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- First reviewNovember 28, 2015
- Last reviewNovember 28, 2015
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jonesyvoor's Reviews
Misfit Shine 2 Activity Tracker: Keep your health and fitness in check 24/7 with help from this water-resistant activity tracker, which tracks your activity, calories burned, distance traveled, steps taken, sleep quality and other metrics. Wirelessly sync the tracker with your Android and Apple® mobile device.
Customer Rating
3
Decent, but buy the Misfit Flash instead
on November 28, 2015
Posted by: jonesyvoor
Verified Purchase:Yes
Having been a Fitbit Flex wearer for the past couple of years I was looking to move on to a fitness tracker that looked nicer than the chubby "livestrong" bracelet and quite frankly did more things. I was restricted in my choices in that the tracker had to communicate with Virgin Pulse so that I could sync my steps and get credits toward my employer's health insurance. I also wanted a device that played nice with MyfitnessPal and Walgreens Balance Rewards.
The Misfit Shine was the only one that fit the bill on all fronts. I was particularly amped that I would be able to track my sleep without first having to alert my device that i was actually going to sleep. Nice.
Anyway after spending about three weeks with the Shine 2, I was mildly satisfied but left wanting more.
On the plus side, it did meet the criteria that I described earlier. I did however experience some growing pains out of the box. The directions that come with the Misfit are minimalist to say the least. I'm somewhere between a gadget geek and nerd and I felt a bit lost trying to get the device to sync with all of my websites. After awhile I learned that you need to go into the Profile menu and click the three dots to access the apps it's compatible with. Trying to sync from the other websites is an exercise in frustration.
I eventually got it working only to have my first day of activity mysteriously erased after I tried to sync the device to my phone for the first time. I did this by pulling down on the Home Screen. I've since only synched by pushing the Sync button on the Device screen and didn't experience any other problems. Who knows?
Then there's the infamous band. It's cheap and as of this review there are no other accessories that you can buy for the Shine 2.. The disc fell out of the band at least a half dozen times a day until I realized that you had to attach the clip that came with it to keep it secure. I'll blame the minimalist instructions. Anyway, after I used the clip I didn't have any fumbles for the next two weeks.
As for looks, I personally thought the black on black shine was nicer looking that the Fitbit Flex. Although the few people that actually take notice of my fitness bands commented that it didn't look as nice as the Fitbit. Okay then, chalk looks up as a draw.
The sleep tracking was cool and generally worked well. The first few nights it seemed to be calibrating and would miss an hour in the beginning of my sleep or had me waking up an hour or so earlier than i did. After that though it seemed generally accurate and not having to turn sleep mode on is a huge plus. It just works. Well done.
However even the sleep tracking had one negative for me. I was looking forward to the Smart Alarm capability of the Shine but it never worked. I think I read that it only worked with iPhone and not Android. I definitely never saw it happen. Speaking of the alarm it fails in every aspect. First of all you can only set the alarm to go off daily. Yes, that means weekends too. I can't believe that the engineers didn't think of more alarm customization if not even a weekday only mode but it's true. Oh, additionally the vibration motor for the alarm is extremely weak. You can feel it but I certainly wouldn't count on it to wake you out of a deep REM sleep if your life (or job) depended on it.
In conclusion before my 30 days was up I started looking around at other trackers including the Misfit Flash. It was only $14.95 at Best Buy and appeared to do the same exact things. I bought it today and in fact it basically does the same things.
Its plastic instead of metal but no one will notice. It actually comes in wider variety of colors and I feel the gray/white one that I bought looks sportier and nicer than the black/black shine 2. It syncs just as well, tracks steps just as accurately and has the same sleep mode. Heck even the band hold the tracker more secure.
If I'm looking at negatives really the main one is that the light indicators are impossible to read in outdoor sunlight. Inside, and at night its fine. I very rarely used it as a watch so that's not something I'd consider a huge loss. Again, it's plastic instead of metal. I didn't have people falling over themselves over the metal on the Shine 2 and I personally don't value that aesthetic so that's not a deal breaker either.
Okay so even if those things bother you, does it bother you enough to pay $99 instead of $15? I didn't think so.
My Best Buy number: 2376208875
My Best Buy number: 2376208875
I would recommend this to a friend!
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