With more and more gadgets coming out to help you track your daily activity progress, having something handy and easy to use is definitely welcomed by some people. I was provided with one of the latest offerings from Kit: – the Milestone Altitude Activity Tracker – to review. Now due to bad health, I am not the most active of people, but I was very intrigued to see how well my activity and sleep would be tracked.
First things first – packaging. I have always been impressed with how well products from Kit: have been packaged. It is always kept nice and minimal, whilst providing detailed information at the same time. The box that the Activity Tracker arrived in was no different. The front of the box gives a clear view of the Tracker itself, especially when you open the cardboard flap on the right side. On the outside of the flap, you have the Milestone text, while on the inside, you are told that progress can be tracked via the free to download smartphone app. On the bottom left corner of the packaging, you are shown that the Tracker has a vibrating alarm, is sweat resistant, and tracks your activity. Lastly, the rear of the box has a brief description of the item, as well as a list of features, specifications, box contents, and smartphone compatibility.
Removing the Tracker from the box, you have the item itself, a Micro USB to USB 2.0 cable, and a 3.5mm to Micro USB cable. The Micro to 2.0 cable is used to charge the Tracker, while the 3.5 to USB 2.0 cable can be used to synchronise the data from the Tracker to the smartphone. The tracker itself sports a nice rubber material wristband that houses the small unit. In order to charge the unit, you simply pop it out from the wristband so that you can hook it up to a charging source using the provided cable. It only took a few hours to charge fully, but I was unable to use it until I had done that initial charge as there was no power at all in the unit. Once charged, inserting the unit back into the strap was as easy as it was to take it out. It mentions on the box that a single charge should last 5-7 days – I’ve had the Tracker on since I first charged it and have yet to have to recharge it yet (around 2.5 weeks). On the side of the unit is a small button which is used to cycle through the menu – just line this up with the groove on the strap so that you get it back in the correct way round.
Once charged, I will admit that I was a little worried about how simple it was going to be to get things up and running. There was no need for any worrying as the instruction booklet took me through the process step by step, from getting started to using the smartphone app and understanding the different functions included. All I needed to do with the app was enter my personal details and what I would like my daily goal to be. It finishes up with you syncing the Altitude to the smartphone app for the first time. Now I know that the Tracker comes complete with the 3.5mm to USB 2.0 cable to help with syncing information between the phone and device, but I honestly found connecting and syncing up via Bluetooth not only quicker, but also very straightforward.
The Altitude tracker has a range of features. It not only tracks your daily steps taken, but also acts as a watch, tracks your sleep pattern, your distance travelled (km), the amount of calories burned during a 24 hour period, and lastly, what percentage of your daily goal was achieved. Sleep mode monitors your sleep movement and can record when you are awake, in a light sleep, and in a deep sleep – I found this very handy, myself. Please note that your sleep activity can only be monitored once you have synced information between the Altitude and your smartphone app.
The app itself (available on iOS 7.0 and above, and Android 4.3 and above) has as many functions as the wristband. The History menu provides a daily chart of activity (steps, miles, and Kcal burned), as well as the amount of hours slept and how many of those hours were in a light or deep sleep state. The Activity menu shows an overall percentage of your goals and sleep, as well as simple to understand view of your steps, Kcal, and distance. Lastly, the Settings menu contains the section where you enter your personal information, workout goal, a reminder setting, and lastly, the alarm clock (with is a nice and steady vibration that comes through the Altitude).
I found the tracking provided by the Altitude to be pretty precise, although, sometimes just sitting and moving my arm a bit swiftly would register as steps taken. The sleep monitor is something that I found useful. I did like being able to see how much of my sleep was light or deep, and from what I could tell, that was all registered as precise as possible. Syncing was very straightforward both with the provided cable, and via Bluetooth – the latter of which is definitely preferred method of synchronising.
Overall, when you consider the functions provided by the Altitude when compared to other Activity Tracker devices, I don’t really see much difference – except the price! You can get the Altitude from Amazon UK or Carphone Warehouse for around £39.99 (at time of posting). It does what you would expect, is easy to operate (even for people who don’t have much experience with tech), and doesn’t cost a fortune. I haven’t taken mine off since I first put it on a couple of weeks back – apart from when showering – and intend to use it on a very regular basis. I highly recommend the Milestone Altitude Activity Tracker to both hardcore, and casual, fitness fanatics.
I’d like to thank the kind folk over at Kondor for providing me with the Milestone Altitude Activity Tracker for review.
TootieTazzy 