{"id":12971,"date":"2016-12-06T17:51:30","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T15:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.pricecheck.co.za\/?p=12971"},"modified":"2016-12-07T09:49:43","modified_gmt":"2016-12-07T07:49:43","slug":"are-expensive-fitness-trackers-worth-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/blog\/are-expensive-fitness-trackers-worth-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Expensive Fitness Trackers Worth It?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Summer is here! And, with it comes more days at the beach and, possibly, more days working out in the beautiful outdoors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">If you&#8217;re thinking about getting a fitness tracker, in the hopes that it will help motivate you to becoming more active, then you&#8217;re probably struggling to decide which one is best for you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Do you go with the brand names like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/search?search=fitbit\">Fitbit<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/search?search=samsung&amp;category=13237\">Samsung<\/a>, or do you go for something a bit less expensive &#8211; and less well known &#8211; like the Xiaomi Mi Band Pulse?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">We tested out three fitness bands currently on the market, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/search?search=Fitbit+Charge+2\">Fitbit Charge 2,<\/a> the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/search?search=TomTom+Touch\">TomTom Touch<\/a>, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/offers\/80726098\/XiaoMi+Mi+Band+1S+Pulse+Heart+Rate+Monitor+in+Black\">Xiaomi Mi Band Pulse<\/a>, to figure out which one is the best value for money. Watch our video review below and then read on for more detail.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FcTiWcywhD4\" width=\"100%\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">TomTom Touch<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">TomTom makes more than just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/categories\/121\/GPS+Devices\">GPS navigation systems<\/a> for your car. In fact, the company&#8217;s latest fitness band, the TomTom Touch, shows just how good they are at the fitness game.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The Touch does pretty much the same thing that every other fitness tracker on the market does. It tracks your steps, measures your heart rate, and tells you how well you did or didn&#8217;t sleep.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">What makes it special, however, is that it also measures your BMI, which means that you can now figure out your body fat percentage without having to use special equipment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Other than that, the Touch is water resistant and looks like a fitness tracker, which means that it&#8217;s not exactly the most exciting wearable to look at.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">It does have customisable straps, meaning that you change the straps to other compatible ones if you get bored of the one that you&#8217;re currently using.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Other than that, this is a pretty standard fitness tracker within the\u00a0higher-end section of the fitness wearables.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">It is worth noting, however,\u00a0that, while the display isn&#8217;t complicated to use, it&#8217;s not always the easiest\u00a0interface to navigate. You never seem to be\u00a0certain if you need to tap again or hold down on the silver button, or whether you need to swipe back or up or down.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Other than the not-very-intuitive navigation, this is a more than capable fitness tracker, which will serve you well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Cost: RRP R2499.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/search?search=Fitbit+Charge+2\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Fitbit Charge 2<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Fitbit is the leading name in fitness trackers and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/search?search=charge+2\">Charge 2<\/a> is one of the latest devices from the company.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Announced just prior to IFA 2016, the Charge 2 is an updated version of the company&#8217;s very successful Charge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">If you&#8217;ve ever used, or played around with, a Fitbit device before, then you know what to expect.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">It has PurePulse heart rate tracking, smart notifications, and a new design with a larger display and interchangeable bands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">It automatically detects certain workouts and starts tracking them for you without you having to open any apps or tap anything on the screen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The biggest let down of the Charge 2 is that, unlike the Flex 2, it&#8217;s not water resistant.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Other than that, the Charge 2 does what Fitbit does best and provides you with useful, relevant, easy to understand information about your fitness level and activity levels throughout the day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Cost: R2999.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/search?search=Xiaomi+Mi+Band+Pulse\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Xiaomi Mi Band Pulse<\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Globally, Xiaomi is known for making high-end <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pricecheck.co.za\/categories\/126\/Cellular+Phones\">smartphones<\/a>, without the high-end price tag.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">That ethos extends beyond just their smartphones and continues into their other devices, including their fitness bands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The Mi Band Pulse is a very basic fitness tracker.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">It doesn&#8217;t have a heart rate sensor, nor does it have a display. All you get on the front is a row of lights which light up to show how close you are to achieving your fitness goals for the day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Like all other fitness bands, the Mi Pulse tracks your steps, calories, and tells you how well you slept last night.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Furthermore, like pretty much every other fitness band on the market, the Mi Band Pulse has a companion app, which you&#8217;d need to install on your phone. It\u00a0also has interchangeable bands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Overall, at this price point, you can&#8217;t really fault the Xiaomi for anything when it comes to the Mi Band Pulse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">The tracker is comfortable, even if it&#8217;s not the most stylish wearable on the planet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">If you&#8217;re not sure whether to get a fitness band, but you&#8217;d like to try one, we&#8217;d recommend the Mi Band Pulse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">It&#8217;s a great way to find out if fitness bands are for you without you having to shell out a few thousand rands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">Cost: R399.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/compareguru.co.za\/are-expensive-fitness-trackers-worth-it\/?utm_source=PriceCheck&amp;utm_medium=Referral&amp;utm_campaign=fitness_trackers\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-12823 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.pricecheck.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/GuruReadMore-300x681-300x68.png\" alt=\"gurureadmore-300x681\" width=\"300\" height=\"68\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summer is here! And, with it comes more days at the beach and, possibly, more days working out in the beautiful outdoors. If you&#8217;re thinking about getting a fitness tracker, in the hopes that it will help motivate you to becoming more active, then you&#8217;re probably struggling to decide which one is best for you.<\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"\/blog\/are-expensive-fitness-trackers-worth-it\/\" title=\"Read More\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"amp_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1460,1459],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Best-fitness-tracker-2016.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12971"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12971"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12975,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12971\/revisions\/12975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}