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First day with my Band...

CrippsCorner

Well-Known Member
So after a very long wait (6 months from US to UK) yesterday I received my Microsoft Band, and as there isn’t much activity in here I thought I’d give my initial impressions. By the way, I've not previously owned any kind of smartwatch or fitness band before

16:30 – I’m home from work! Unpackaged my delivery and had a good old look around my new hardware. I must say I’m delighted by the size, design and weight of the thing. I had read many times it was ugly and imposing, but really it’s quite sleek. I put it on and straight away felt it was also much more comfortable than I had read about… quite the relief. Microsoft haters do make me laugh sometimes

17:00 – I’m upstairs and plugging it in for a charge, whilst reading through the manual and app to get this paired up and into the OS. However, this wasn’t as easy as it could have been; the process went as follows…

• Attempted to pair... nothing. Rebooted phone, then paired
• Band needed an update, crashed @ 25% and came up with a network error
• Found out you can't turn the Band off unless you're already in the software. So randomly guess (correctly) how to do a full reboot on it (hold down both buttons for a length of time)
• Then wouldn’t pair again, so deleted it from Bluetooth list and tried again... it worked
• Update attempted again and this time it completed
• Asked for you to enter a name for the Band, did so
• Said 'Almost finished' on Band, however came up with a network error on the phone
• Tried resetting/rebooting both, disconnecting/reconnecting Bluetooth etc. and all I ever got at any stage was the network error. Couldn’t even get anything else up on the app, it effectively died
• Deleted app and reinstalled, finally everything worked and I was in!

18:00 – After getting everything up and running I thought I’d put my free ZAGG InvisibleShield on. Usually I’m not a screen protector kind of guy but as I decided to wear the Band on the inside of my wrist (outside is just impossible for real use) I thought I’d give it a go. Slightly more to one end than the other but ultimately it’s looking good

19:30 – I’m off to meet my girlfriend and a chance to give the step counter a go. Worked well but I think the calorie counter is somewhat off the mark! A tad too optimistic… certainly doesn’t match up with RunKeeper

21:00 – Ashleigh starts to take an interest in the Band and asks how much it was lol, too rich for her though as she’s not really into her gadgets as much. She has suffered from an irregular heartbeat in the past so we thought it’d be interesting to compare my heartbeat to hers. Indeed, it was slightly more jumpy, ranging from around 50-70… what this tells us I don’t know but I’ll look into it. One thing that was slightly disappointing though was that even the small Band on the smallest possible setting is still way too big for her, so that put the nail in the coffin as to whether she got one or not!

22:00 – I’m not popular in general lol but throughout watching a bit of television I get a couple of tweets and a text message come through… now my phones on the coffee table slightly out of reach from my relaxed position but boom, there are the messages right on my wrist! It suddenly feels really cool and useful. Pressing the action button scrolls through the messages in easy to read font size and as they’re not things I needed to reply to straight away I just glanced, read, and carried on the television. Love it

23:15 – Notice a cat hair underneath my screen protector! Tried getting it out but there was no chance… so I had to rip the thing off, decision made lol

23:45 – Bed time. Now, I’m not usually one for having things on my person when sleeping (I’m a rubbish sleeper) but I thought hell, I’ll give the sleep recording thing a go. It’s not the most comfortable thing to wear in bed but I relaxed the tightness and it felt okay. One other thing is I don’t like to be disturbed at night; I turn everything I own on silent! To make sure the Band didn’t buzz throughout the night I had to go into the app and manually turn each and every app notification off, which I’ll then have to turn back on again in the morning. This is pretty frustrating and a one-for-all switch would really be handy here, plus you have to remember to hit ‘save’ otherwise nothing takes effect, not something I’m used to doing on the phone

06:30 – Wakey wakey. Press the band and it says something like, “05:45 proper sleep” and I try to figure out how to get more information about this. Pressed the action button and it started the sleep program again! Nooo… it just overwrote last night’s data. Gone, even on the phone all data was wiped. That’s very frustrating and I don’t see the point in only having one days data available as you can’t then compare from one night to another?

