to the weather, slim and good looking. I wondered if it looked too “sporty” to wear to work, but staff and clientele have occasionally commented on it, they like it, asked me about it and my experience with it. The watch face that i use (other watch faces are available) which i included in the attached pic, has an elegant and professional look to it.

The charger: the halo clips in quickly, easily, and securely. I don’t really like the magnetic-type chargers. In the first place, the magnetic chargers seem to disconnect easily and sometimes i find those devices not to be charged when i want them. In the second place, even if i haven’t had a problem with them, i have a bit of an aversion to placing magnets onto sensitive electronic devices, and i also feel i have to keep the magnets away from the screens and really all parts of my other electronic tablets and other devices. I like the halo charger much better.

So overall, as you can see, i’ve had a very positive experience with the halo to date. It allows me to measure, manage, trend, and improve. If i can improve my health indices, what is that worth to me? Way more than the cost of this device, way more than the eventual cost of halo membership. One trip to the doctors office costs me more than both of those expenses. I will definitely be continuing to use this device and i definitely recommend it.

Original review:

i pre-ordered this to improve my health overall. I have used a variety of smart watches and fitness trackers in the past, so i was quite happy when this halo view became available.

This includes so much more than my previous devices. I like that this also comes with an actual program, halo membership for one year, included. For twelve months that is a $47.88 savings right there. But you can’t put a price on good health. If this helps me improve my overall fitness and stave off some medical problems as i get older, this is worth far more than its listed price.

I will use this to mainly monitor my movement and activity levels, body fat composition, and sleep. I’m intrigued with the tone of voice analysis and will use that too. If that improves my social interactions, makes me more self-conscious if i’m tired or not in the best of moods, that will be an added bonus. I like that new programs through the membership will continue to be developed.

I’ve found over the years, both in business and in life, setting goals and measuring the data consistently produces results. The data removes my tendency to rationalize, to try to avoid exercise, continue to eat too many unhealthful foods, etc. Having an objective source of data such as this is invaluable. Once i know the measurements, i can’t help but try to improve them, exercise more, eat better, sleep more regular hours, and more. This device is just what i need, the best i’ve seen available to date.

7/25/2022: after a week and half of a fancy pedometer, the amazing service team (shout out to zaki) were able to solve the issue with my halo band not coming with a membership attached to it. The team, plus the dev-team supporting halo were able to get to the bottom of it. Love the customer obsession and multiple calls to make it right.

Product review: i tried the original halo band, and though it did the job it was lacking the screen. The halo view is perfect. It’s sole focus is on your health and fitness. App is designed to help you achieve your health goals and support you along the way. I also love that this a a health first watch, vs an extension of a smartphone on your wrist. I can still read and get notifications of text messages, but that’s about all it does regarding non-fitness related features.

Tech specs:

i have a polar hr monitor that i use in conjunction with my halo, the halo does seem to be off by a few beats per min. However, at the end of the workout it’s only off by 3-5 bpm. Nothing major (for me at least). The claim to a 7 day battery life, i’m sure could happen if all notifications are turned off, etc. I average about 5-6 days before charging, which is better than the prior smart watch i had.

Future asks/wishes:
integration with beach body and peloton would be awesome to sync my data across all my platforms.

Bottomline: if you are looking for a no frills fitness tracker, this is worth it. The membership really is helpful and the band itself is well built.

Original review:

07/2022: i purchased two bands during the prime day presale. One for me and my spouse.

Outta the box both got set up right away. However, and here is the big gotcha, only one device comes with a subscription to fully leverage it. And the kicker, it’s tied to a device in an order and from the app, web and everywhere i’ve looked you cannot purchase an addition subscription.

So here is my dilemma, i bought two devices, one of which works as advertised and one an over-glorified hr monitor with step counter. I spent an hour plus with support, which concluded with “they too are dumbfounded that amazon ties the included subscription to a device at the order and it’s per the prime membership account.” so if you planned on buying one as a gift, they may or may not get access to the fitness content, let alone ability to purchase a subscription.

So at this point it’s one star until amazon can resolve the issue. Otherwise it’s getting returned, which is a shame as the device is exactly what i was looking for without the extras.

Way more accurate than my garmin vivosmart. Similarly accurate to my fitbit sense, but with smaller profile. I think this is a nice option for those wanting a smaller fitness watch but with excellent visual clarity.

