I'm returning this tracker to Amazon. In over 4 days of Smart Band 9 use, testing its readings against a Fitbit Charge 2 and a Fitbit Blaze, I've experienced several show-stopping discrepancies that, for me, have me returning it:
1) Calories are nowhere near correct each day. This tracker records zero calories expended from midnight until I get up in the morning, a totally incorrect measurement since the body expends energy even at rest. I had hoped that turning on the Advanced Sleep option (tracking heart rate and REM sleep) would correct this problem, but it did not do so at all.
2) I don't keep the tracker paired to a smartphone that I carry: instead, I return to a stationary tablet where I sync the data. I don't care about GPS tracking, etc. This morning, I forgot to start a Walking workout alongside the Fitbit I was wearing; I hoped auto-detect of my walking exercise would provide some type of data. It did not; no walking workout was synced to the app. When I dug deeper in the "Workout" section of the app, I found a way to add the walking workout and its duration, but was unable to edit any of the variables (like calories) in the workout.
3) The tracker does not come with any type of useful user's manual. In addition, the app itself doesn't link to any more comprehensive user's manual. So users are left to fumble around trying different options on the tracker and the app to customize the tracker. For example, I was able to add widgets as quick access to the typical workouts I do (out of the dozens available) and delete widgets I had no use for but I had to discover that on my own.
4) For a "Global" model with US as a location, the inability to enter English units vs metric was a real problem.
I've been using fitness trackers for 18 years. I don't want a fitness tracker to be an extension of my phone, music player, or wallet. I want basic fitness tracking functions to be measured on the band itself and not require constant connection to a paired phone (or in my case, a tablet). While many people may find these features very convenient, I don't use them.
In fairness, the battery life was the best I'd ever seen in a tracker. When I did a factory reset for returning the unit, it had at least 85% battery remaining. Again, this was using it for fitness tracking only: no constant communication with phone.
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