09:30 – I’ve been at work for a while now with this thing on my wrist. It’s not ideal, as the screen makes my wrist stick out slightly from how I’m used to typing. At the moment it’s annoying, but I’m carrying on regardless seeing if I can get used to this

10:15 – Get called out to my first job, just across the road. Looked at my current steps and counted 200 until I got to my destination… looked at the current steps again and it had increased by 200, so I’m happy that the counter is very accurate! Also, I’ve tried this with hands in and out of pocket, both giving great results

12:30 – Sitting here on my lunch break playing games on my phone and an email comes through… no need to switch out of the game; just read the message on my Band, very helpful! I will note though that either in reading mode or just normal mode (where the message is tiny) you won't get the whole message if it's a long one. Also, you can't delete anything from your Band; I'm hoping there's a limit which will be reached and new messages will replace old ones?

12:45 – I always go for a walk around the outside of the buildings where I work at the end of my lunch break. I can confirm the screen is almost impossible to read in watch mode in the direct sunlight. You can increase the brightness for using the Band, but nothing increases the brightness in watch mode (presumably to save battery)

I’ve still got a lot to do and learn with my Microsoft Band. So far though, I’ve had a lot of fun with just mild irritations in between… I definitely don’t think it’s a gimmick but I wonder if I’ll still be infatuated with it after having it on my wrist for several week/months; time will tell I guess! Next up I’ll be looking at the work out stuff like guided workouts or possibly getting a Starbucks card associated with it; I wonder what’s healthier lol

Just to finish up, I’ve been wearing it today for 7 hours straight and it’s still absolutely comfortable, not a problem there at all, and the battery indicator hasn’t moved down at all since this morning!
 

sharpuser

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks for posting. The Band has become a regular productivity-enhancing device for me. I have an iPhone, so I can't use all the functions that a Windows phone would provide, but I'm very happy.

By the way, the calorie count seemed a bit liberal to me too - but have changed my mind. The workout calorie count, which takes into account heart rate. is spot on. General step counting is probably okay, too, based upon FitBit comparison, and what I believe I actually burn.
 
OP
CrippsCorner

CrippsCorner

Well-Known Member
Yes I have an iPhone too, it's frustrating not everything's available... but understandable I guess. Do you know if third party apps will be coming to iOS?

By the way I figured out how to get to my previous sleep patterns, it's all in 'Activity History' :)
 

VickiFL

Active Member
Thank you for the detailed post. I'll give you my observations in comparison to yours. I have had my Band since November, though. I do still love it. :)

I do own a Windows phone, Lumia 1520, and can take advantage of all the features available right now. I also downloaded "Pimp my Band," and "Microsoft Band Sensor Monitor." The first app makes it so that you can customize tour band a little more, using your own pictures as wallpaper is one option. The latter app unlocks all the sensors so that you can see them all working on real time on your phone. :) I love the teeny keyboard and being able to use Cortana to reply to text messages. I don't even have to pick up my phone! I truly feel like Captain Kirk now. LOL

Let me first address the size issue. Size small, on the smallest setting, is too big for me as well. I have to wear it up my arm pretty high to get a snug fit. I told the guys at the Microsoft Store that they need to make a size "extra small." I know I am underweight, and need to gain some, but my arms will be the last place it goes.

Do you guys really think the calorie burn count is off? That is kinda important for me as I am truly using the Band to help me medically, along with the Microsoft Health app. I know these readings are probably not 100% accurate, but I was hoping for fairly accurate readings.

I had no luck trying to apply to my own screen protector. I ruined 2 of them trying. I had the guys at the Microsoft Store apply the 3rd one for me. They did it perfectly, of course.

Did you know you can go to "settings" on the Band, and turn on "do not disturb?" You will then not be bothered by any notifications from your phone, but they will still appear there later for you to view. When I go to bed, I just turn on "quiet hours" on my phone so I won't be disturbed, if need be.

