Survey: the Best Connected Smartbands to Moved on this Winter

The smartbands are perfect coaches to find the line before this winter, or better, to regain control of her health. The lab 01net has tested the three most popular models of the moment.

  It's hard to miss the wave of smartbands. They come in the form of an ordinary bracelet or a module to "snap" to the belt, they rely primarily on style or usability, they incorporate a screen or not ... There is something for every taste. But all have the same goal : track your daily activity.

  Rather than "smartband" is actually "activity trackers" in question : number of steps taken, amount of calories burned, distance covered ... and there is some smartbands can even analyze your sleep however with mixed results.

  It can also measure your heart rate or the oxygen level in your blood. This is the case of Withings Pulse O2 and others. A beautiful promise of coated wishful thinking - and disinterested, of course, from the manufacturers: to help you rebuild your health. But seasoned technophiles we remain skeptical about their ability to fulfill this task. 

  Moreover, we have not seen the shadow of a smartband in the gyms we surveyed for this comparison, though busy. When asked about the issue, sport coaches (admittedly, visibly attracted by the cast) all call into question the accuracy and even the interest of the thing. An opinion also shared with three other riders met for the occasion, which pointed, in addition, prices are still too high.

   It was time to shed light on these new objects, and let's say it immediately, we were pleasantly surprised by the capabilities of a number of them. And these are not necessarily the most expensive models that fared best.

   The quality of a smartband is judged on two essential criteria. The first: accelerometer, a small chip that is also found in all smartphones and allows, in particular, to rotate the screen when you turn it. The other criterion is the efficiency of the algorithm that is associated with it. Analog Devices is a leading manufacturer of accelerometers connected to bracelets. Its R & D manager Bertrand Company told us that to his knowledge, "there really are bad accelerometers." All three areas are compatible and all detect the slightest movement of the wearer. Today, work is focused more on how to minimize their consumption.