Accuracy is fine, if anything it seems to underestimate my steps, movement, but not by too much. Just be aware of which wrist you use it on and make sure to tell the app which wrist you wear it on. Best accuracy is for use on non dominant hand. This will reduce any accidental pick up of light movement as steps. But even so, i am not worried about the overage as these items are tools with margins of error. So long as i have an idea of my movement for the day, an over/under of 198 steps isnt going to make or break me. I never rack up steps sitting on the couch. If it was off by 6000 steps? That’s different. This is not the issue, at all (with my garmin it is, doesnt pick up anything unless i have been moving for several minutes). It is fantastically accurate side by side with my fitbit sense when i am engaged in exercise/workouts

i like the clarity of the screen, the ease of finding info both on the watch and in the app. I am very picky about apps, and it is what has kept me with fitbit for 7 years now. I hate garmin app. There is loads of metrics and fun stuff. A lot of this goes away if you dont have the paid membership. So if you like lots of extras, then the paid membership may be worth it. If not, then the basic offerings are still plenty. App is free, of course.

Battery life is good- lasts the better part of the week. Has clip on charging unit

hr accuracy is good, just know how to to wear wrist band for best accuracy. Maybe you dont like it snug for casual wear, but when you are planning to exercise and really need/want accuracy then you better tighten it up. Follow directions!!

Sleep data and temperature is very similar to fit bit. I get very close data between the two.

While i dont think it is a full replacement to my fitbit, it is a high contender. I dont like garmin, i am not into apple, and off brands aren’t my thing. I was able to get this for $49.95 including a years membership, so i figured it was worth trying even though i have a brand new fitbit sense. Even back at the full price of $79.99, i find the price and quality competitive. It offers a lot for that price.

This is my initial impression. I am sure i will have more thoughts, maybe more cohesive ones (lol) the more i use it and critique it. I’ll be back to update as needed.

The factory band comes undone when active and the halo falls off. The band uses only a tiny nub that fits in a hole. It is fine for sedentary stuff. My halo is gone. It fell off while i was doing yardwork. It did s great job tracking my health parameters but is, itself, untrackable. Now, what to replace it with…

Update: while the device does not have a ‘find my halo’ function, i was able to use the sync in the app. I tried syncing outside where i was working and nothing. I tried my car, the trash bins, and my office. Nothing. When i tried syncing in a hallway it connected. I moved further down the hallway and it lost connection. I looked all over in this hall and adjoining spaces and found nothing. I then went upstairs to the bathroom above the hall and it connected again. I searched on and off for the evening and then found it in a pile of clothes that had been washed, dried, and folded. It was in a jeans pocket. And, it appears to still work. So, my three stars is now 5 with a caveat: a better band is needed and some are available on amazon.

This is my christmas present. I waited until the very end of the day to set this up because i thought it would be a pita, but it really only took 10 minutes, most of that was waiting for an update. Easy. I like the charging clip and the battery is supposed to last a week. Waterproof, yes. Order your correct size, the watch comes in small and large. Don’t order the wrong size and then post pictures of it here to show how it does not fit your wrist. Duh. The watch is not bulky or uncomfortable.

Time, heart rate, steps, calories….it is all there. You can even talk to the app and it will tell you how you come across to others. This should be helpful to those who suffer from pms or are in menopause, really. I told my son to ‘go brush your teeth.’ halo said i was stern, confident, and overbearing. Great. I’ll just set up a daily reminder with alexa so she can tell him to brush his teeth so i don’t have to….. I really like this watch and all of the features. I can’t really compare this to other similar products as i never kept them long enough. This i like and it’s a definite keeper. For $80 that includes 1 year of all features, not bad. You can decide in a year what features you use most. I have to go take some chamomile and ashwagandha to balance my mood now and get ready for tonight’s sleep report. The sleeping was one of the main reasons i wanted this. I love this sleep data! After a few days of use it will monitor your sleeping temps too once it gets enough data.

Kids: yes, you can set your kids up with their own watch if they have their own phone but you must lie about their age when you set this up!

Syncing: my watch would no longer sync automatically after 4 days. Before you ‘restart’ the watch, turn off the bluetooth on your phone and then turn it back on again and then try resyncing. I restarted my band and lost all of my data. That should be the very last thing you try. Restarting the bt worked for me. In the app, there is phone support and they can call you too for assistance.

