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NIKE FUELBAND ANALYSIS AND FINAL THOUGHTS
Both myself and Karen have now had our Nike FuelBands on for 10 days now, mine on 24 hours a day while she takes hers off at night. I find that, as little movement as one might have while they are sleeping, my battery will only last 3 days tops whereas she can go 6-7 days. I don’t quite understand this. As well, I can attest to the fact that the algorithms are different for men than they are for women because we have participated in exact activities with different Fuel points resulting. I can’t speak to whether this is the same for age, height or weight.
The Nike FuelBand is definitely an attention grabber as friends and coworkers have noticed and asked about it, even without our mentioning that we were conducting a study of the product. It’s build is solid, it is waterproof and, quite frankly, I figured that I would have done it in by now as I am one of those few that can’t wear a watch as my wrist seems to bump against walls or railings constantly. This FuelBand has felt the unexpected ‘blunt force trauma’ a number of times already. Conversely, care has to be taken when taking it off for charging because bending it back too far will create a crease in the band that is visible and cannot be removed.
It is a strong negative that Nike has decided to partner solely with Apple for an approved portable Nike FuelBand App and this is actually a bit confusing because that alone has millions of Android users looking elsewhere. As well, Nike’s decision to short change the consumer on parts (stand no longer included) is really not in the best taste, although it isn’t necessary for the purpose it was originally intended. The stand was part of the original packaging and should have remained.
With respect to its operation, it would be nice to iron out issues related to falsely reporting activity while motorcycle riding and we look forward to future releases of the Nike FuelBand because it sits on your wrist just perfectly and would be able to easily monitor your heart rate through your pulse. The advantage of this would be that it could, not only identify such things as resting heart rate as compared to elevated heart rate but also, it could account for sustained heart rate which is a direct reflection of activities and not just specific movements associated to vigorous activity. This would suit weight lifting very well where movement can be very slow, deliberate and controlled.
In arriving at our final analysis though, the most important factor is whether it actually changes our daily activities, even if it is enough only to be measured through Nike Fuel. For that, Nike has succeeded incredibly. As much as Karen and I are both very competitive in nature and I always have to make or beat my goal, the scope of the Nike FuelBand isn’t that alone. It would easily suit any person of any body type or age and has the ability to increase their activity, if even in a very small way. That being said, it can get anyone off the couch because that activity alone earns Fuel points.
For their efforts, we are awarding Nike our Innovation Award for the Nike Fuel, however, we should point out something that needs to be said. The only reason we haven’t awarded Editor’s Choice to the Nike FuelBand is because Nike has not endorsed an Android App for this device. Should they elect to make such an App available in the future, we will accordingly up the ante as well.
Watch For Nike Fuel Updates as we work our way into shape!
Check Out Nike FuelBand Pricing at Amazon!
