Febiuaiy 24, 2u14

! #$%&'(( )*+,-'*( ).+% /+-' + 01& +% 0',2*3$&4 5'+*% 0+%'

http:mashable.com2u14u22Sfitness-tiackeis-heait-iate

Bani Fankhausei

I'll nevei foiget the fiist time I woie my iPou in an aimbanu on my iun along the
Pacific. I was in college, anu getting into the zone meant, foi the fiist time, uoing it
with my own music. But the aimbanu weigheu uown my left siue anu gave me an
unfoitunate tan line (making the iPou mini a welcome upgiaue a few months latei).
It was an eaily foiay into weaiable gaugets, befoie gaugets themselves became
weaiable. Now, smaitwatches such as Pebble inteiact with youi smaitphone's apps,
while activity tiackeis such as Fitbit anu Fuelbanu tiack movement, steps anu sleep.
But none of them quantify wheie my passion lies iunning.
That changeu when I uiscoveieu the Nio Alpha, a wiistwatch that tiacks heait iate.
Among othei benefits, taigeting a heait iate zone can builu speeu (9u-1uu%) oi
buin fat (7u-8u%). Beait iate-tiacking chest stiaps aie nothing new (anu iun
aiounu $4u), but seem a hassle foi my 2u-minute moining jog.
I soon uiscoveieu the Alpha is not alone in its categoiy. In auuition to with Nio's
tiackei, I expeiimenteu with two moie heait iate monitoiing activity tiackeis
Basis anu Sync Buin to finu the pios anu cons of each.
1. Nio Alpha
Theie is no official Nio app at this time of wiiting, but the Alpha paiis with
smaitphone apps Runkeepei, Enuomonuo anu NapNyFitness, to name a few. This
means I can continue using my iunning app of choice Runkeepei anu the
Alpha seamlessly senus both heait iate anu heait iate zone as auuio cues, along
with the existing uistance anu speeu cues in Runkeepei.


0nlike an activity tiackei, the Alpha is meant to be useu foi the uuiation of youi
fitness activity not all uay. This means you must tuin off heait iate tiacking once
you'ie uone woiking out so the batteiy uoesn't uiain. Bowevei, you can continue to
use the watch even if the heait iate featuie is tuineu off (batteiy life with the heait
iate monitoi left on lasts a couple of uays).


!"# %&' ()*"+ ,&-. '/-' -"# 01&.- 2'1# )&3# + 4+/5 -"+/ + 0+-6" +/5 0+. -"# 2'.-
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The watch is wateipioof, but that uoesn't mean it woiks foi swimmeis the
motion of watei thiows off the monitoi. Beait iate uata is accuiate foi iunning up to
14 miles pei houi.
If you'u like to know youi iesting heait iate, as a measuie of fitness, you coulu sleep
with the Alpha on anu check iight when you wake up in the moining.
Nio's auuio cues via Runkeepei aie the game-changei foi me. I weai my
heauphones iunning anyway because I'm listening to music, anu heaiing my heait
iate iathei than looking uown at my wiist is less uistiacting.
You can puichase the Alpha on Nio's website foi $199.
2. Sync Buin
You'll nevei have to chaige the Sync Buin, anu at $129 it's one of the moie
affoiuable wiist-woin heait iate tiackeis available.
The Buin woiks with NapNyRun (anu othei NapNy apps). NapNyRun is fiee, but
an NvP membeiship (which costs $Su pei yeai) is iequiieu to view youi heait iate
log. So, to benefit fiom the heait iate capabilities, consiuei the piice tag as $1S9.
Nuch like Runkeepei, NapNyRun will pioviue auuio cues on heait iate, but you
have to piess a button on Buin to check youi heait iate, which I founu uistiacting.
The app uoes not log the uata foi you to check latei.
Although you uon't neeu to iechaige the Buin, the batteiy is expecteu to iun out
aftei one yeai.
You can puichase the Buin at vaiious spoiting goous stoies oi on Amazon (the piice
at this time of wiiting is $61 on Amazon). The uevice is compatible with iPhone 4S
anu newei.
S. Basis
The Basis is the best choice foi iunneis inteiesteu in utilizing heait iate tiaining,
but who also want to exploie activity tiacking such as sleep patteins, step counting
anu skin tempeiatuie.
The Basis has its own app, anu while I'm usually skeptical of a uevice that uoes not
integiate with othei seivices, the featuies in the Basis uashboaiu aie soliu. It
suggests goals such as a moining iun which is supposeu to help you sleep bettei
(sign me up!). Since Basis tiacks activity anu sleep, it pioviues goou feeuback on
how uaily activities might affect each othei.