App: why isn’t the halo app in the amazon app store for your fire tablets??? I would much rather see this on the tablet. My eyes are not so great and this would just make my life so much easier! Get on it, amazon!

Calories: the calories displayed on the watch/app are what you need to keep your heart beating and your body functioning based on your activity level, age, weight….. It is a guide and i feel it is accurate at that.

This watch is excellent for tracking sleep, steps, but where it really shines is in combination with the app and your phone.

You can take pictures that actually have you turn to create a 3d statistical model to help you see status of gains when you don’t see them in the mirror.

It also features movement analysis which provides media lead coaching videos to resolve problems with your specific challenges with posture, hip movement, balance, and more.

I wear this, and another fitness watch that costs far more that doesn’t provide the gray features of this.

However, there is a major flaw; which is the band were it connects to the watch- which has broken twice. That requires a new watch.

The main thing that i like on the view is excellent delivery of messages and notifications to my wrist. Unlike several devices that i have had, the halo never loses connection, is easy to read and intuitive to use. Across several apps including phone and whatsapp i can accept calls and control playback. The added features in the supporting halo app are fantastic. This product is a win!

It on the last hole and i’m looking for a bigger band. Other than that, so far so good. It seems to do the job. I wish there was a way to lock and unlock screen while sleeping, it lights up with the slightest touch. Not sure why there’s a pin code or what it’s for but there is one. Most youtube videos shows outdated information. Pretty nifty device.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised at my new amazon halo smart watch/tracker. I’ve been wearing an apple watch for a number of years now, but decided to try this out.

The halo is very comfortable, compact and lightweight… So much so, that i can even wear it while sleeping (couldn’t with my other watch due to comfort issues and the need to charge more often). So, getting my sleep data has been insightful.

The battery life is also a big plus. I can go a few days without needing to charge.

I can receive my texts and other notifications on the watch from my iphone, which was another pleasant surprise.

Another big plus i have to mention is the halo app. It has a lot of useful data and robust content like workouts and recipes all in one app. Getting my biometric info and body scans are helpful in getting healthier.

Some things i would like to see would be more customization options like watch bands and more watch faces. Also, a metal (like aluminum) version would be more desirable and classier. Also, it would be great to have a side button to also access menu options or to return home.

Overall, it’s a great product!

The halo view is an easy-to-use fitness tracker that is affordable, it offers many features that you generally see in other fitness device such as sensors that measure your physical activity, (multiple exercises) heart rate, skin temperature, blood oxygen saturation and sleep. The phone app halo fitness offers advance features for your fitness goals and in my opinion is a must have, but this is a premium monthly service that is free for the 1st year and $4 a month after. For what you are getting this a terrific value for the folks like myself who are just starting better health practices. The watch is light weight with a durable design build and has a 6-day battery life. Screen is bright and easy to read.

The bad: heartrate bpm is not as accurate as others but usually off by 2-3 points based on my tests when compared to gym devices and other fitness trackers. Note: most devices are not very accurate when compared to medical devices at hospitals, so not really deal breaker for me and this could be addressed in future software update. Touch screen sensitivity could be better as it sometimes takes several tries for right & left swipe to work.

Setup: an amazon account is required to setup the device and there is no included power adapter. Charger port is usb a and once plugged in your prompted to download the halo app on the phone (in my case an android pixel 6) then sign into your amazon account. You then input personal information to custom tailor workout & activities videos recommendations, after that it verifies your identity. The first thing i did was a movement assessment that analyzes how flexible you with certain exercises and then it recommends programs. You place phone the ground while a short workout video plays and you enable the selfie camera to monitor your movement, this is a good feature that impressed me. I could not even do the last exercise and got a score of 73 the results of that recommended lower body exercises to increase flexibility in that area.

Band device features: the halo view has a simple interface as you navigate the device with taps and swipes on the screen, while a home button sits below the display. Just lift your wrist to your face to wake the screen (needs to be enabled in settings first) or tap the home button. Swiping left and right lets you select the following: calories burned, activity points heart rate, steps, and sleep, swiping up and down from the clock face lets you access menus for data, exercise, tools, and settings. The data option offers detail about your activity, blood oxygen, heart rate, and sleep. Exercise offers workout-tracking options: cycle, fitness training, hiit, rowing, run, swim, walk, weights, yoga. The tools option can set alarms, timers, and a stopwatch. In settings, you can adjust the brightness, change your watch face (up to 11) and check battery level.