I never use "watch mode" because it really drains the battery. It only takes me a second to press the middle button to see the time.

The "Microsoft Band Sensor Monitor" also allows you to see battery level at any time without needing to plug in the Band. Both the apps I mentioned are not free, but only $3.00 total, USD.
 

sharpuser

Administrator
Staff member
The best way to check the battery level of the Band is to swipe the display towards the right. The battery level is shown graphically, along with other status indicators.
 

TunaSurface

Active Member
Interesting read you all. This definitely put me off smart watches and the like, until the second generations arrive at least. I can't see any personal advantages using the Band, as I'm not very athletic the calorie burn count and the step counter wouldn't come very useful. The lack of any cool apps and the overall feeling of clunkyness apparent from these posts and a couple of videos I've watched is not something for me.
I don't like to hassle with my technology. Especially ones I find redundant.
 
OP
CrippsCorner

CrippsCorner

Well-Known Member
Thank you for the detailed post. I'll give you my observations in comparison to yours. I have had my Band since November, though. I do still love it. :)

I do own a Windows phone, Lumia 1520, and can take advantage of all the features available right now. I also downloaded "Pimp my Band," and "Microsoft Band Sensor Monitor." The first app makes it so that you can customize tour band a little more, using your own pictures as wallpaper is one option. The latter app unlocks all the sensors so that you can see them all working on real time on your phone. :) I love the teeny keyboard and being able to use Cortana to reply to text messages. I don't even have to pick up my phone! I truly feel like Captain Kirk now. LOL

Let me first address the size issue. Size small, on the smallest setting, is too big for me as well. I have to wear it up my arm pretty high to get a snug fit. I told the guys at the Microsoft Store that they need to make a size "extra small." I know I am underweight, and need to gain some, but my arms will be the last place it goes.

Do you guys really think the calorie burn count is off? That is kinda important for me as I am truly using the Band to help me medically, along with the Microsoft Health app. I know these readings are probably not 100% accurate, but I was hoping for fairly accurate readings.

I had no luck trying to apply to my own screen protector. I ruined 2 of them trying. I had the guys at the Microsoft Store apply the 3rd one for me. They did it perfectly, of course.

Did you know you can go to "settings" on the Band, and turn on "do not disturb?" You will then not be bothered by any notifications from your phone, but they will still appear there later for you to view. When I go to bed, I just turn on "quiet hours" on my phone so I won't be disturbed, if need be.

I never use "watch mode" because it really drains the battery. It only takes me a second to press the middle button to see the time.

The "Microsoft Band Sensor Monitor" also allows you to see battery level at any time without needing to plug in the Band. Both the apps I mentioned are not free, but only $3.00 total, USD.

That's interesting thanks for the do not disturb information! Must have missed that one :) it'll come in really handy.

I had the Band on for 16 hours yesterday and the battery only went from 80% to 60% so I'm completely happy with keeping watch mode on!

Today I've been passing it around the office measuring peoples heart rates; it's actually getting a really positive reaaction here, even from Apple lovers! I'm pleasantly surprised. At this point (before really looking into the fitness side of things) I'm really enjoying email/text notifications... do you need it? No. But, I'm already finding it really handy; it feels like I'm part of the future lol. Just wish they'd always show the entire message.
 

EMINENT

Active Member
How are you guys dealing without a screen protector? Using it on the inside of my wrist, mine would be scratched to hell sliding it on a desk using a mouse. The corners of my screen protector come up after a few days too.
 
OP
CrippsCorner

CrippsCorner

Well-Known Member
I've hardly let it touch anything but already have tons of micro scratches. It's very annoying but I have to tell myself it's a different kind of device; something that sits on your wrist the whole time is going to marked :(
 

sharpuser

Administrator
Staff member
Yes - only time will heal your grief over those scratches. The scratches won't heal, though.

I keep the plastic screen protector on, which hides scratches well, and prevents new marks on the screen area. The rest of the Band, especially around the edges, gets plenty of wear.

A winner watch, though.
 
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