I’ve always been curious about the concept of wearable fitness trackers, but was honestly too lazy to start, and also skeptical that it would take more time out of my day than the value it would add.
Were they user friendly?
Some are hideous and completely awkward to style with fancy work wear or date night ensembles. (Think Lindsay Lohan house arrest trackers. Yikes)
Whats the point of wearing them 24/7 if the battery dies and it takes a day to charge?
Are they waterproof/surfproof/lifeproof? I’m kind of a spaz.
I was approached by Runtastic to take their Orbit for a spin a few months ago, and was excited to try new fitness gear, but also skeptical on the concept of fitness tracking. I said yes, and immediately began tracking my little life away. After 2 months, I must say I’m hooked.
The Runtastic Orbit functions across multiple apps, just choose the ones that fit your lifestyle and track away. For me, the running app has been my go-to, along with the Runtastic Me app, which gives you your daily snapshot and sleep cycle report.
There are several others: Mountain Bike, Road Bike, Pedometer, Libra, and Six Pack. Check them out in the app store. All are free, except for the Runtastic Pro for running.
So here we go.
GPS: Is it accurate? Because I’m pretty sure my Nike app lies to me.
Since this is another GPS based system, I had to see how it stacked up against my Garmin 910X (most accurate), and the Nike+ App (least accurate-usually at least .10 mile off). Runtastic’s GPS is extremely accurate for it’s kind. Running with others using Strava, Fitbit, and Jawbone, Runtastic was the most accurate of all (based off a measured mile course/using my Garmin 910x as a lateral limit). If you are looking to really gauge your milage and times in a serious manner, this app will give you the precision you need, as well as a user friendly interface that you can easily understand and use. Garmin is great, but I personally find their web application for downloading data difficult to use.
WATER. What if I live in the ocean??
For you triathletes and my fellow surfers, this thing is waterproof up to 300 feet. So unless you are doing some serious wave ducking, you’ll be just fine.
TOOMANYAPPS. What if I already use other apps?
The ease of pairing with this thing is unmatched. If you are My Fitness Pal user, you can sync up seamlessly.
I’m an OCD fashionista and wearbles are ugly.
Fitness functionality aside, it is also able to be added into your work wear and even formal wear, without appearing completely out of place or gaudy. How is this possible? Included in your start kit is a clip-on holder, which is my favorite way to wear my Orbit. As a fashionista, I am able to clip it on my bra or another inconspicuous spot on my body that doesn’t clash with my fancy attire. Track your fitness WHILE looking like a supermodel? Mandy jackpot.
I’m an obsessive calorie counter. HALP.
I was skeptical at first as to how accurate this really was, but after hearing about exactly how Runtastic goes about calculating, I was sure that it wasn’t lying to me. Since you are always burning calories during the day, the Me app accounts for that based off of your height/weight, and also takes into consideration the type of activity you are doing during the day and calculate that in as well, across all the apps.
I live on the edge. Limits aren’t my thing.
If you ever wondered what the distance/step limit was for your wearable, BEHOLD, and leave it to an ultra marathoner to find it. I wore my Orbit for my 100 miler (Rio Del Lago) in November, and found it about halfway through:
99,999 steps. Er, 54.69 miles. There ya go. Unless you plan on running over 54 miles in a given day, YER GOOD.
Pretty sure figuring this out qualifies me as a crazy person.
Last up: Cons.
Nothing is perfect, right?
Right. My only con that I could find was the battery life. It states 5-7 days on the website, but I have found that with normal use during the day, that it lasts around 3-5 days for me. The time it takes to charge is next to nothing (from dead to fully charged, it takes about 30 min), so it’s not a huge con in my opinion! I usually charge it when I’m taking a shower and not moving around a lot while getting ready in the morning.
As for suggestions, I would love for Runtastic to develop an app for surfers to be able to track waves, or distance in the water for triathletes.
Thank you Runtastic for bringing the Orbit into my daily life! I’m totally hooked.