Halo fitness app features: the view comes with free 1 year membership and automatically renews at a rate of $3.99 per month. Without membership it will work only as a basic activity, heart rate, sleep, and step tracker. With membership you have access to hundreds 5 mins to 1 hour of workout/program videos, many don’t require any additional equipment like dumbbells for example. In addition to workouts there is cooking recipes for better overall nutrition.

Verdict: this is 1st time i used a fit bit type device with a video workout program and really like it since i’m more motivated with reminders & alerts that manage my progress via the app. This is a better option for me than going to the gym and would recommend this device as an alternative for beginners.

Overall, i like the device and its interface – i wanted a device that tracks sleep and steps, without a ton of features that i won’t/don’t use. The app does have features i don’t use, but they can easily be ignored on a phone screen. I don’t personally use the meal functions, but i see where it would have utility for the majority of users.

I’ve seen reviews that reference the inability to keep a timer running in background while exiting the timer and using the watch for something else. I have a hypothesis for why this is true, and why they have not fixed it yet.

Amazon owns something called freertos, an open source real-time operating system. The legal disclosures for this device include a specific reference to the inclusion of it, or parts of it, in the halo view code.

Freertos provides the ability to handle certain situations (interrupts) and to prioritize and/or rotate certain types of events. While i’ve not seen any clarity on the chip used in this device, i expect it and the code are both optimized for battery life first, then for performance of specific tasks, then for customer convenience, in that order.

There is a limited amount of space in a device this size, and a limited number of processing cycles and system clock ‘ticks’. Checking for interrupts from timer, stopwatch, and n other features that only work in the foreground would eat up a meaningful number of those clock cycles.

I’d submit that it’s likely the early devices are built with a focus around using only strictly necessary checks based on system ticks – for example, check movement in various orientations – where more mature devices tend to have a more complete dataset for real-world performance which then allows for additional real-time checks on non-critical apps.

I expect that the timer and stopwatch working in background are ‘coming soon’, once that dataset is built to a sufficiently robust level to justify the change. Even if amazon ‘dogfooded’ this product internally (aka let their employees use very early versions for testing at internal scale), the constraints imposed by very power performant processors in this environment mean that a wider dataset is advisable before borrowing back those clock cycles to check non-critical apps and services.

I have not found access to the code, nor do i know what chip is inside to verify this, but it matches general best practice design patterns for a device which is a) embedded, b) has significant resource constraints, c) is a relatively early version, and d) provides a fairly limited dataset for analysis until some nominal level of customer scale is reached.

Also, e), for a device which can/will receive software updates, but for which there is no guarantee of those updates being pushed out. Connectivity is strictly via bluetooth, and if a user’s phone broke after accepting an update that chewed through battery life quickly, that would result in a terrible customer experience and ‘permanent’ battery life degradation.

Tesla can push out updates at any scale, at their whim. Amazon not only has to find and fix a given bug, but is entirely dependent on the customer having/using connectivity to make that update. I would expect that constraint to result in smaller updates with lower degrees of risk/code deltas, subject to customary internal design patterns, until rather more real world data is available.

That doesn’t mean it’s not mildly annoying that the timer only works in the foreground, but it does give me a somewhat higher tolerance for such things. Full disclosure, i’ve only received the device today, so i too am working with a very limited dataset. I’ll update accordingly once i’ve had the chance to further explore.

Would give 5 stars if not for the supplied band. It broke apart numerous times in a few days and was almost lost on the first day from the first breaking of the band. The band, made of silicone, pops away from the tracker and since the entire unit is small and light, can fall without one noticing. Buy a third-party quality band and you will have a good tracker. The amazon-supplied band is similar in design and materials to the fitbit’s bands.

I have experience, also, with the amazon halo band, as well as the fitbit sense and charge series.

