Understanding The Need Of Fitness Bands And Smartwatches
We live in a technologically convenient world where pizza reaches home sooner than the ambulance. From subscription emails to online shopping and on-demand apps to financial transaction portals, we have become dependent on technology as if our life counts on it. And the main dilemma continues till now- are we going in the right direction or not?
While technology has certain shortcomings such as its effect on health, harm to the eyes, and so on, it also delivers some great benefits that we cannot ignore. A sheer example here is the healthcare wearable.
Post-Covid, the healthcare wearable like fitness bands and smartwatches created a ripple in the tech industry. Soon, every industry player began focusing on the production of these devices. Consumers witnessed the unique amalgamation of technology with healthcare. But are those devices really worth your money? Let us explore more in this piece of writing.
Healthcare monitoring
The good
Healthcare wearable does come with plenty of benefits. Firstly, they offer measurements of the vitals. One can easily monitor blood pressure, oxygen levels, and even calorie count. This would save a lot of time as you won’t have to visit a doctor or spend thousands on vital monitoring machines. The features also include water alarms, sleep timers, fitness tracking, and activity monitoring. These do come in handy especially when you are doing physical exercises.
The bad
While things look very impressive on cards, the truth is somewhat different. Accuracy is a big concern for fitness bands. Till now, companies have not been able to devise products that can offer complete 100% accuracy. Needless to say, one cannot depend on the devices for checking vitals, especially in a critical time. Some devices give the same readings on every wrist. Others monitor even if kept on the non-human surface. Issues are many and though few are resolved, the persistence of problems like accuracy remains a prime concern.
Less screen time
The good
Smartwatches and fitness bands are good in a particular regard-they to help us avoid too much screen time. By getting seamlessly connected to the mobile phones through Bluetooth pairing, they provide essential notifications and even calling functionalities. This is a gem of a feature as one can reduce screen time on the phone. The feature also allows you to pick up or reject calls and check notifications when you are not able to check the phone, such as while driving or working out.
The bad
Most bands and watches do connect well to smartphones. But there are only top-end models that provide phone calling functionalities. Also, some models offer only rejection of calls. You cannot pick up or listen to calls as the speaker is not present in such a small device. Hence, the feature is somewhat incomplete. Yes, these devices do offer a reduction in screen time but it is not that noticeable. Also, you need to look at the smaller screen which means your eyes are more stressed as compared to the scenario in which you are looking at the mobile screen.
Portability and ease of use
The good
The healthcare wearable is surely very portable. There is no doubt about this. They can be wrapped around the wrist with ease and there is an assurance that they won’t fall off. Unlike mobile phones or other hand-held digital devices, fitness bands snuggle your wrist and are highly portable. Also, you can easily store them due to their smaller size. While portability is not an issue, the problem persists in ease of use.
The bad
As with all technological devices, wearables did appear hard to use at first. Everyone believed that the functionalities would be more users friendly with the passage of time and new variants entering the market. But such has not been the case yet. Dealing with the small screen is a bit complicated. You need to press more buttons to search for the desired options. Also, there is a major concern about elderly people finding the devices unfriendly. This poses a great challenge to the industry. Many people don’t even like the touch operations and have difficulty operating the bands even for simpler functions.
Choices and options
The good
No matter how many obstructions the health-tech sector is facing, things are improving. Many more players are joining the race and improved versions are being attempted by companies now and then. With prices increasing with every model, functionalities are also on the rise and we are getting to see some amazing features in the recent models. Though giants like SAMSUNG and APPLE are still offering watches with flagship pricing, some companies are working to offer these devices to common people at genuine rates.
The bad
The abundant choices in the market pose a great confusion to the consumers. Earlier, they knew only a few models but now with a simple search, there is a huge list of fitness bands and smartwatches. This is leading to wrong buying decisions and customers are refraining from buying the devices again.
Conclusion
So you have read it all-the positives and negatives of fitness bands. The question is do you really want one? Let us conclude by simplifying things a bit more for you:
You should avoid buying these if
- In case you think your healthcare vitals will be accurately monitored
- You want an alternative to your normal watch
- You are impressed by the marketing of these items
- If you think they can help you live a healthy life
You should buy one if
- You want to track your fitness regime
- If you want to track your diet
- You are in love with healthcare gadgets
- If you like the look of digital watches
- If you love exploring new-age watches
Author: abhishek tuteja
Content writer with sky in eyes and nature in heart, living life learning each lesson per day.
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