Heart part more art than state-of-the-art: Shine wearable activity sensor

I’m not a fitness fan. I don’t jog and I’m more likely to be seen at the swimming baths picking up my kids after lessons than doing lanes myself. But with the big 5-0 coming close, and working as I do in a trade that has me sitting on my bum all day, I find I have a keener interest in my personal well-being than I did when I was …

[TallPaul]

Needs BLE sadly

Someone gave me a heads up for the Shine as they knew I was looking for a truly waterproof activity monitor (one of my main forms of exercise is swimming and most devices don't like getting properly wet) plus the Shine now supports Android ... well, up to a point Lord Copper. It does if you have a phone with Bluetooth Low Energy and Android 4.3. They specifically list Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy Note III, Google Nexus 4/5, and HTC One.

My phone (Android 4.2, no BLE) doesn't have a chance of connecting. Ho hum.

[JDX]

It looks really slick which is a nice change, but it sounds like the actual usefulness and cost are widely at odds.

[wiggers]

Pulse

The Pulse from Withings sounds better; measures altitude gain and has a heart rate monitor, but doesn't do swimming or cycling.

[Arachnoid]

Stick a gps reciever in it

And you would have a good covert tracking device........just saying

[Tromos]

Friends

I used to have some until I started sharing how far I'd walked and how long I'd slept.

[D@v3]

A good cyclist uses her gears

Seriously?

Would it have been so hard to add a 't' and an 'i' to that?

Of all the active cyclists i know, 99+% of them are male, and of all the women i know, i can only think of a couple that even own bikes, let alone use them any where near regularly.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: A good cyclist uses her gears

I imagine 99%+ of the the readership is male, but all but you found your comment to be unnecessarily sexist.

I'm all up for some jokes about women but that was just a freaking weird comment.

[Kubla Cant]

Nothing new

Most of the functionality seems to duplicate an application that I installed on my phone (about three years ago, so there are probably better versions available). Obviously that doesn't do swimming, but it does use GPS and records altitude change.

Also, the cost was a fraction of the price of this gadget, and I can wear a proper watch instead of a nasty plastic thing.

[Gordon 10]

Re: Nothing new

In fact for less than the £99 you can probably get a waterproof case for your phone and take it swimming.

[All names Taken]

Is this something to do with IoT?

[phil dude]

for disabled use...?

This may be useful for elderly or disabled people, who are not able to manage a complicated setup. A watch replacement would seem ideal in this circumstance for elderly people who have memory lapses, and yet still need to keep time etc...

More tech helping those less able in mind, would be nice. This may qualify....

P.

[Neil 30]

Flexible

The Flex is rechargeable and the battery lasts 5 days between recharges.

[cray74]

I like the one worn by Lena Headey in "Dredd" better.

[Craig 2]

This is great, BUT....

It should be a tenner, not almost £100!

As mentioned multiple times by reviewer, it's really aimed at the casual user. As such, it needs a `casual` price.

[Nick Pettefar]

Gone

My Shine came out of the wrist strap and has not been seen again.

I am using a Withings Pulse now but the clip bent open so it no longer clips - I keep it in my pocket.

Must go for a walk....

[Faye B]

Misleading measurements

I would imagine that for most of the male readership that sit staring at computer screens all day, wearing this device on the wrist is going to lead to an exceptionally high activity reading, particulary late in the evening (The clue is in the icon).