While some bloggers and reviewers have written that the only difference between the band and the view is that the view has a display and lacks a microphone, that is not completely correct. The halo app interface is a little different on the view. It lacks the live workout monitor, which is actually a good thing since the band’s workout monitor can interfere with monitoring and measurement of an activity. While the view’s tracker lacks a mic, one can still enjoy the same voice tone analysis courtesy of your phone’s mic. More of the monitoring takes place on the view’s tracker, with additional provided statistics. The view also has a blood oxygen monitor, which is lacking on the band. Considering the additional 6 free months of halo membership that are provided with the view, the view is the superior choice among amazon fitness trackers. The view also is a more mature product.

The view is strikingly similar to the fitbit charge series – in its appearance, size, and tracker interface. The view’s charger is also strikingly similar to the charger that is supplied with the charge 3. The view is aggressively priced and the better tracker. There have been innumerable complaints about fitbit’s accuracy (fitbit advice is to place the tracker in your socks while you’re driving so that you don’t get false numbers). The view seems to have a better way of tracking steps, while both amazon and fitbit provide similar measurements of heart rate. As opposed to fitbit, you will not receive spam-like emails congratulating you on climbing 17 flights of stairs when you really rode on an escalator.

People always seem to settle on such extremes over such petty issues and most of the one star reviews i’ve read simply mention that this isn’t a fitbit and it’s made by amazon so that means it’s a poorly made product. I know in my experience as someone trying to get a good idea whether something’s worth buying and none of the reviews provide the information that’s important to know, it’s frustrating.

I, and everyone currently reviewing this, have only just gotten theirs shipped to them so any reviews regarding accuracy are rather inaccurate with only a few days of use. What i can say is that its features and tools certainly put things into perspective about my health that motivates me to get back into a weekly routine.

It comes with all your basic trackers you’d expect from a fitness tracker above between the $50-$100 range and nothing has been noticeably far off from what i’d believe it to be. Over time, it learns your resting/highest (daily) heart rate, time spent being idle/active, and how many calories you’ve burned in a day using predictions based on your active time, height, weight, etc. There’s a bit of a fun take on how it rates your weekly ‘active’ time as it gives you a goal to reach every week rewarding points for time spent moving and reducing score based on time spent idling over 8 hours a day. The most common complaint i’ve seen is the step counter, but i’ve done multiple test counting 20 steps and checking it with a very close accuracy every time. There may be an issue with it misreading steps when you’re sitting or idle, but i’ve yet to see anything on my end (have been keeping track for over two hours with no change) and will certainly update if i see misreadings. In any case, if it is reading ‘idle steps’, that’s something that can easily be patched.

The highlights for me is the body scanning features and the sleep tracker. Initially, there’s an awkward feeling standing in front of the camera getting a 3d scan of your body while you’re in your boxers, but it also presents you with a slider that tries to predict what your body would look like if you do shed the weight which is something both odd and encouraging.

What i personally feel is the most key feature to the halo band that separates it from the competition is the virtual ‘movement specialist’. Initially, it has a 20 minute test scanning your body movements while you perform a series of stretches and mobility exercises, scores you on your mobility, stability, and posture with more detailed results specifying exactly where your strong/weak points are, and most importantly, creates a weekly regiment specifically designed for your weak points. That’s an exciting thing to me because i’ve never had any idea which areas i was good/bad in and finding the proper regiment is sometimes daunting when you have thousands of guides telling you that their way is the right way despite many of them neglecting the areas they don’t find important to work on. Maybe that’s just a ‘me’ issue, but i like being able to keep scores on myself whatever way that may be.

Now, i always like getting to the positives before the negatives because people tend to focus on whatever they initially read, but there are aspects that i feel are negative and improving them would greatly benefit the tracker.
The biggest issue for me, is the lack of watch faces. I find the basic analog clock face to be the only one i truly like and i’d absolutely love the ability for the community to make and import watch faces or at the very least, provide more varieties over time because the current selection is mostly just the few same varieties over and over with a different color shading.
Beyond that, i think the app itself should have a search feature of some sort for specifics recipes/ exercises and a calorie counter. I’m sure there’s more things i’ll eventually want out of it, but that’s about it right now. The app isn’t necessarily messy, but it does feel like it could be easier to navigate.

I had no intention to write a thesis on this, but i tried to look at every aspect i’ve dealt with to see what my issues may be and i haven’t had much to complain about with a good degree of accuracy in my experience. Again, you shouldn’t take reviews about accuracy to heart yet until more than a few days pass and for all i know, the results could potentially vary based from person to person based on a number of factors.

