Walk into any electronics store today, and you’ll find an overwhelming range of fitness trackers, with devices claiming to monitor everything from heart rate and sleep quality to stress levels and blood pressure. With so many options and features available, choosing the right fitness tracker can quickly become confusing. In this edition of ‘Before You Buy,’ HT Lifestyle spoke to Ashwini V Rai, fitness expert at Cultfit, to break down the features worth checking before you make a choice.
Also read | Before you buy: From ingredients to skin type, here’s what to check before choosing a skincare serum Ashwini highlighted that although many trackers attempt to collect extensive data about the user, measuring different indicators, they are not entirely accurate. For example, the calculation of sleep phases is based only on activity and heart rate, making such devices unsuitable for medical research. However, this data can help the user to react to how their body behaves over several nights: if the results differ significantly from the established norms, it is worth looking at the problem. The main function of a fitness tracker is to collect information about activity and vital signs of the body, such as sleep phases and heart rate. If the device is cumbersome and uncomfortable to wear, the user may not use it. In addition, when using such gadgets to control sleep, a large number of additional functions can be inconvenient. Moreover, a cheap armband may irritate the skin, especially in hot weather. If available, it is a good idea to try the device before buying to ensure that it is comfortable to wear.
