The Halo fitness tracker has a unique design. It does not have a screen, nor a vibrating motor. This makes it a great choice if you want your wrist to be free from distractions.
The app offers a library of workouts, sessions, and programs to help users improve their health. You can also find meditation, mindfulness, tone-focused content.
Tone of Voice Analysis, which focuses on improving vocals, analyzes how you sound when speaking in public or during interviews, is its best feature. The app also allows you to take a "voice selfie", which helps to assess your voice clarity and tone.
This is a very useful feature, especially when it's difficult to find the right voice for interviews. You can also look back at your recordings to assess how you sound and make improvement suggestions.
Another important part of the data-centric Halo's approach to fitness tracking is sleep monitoring. This monitors your sleep from beginning to end and assigns scores based on each cycle. It can also measure body temperature. This helps determine how restful your night's sleeping habits.
Amazon has committed that the Halo will be kept private, and users can opt in to use its voice tone analysis and body scan features. The company explained that the company stores the body-scan photos in a cloud and then deletes them when they aren't needed. This raises privacy concerns.
The paired smartphone app will do the body scanning. You'll need to take a photo with your skivvies on (only for those over 18). You'll need to take multiple photos to get an accurate reading of your body fat percentage.
It does add complexity to your fitness tracking as it cannot be compared with traditional metrics such as steps or calories burnt. But it provides a more complete picture of your activity and overall health over time.
Two microphones are used on the device for voice tone analysis. They listen to your speech and evaluate how it sounds. It's a very useful feature for anyone who wants to project an optimistic image at work, or with friends.
This feature can only be accessed with a paid subscription. You'll need to pay $4/around PS3 / AU$5 a month after six months to continue using it.
Its other notable feature is the Body Composition feature, which uses height and weight data along with photos taken from your own body to calculate your body composition. It is far more advanced than Withings’ bioimpedance based technology. However, it will require photos and may pose privacy concerns.
As far as fitness tracking goes, the Halo doesn't offer much that the Apple Watch or Fitbit don't. The Halo will give you a clear idea of your performance and whether you are meeting your weekly goals. However, it doesn't have the vibrant graphics that you get on other devices. Access to the most advanced features such as body scanning and voice tone analysis will require a subscription.