All i know is for me, this has been a pleasant surprise for something i wanted to experiment with since it was on sale for black friday (i’ve returned fitness trackers before for there poor results), and i’m going to give it a go to see if it will make a difference. A 4/5 is the perfect score to me.

Heart rate tracker works great as do the other features generally. My wife and i both tried it. The strap kept randomly disconnecting at the watch side and it would slip off. We lost at the beach, doing laundry, at the tennis court, and i’m camping gear! Luckily we found it each time. But we felt we would eventually lose it. It was a little long for my wife’s wrist and the user interface takes getting used to. Once you adapt it works. The brightness and colors of the display are quite nice. We found that it doesn’t always track distance well such as if you are pushing a stroller and not swinging your hand it doesn’t know you are moving – you’d think it could access the gps on the phone it’s connected to. The temperature measure was useful when we caught a flu with fever, and the sleep measurement was useful too. It wasn’t comfortable for my wife to sleep wearing and you need to do so clearly to get a sleep measurement. The body fat estimator we both tried and it doesn’t agree with three other methods of measurement for me (husband). I am a fit athlete and it estimated me having 30% body fat, which is completely off. I’m not overly muscular but fairly trim. We decided to return it and may try again after the watch band is corrected. The monthly subscription will be yet another fee to pay though and that’s a negative for us. There is a lot there if you use it. So overall it is a good tool to give feedback on a health journey. They need to correct the strap. The battery needs to last a bit longer, the charger is a little awkward, and it’s a little long for smaller wrists. The tools it has work and as a fitness health device it can be very useful. The cost was pretty low and monthly fee is less than a fitbit premium subscription. We were a little torn on this one. I think if the strap were better my wife would have kept it.

I had been in the market for a fitness band that monitored heart rate, and especially spo2. I had covid, which took me from jogging a mile a night to huffing and puffing after walking just a block. In under a year, i ended up going from 190 lbs to 245 lbs, which feels horrible. My biggest worry is that i am still having breathing problems and dizziness, and i might end up passing out due to low oxygen, though it is hard to tell if it is in fact an issue with my lungs, due to being so far out of shape now, or a panic attack. So having the ability to measure my spo2 whenever i want is a huge benefit, and instead of having to call it quits when i get dizzy to prevent any health issues, i can now just push a button and know right away if i am really having breathing issues, or if i can just continue on.

The body scan was also very enlightening, along with activity notifications… Which basically after an hour of sitting, it vibrates and more or less says ‘get off you fat-a** and do something productive 🙂 which honestly is just enough to make you realize how long you have been sitting. The sleep sensor is also nice, as i have had issues sleeping, but now i know just how bad it is.

I wish the band had more features or apps

I bought this to replace apple watch, just simpler and provides what i need.
The good:
1) stays charged for a week! Unlike apple watch which has to be done daily
2) sleep app portion is awesome except no nap tracking (will be in negatives). I really like the sleep tracking and appears to be pretty accurate.
3) activity tracking great but i didn’t buy it for that
4) links to iphone and let you know when you get messages. My iphone was spotty for talking on it anyway so i don’t miss that.
Bad:
1) as stated above naps are not recorded and this should be an easy fix by amazon that the user can tag either sleep or nap. I took a 3 hour nap and was awake for 3 hours before retiring to bed, and slep about 6. But no record of the 3 hour nap just that i had a bad nights sleep which was untrue just an extension for 9 total hours of rest!! I ask amazon to please fix this.
End result: highly recommend and would buy again ($40 on prime deal included $40 for yearly subscription – a great deal). I will renew subscription on date of renewal. Worth it.

So overall, i like the band and i like the app. It does what i need it to do without being as bulky as my garmin. I also love that the app has so many different programs and recipes and isn’t super data focused (the data is there, but it’s not thrown in your face. Though i do wish updating your weight didn’t have so many steps).

Problems: i had to replace mine a little before the 6 month mark because the thin plastic bar that the strap snaps into broke when i was putting my watch back on after a shower one day. The replacement process was not easy, either. There are no options for replacement under the warranty (the csr told me for warranty replacement i’d have to talk to the manufacturer and i was like, um, amazon is the manufacturer why isn’t amazon handling the warranty). So you have to do it as a return and reorder or a refund and reorder at this point, and the trip through customer service land was not fun. So amazon, get your warranty replacement self together.

