Dubai: The Dubai-based Merlin Digital’s new activity tracker — ActiFit — is an entry — level device but with a premium finish and features.
It can be wirelessly connected with iOS or Android hand-held devices.
It tracks calories burnt, steps taken, caller identifications, text notifications, social alerts and tracks sleep patterns, apart from time and the day. Even you can find your phone with this device and click selfies. Every part of the daily activity is logged in real time.
The advantage of these devices is that it helps users to stay active and keeps you motivated.
The app — Zeroner — needs to be downloaded from the app stores. The layout of the app is really simple and easy to use.
The 0.91-inch OLED touchscreen device is slim and stylish and it is waterproof also.
It pairs with the smartphone via Bluetooth. Setting up the device is easy and the simple and straightforward.
The band is made of rugged rubber and it can be hooked into the main strap. The only disadvantage is charging the device.
The top and the main part of the device need to be removed and one end of the device is like a USB flash drive pin. Removing the top part is a task and good pressure has to be applied. Sometimes, I feared that the hook which connects the top part to the strap will break but it is sturdy.
The sport home screen of the app shows how many steps taken, calories burnt, activity time, distance covered and also in a line-graph form.
In the history feature, it shows the steps, calories, activity time and distance for each week in bar graph and below that for the month in bar graph.
It has a GPS function with a stopwatch feature to track your walking, cycling or running. It is an interesting feature which I liked. It shows the distance covered maximum speed of walking or cycling, calories burnt during the workout, average speed in minutes per hour and kilometres per hour.
The device can also be used to click snaps with the smartphone.
The sleep tracker shows how well you slept, including deep sleep and light sleep, and also sleep and wake-up times.
The alarm setting feature will wake you up with a vibration alarms and the sedentary reminder warns the user when he is inactive over a period of time by vibrating the device. The target setting can only be applied for number of steps and for hours of sleep.
The biggest advantage compared to many devices in the market is that the data can be monitored on the wrist rather than depending on your smartphone or tablet to view the results.
The built-in accelerometer gives almost accurate readings and good for fitness enthusiasts. It does not have a heart-rate sensor and cannot sync features with other apps as most of the bands are able to do.
Charging the device to the full takes almost half an hour the battery lasts close to five days, which is pretty good. It is priced at Dh195.
Pros
• Value for money
• Touch-screen OLED display
• Stylish and light weight
• iOS and Android compatible
• Good battery life
Cons
• No heart-rate sensor
• Removing the top part is a task
• Not swim proof
• Charging the device is a task
• Cannot sync features with other apps
