B
Brad Ward
Guest
Getting to the gym is more often than not a difficult task, which makes activity and fitness trackers very convenient. There’s all sorts of them out there at all different price ranges. Some are above average in quality, while others are questionable.
The Moov Now aims to help you get in the best shape of your life by offering a wide variety of fitness coaching activities. Can it stand up to the test?
Design
As far as design goes, there’s not much special about the Moov Now. It’s basically just a circle with a little knob on the side for holding it in place in the strap. On top of the Moov Now is also an LED indicator that blinks when syncing with your device.
Included in the packaging is two straps–one for your wrist and one for your ankle. The Moov Now obviously fits in either one, and generally, when you’re doing different exercises you have to swap the Moov Now between the two straps. For instance, when you’re out on a jog, the ankle strap is the best to use. If you’re just doing everyday activities, such as walking around the house or work, the wrist strap is best suited.
While the Moov Now has a plain design, the straps included are genius. Fitness trackers are traditionally difficult to secure, but the straps for the Moov Now are able to secure the tracker in a tight pouch while giving the unit a more attractive and textured look.
Finally, the Moov Now has to be sealed in order to be waterproof. With that in mind, it’s extremely difficult to get the battery out. Basically, you press your fingernail up against the edge of the Moov, fumble with it for about 15 minutes, and hope it eventually pops off. Suffice to say, it’s not an easy task getting the battery out.
In summary, the Moov Now has a very plain design in tow, but looks nice when mounted in the strap. While it doesn’t necessarily need to look pretty, I feel like it could’ve still been designed much better than it was (e.g. making it not as difficult to pop it open).
Hardware
As far as hardware goes, the Moov Now is still sporting the trio of sensors from the previous generation–an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer. With that in mind, the only difference in hardware this time around is that Moov opted for a watch battery over the rechargeable lithium battery found in the previous generation.
Performance
The activity tracking used in the Moov Now is… interesting. The wearable is excellent at tracking your data during dedicated exercise times, but was spotty at best with its other features. For instance, I didn’t go to bed until midnight one day, but the Moov Now told me I had been sleeping since 8PM come morning.
This wearable also tracks your activity during the day. I decided to put this to the test on Sunday, and results were less than pleasing. For some reason, walking all over town for a couple of hours only equates to 17 minutes of activity, according to the Moov Now. That said, there’s definitely some discrepancies with the Moov Now, and shows that the Moov Now isn’t really a fitness tracker, but more of a fitness coach.
And let me say, it’s excellent at being a fitness coach. The different activities and training exercises in the Moov Now app work phenomenally well in conjunction with the wearable. It provides some unique insights, great advice on form, how to take better steps when running, and so on. The application also tries to motivate you by saying inspiring things like “great job!” or “you’re doing great! Keep it up!” Coming from an artificial voice, I didn’t find these particularly motivating, as they lack the emotion of a personal trainer or friend.
Another thing to keep in mind is that, with some exercises, you’re going to need two of these wearables. If you want to do boxing, you’re going to need two. And while swimming doesn’t require two, you get less accurate results without the second unit. The Moov Now had a pre-order price of $59, and now that it’s officially here, Moov as increased the price to $100 a pop.
With that in mind, it’s hard to say whether it’s worth it or not. If you’re looking for a daily activity/fitness tracker, the Moov Now probably isn’t something to consider. If you’re looking for a fitness coach to improve aspects of your fitness life then I’d definitely consider the Moov Now.
Battery
In the last generation of Moov was a rechargeable lithium ion battery. As mentioned earlier, this new generation is sporting a watch battery that is rated to last up to six months. Obviously we haven’t been able to do six months of battery testing, but the Moov Now application is supposed to tell you when the battery in your wearable is low and needs changing.
Software
The software is truly what makes or breaks the Moov Now. The Moov app, available on iOS and Android, not only has all the different activity coaching, but also has your progress as well as your daily activity and sleep insights. First, we’ll touch on the activities.
The Moov application’s software capabilities is actually very strong. Fitness activities and artificial intelligence are at the core of this application, and it works seamlessly. In opening the app, you can select any activity you want to do, connect up your Moov Now wearable, and start working out. The Moov application is able to track your progress without a hitch.
Syncing your daily progress is also an easy process. It actually used to be fairly difficult, but upon the official launch of the Moov Now, all users have to do is open the Moov app, press on the top of their wearable, and it automatically begins syncing your progress up.
Finally, the last major part of the Moov application is the My Progress tab. Here, Moov tracks all of your workouts, how many hours you’ve worked out, the average amount of sleep you get, the average amount of minutes you’re active per day, and much more. This spot is what makes Moov great: seeing deeper and more detailed insights into what you do on a daily basis. And with this information, you can make adjustments in your life as necessary.
All in all, the Moov app and the Moov Now wearable work together seamlessly. It’s truly a great pairing for those that are looking to step up their game, as far as training goes.
Closing
All in all, if you’re looking for a Fitbit alternative, the Moov Now just isn’t a good replacement. However, if you’re looking for something to take your training to the next level, whether that be swimming, long-distance running, and so on, the Moov Now might be just up your alley.
Though much of what I’ve said has been relatively negative towards the device, it appeals to a very specific crowd, I think. And that’s the crowd that wants to take their fitness and training to the next level without having to hire a personal trainer. For that, the Moov Now is the perfect assistant, and it’ll only get better with that vision as time goes on.
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