Second very annoying problem: the charger is awful. You will hear that buzz as it disconnects and reconnects constantly. It will haunt your dreams. Charging may take an hour or it may take 12. Nobody knows. It’s like amazon looked at all the charging systems available for all the health watches and chose the absolute worst one.

So i will probably keep going with this as may main wearable up until the point that a piece snaps or the charger breaks and it’s outside of the warranty replacement period. Or return and reorder period since amazon seems to have forgotten that it’s the one giving the warranty on the product.

Total honesty here i bought the halo view solely because i loved the color (sage and black). I haven’t worn a watch in 20+ years for anything other than for running/apps. But decided since i loved the color & it was on sale ($49.99) i would give it a shot negative reviews & all.
– 1st off bought wrong size, in all the excitement of the color i didn’t notice it came in sizes. No problem i just use a leather punch to add addl holes. Fits perfect, feels comfortable and is surprisingly light weight especially since i don’t wear watches.
– set up: do not pair watch to phone bluetooth in phone setting 1st!!!! Believe me when i says this it will save you a lot of time a frustration. Download the app 1st!!! In fact i think amazon should have this in bold on ever page of booklet. If you do happen to sync with bluetooth on phone 1st then unsyc in phone settings, reset watch to factory settings then download app & start over following the syncing instructions in the app.
– syncing issues: after 3 days my watch did come unsynced. However, following the instructions in the tip & tricks/troubleshooting part of the app i was able to get it re-synced. Hint: disable your wifi on your phone 1st for a few minutes then re-enable wifi and following instructions for re-syncing. This issue seems to be one of the biggest complaint in reviews. But if you consider most computers have glitches daily & that this watch uses wi-fi like computers then one should expect minor glitches. I figure out how to properly re-sync the watch & the inconvenience is bearable considering all the other great advantages you get from this watch. Positive note: your data is saved & once you re-sync will transfer to the app so all is not lost.
– apps: i took advantage of each app the watch has to offer (i think… I am still leaning new things daily) the body scan for body fat % was pretty cool & pretty accurate. I had recently used a body fat measurement machine at gym & this app gave same reading. Mobility app/scan was also interesting as well with both giving you loads of stats not to mention healthly tips, videos & recipes to help improve your score & health. The sleep app is one of my favorites, it breaks down different sleep stages, gives you actual time in each stage & amount of time spent in each stage. Like the body fat & mobility app it suggest exercises to help improve sleep including mediation & much more.
Activity app also pretty good with cardio videos and loads of exercises, stretching, weight training videos. I haven’t really had time to check these out in depth yet but will update review once i do. The steps accuracy seems to have lots of complaints in the reviews, well considering it is not gps based then of course it will just be an estimate so if your are buying to accurately count steps don’t bother. Other features worth mentioning are alarms, timers, stop watch, exercise monitors based on type of exercise, heart rate monitor, blood oxygen monitor and ability to read only text received. All and all for the price i think this is a pretty cool little watch/fitness device. Mine came with a year subscription to the amazon halo app which gives you so much more than you can use. If i had to renew now i don’t think the price of $3.99 a month is all that bad (this coming from a single mom). Even if i don’t continue the subscription after a year the features the watch still offers w/o subscription is worth the price. But hey i am not a fitness guru just my opinion as person who wants to become more conscious of my health habits & be able to see what time it is without pulling out my phone .

So the app for apple isn’t my favorite due to connection issues and 50% of the time it gives me the something went wrong message several times before loading but when it is working i love it !! Iv’e learned so much about where i need to focus on physically to build mobility and strength. The recipes on the app are amazing and simple to follow. My favorite part of the app is the sleep tracker since i have the most trouble in that area . It helps me to try new things and see what is actually helping me the most . The major complaint i have is the band . At first the band stayed attached no problem but after about 2 weeks of daily use it comes apart where it connects to the face . I’ve dropped it so many times and found it fortunately . This week i lost it in a load of laundry and couldn’t find it till the following day. I decided to glue the band into where it connects and this seems to be working so far. I did have amazon send me a new unit early on thinking that it was a defect but i happened the same with the replacement so im thinking its because my wrist are narrow and that causes the area where the band and face connect to sit up a bit causing the band to catch on stuff and pop off. All that said i still love it and have recommended it.