BASIS WATCH REVIEW (B1 Band)Updated August 10, 2014
Combining the form factor of a watch with the functionality of a health tracker - including a heart rate monitor, sleep tracking, and advanced sensors - this 2013 entrant is a strong contender among fitness trackers. And the company keeps improving it.
Check out V2.0 the Basis Peak >
Basis B1 Fitness Tracker in a Sound BiteThe Basis B1 band is among the latest attempts from the fitness tracker arena to combine the best of activity and sleep tracking in the convenient guise of a wristwatch. As with other shower-proof wrist activity trackers, a benefit of this form factor over competitors' "clothing clip" form factor is its 24/7 wearability, meaning that you are less likely to misplace it, throw it in the laundry, forget to put it back on after showering, or lose it some other way. The original Basis B1 comes with a black watch strap, and you can accessorize with additional bands that are sold separately: a white strap or two different designer straps (Kaleidoscope or Electric Spring).
As an added bonus over the 2013 model, a 2014 version of the Basis fitness tracker is available in "Carbon Steel Edition" - all the original features in a more stylish watch face, and paired with a softer, stretchier watch band that aims to be more comfortable and which can also accommodate especially small and narrow wrists. I own my Basis B1 fitness trackerAs with all of my first hand reviews, I like to let you know how I got the device in the first pace. In the case of the Basis, I bought it with my own pocket money. Basis didn't ask me to review their product or write this review. I just wanted one, so I went out and bought it, and now I'm telling you what I think. However, if you do buy anything through my site I usually get paid a small advertising fee (it doesn't bring your price up, though, so don't worry!). My opinions are my own, and I'm going to tell you the what I honestly think about the product in addition to listing the cut-and-dried features of the product. And, when a company does give me a test unit to review, I'll always be up-front about letting you know. On to the review!
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Example of Mobile Dashboard (iOS) Habit Card view.
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Example of Mobile Dashboard insights view for walking.
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Most Advanced Fitness Tracker Sleep Analysis
With the arrival of 2014, Basis has added a new sleep feature: advanced sleep analysis. This feature became available via a software update on January 21, 2014, and work on all existing original Basis watches as well as the new Carbon Steel Edition. The analysis includes time spent in REM sleep, deep sleep, and light sleep, number of "Toss & Turns" and how many sleep interruptions occurred over the course of the night.
It also includes a personal sleep analysis -- a weekly sleep report sent to you via email that summarizes your sleep over the past week, benchmarking that shows a rolling average of your sleep data (sleep score, Toss & Turn, and sleep interruptions). This data can help you keep track of your progress toward higher quality sleep.
This is all in addition to the features they already provide, including "sleep quality" score, sleep duration, the time of night you fell asleep bed, and time of day you awoke.
Another major benefit of the Basis sleep tracking that always been available is that it is "mode-less": you don't need to mess with buttons or settings to tell it you've gone to sleep or woken up, unlike competitors including FitBit and the Jawbone UP.
Finally, the Habit Cards include good sleep practices to aim for, like having a consistent time that you go to sleep and wake up.
Here are their official releases on the January 2014 sleep feature additions:
http://www.mybasis.com/blog/2014/01/advanced-sleep-analysis-health-tracker/
http://www.mybasis.com/blog/2014/01/advanced-sleep-analysis/
In May, Basis announced that, with the help of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC), and the Northern California Institute of Research and Education (NCIRE), they've been testing the accuracy of their sleep detection against professional sleep detection equipment that's considered the best in the field. The preliminary results of this work are promising, showing that excellent correlation (r = 0.92) between the Basis estimates and the measurements from professional equipment for sleep duration and amount of time spent in each sleep stage.
Here's the Basis press release on the research: http://www.mybasis.com/sleep-validation/
And here's the full document: http://www.mybasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Validation-of-Basis-Science-Advanced-Sleep-Analysis.pdf
Below is an example of the web dashboard view and mobile dashboard view of the Basis sleep analysis feature.
It also includes a personal sleep analysis -- a weekly sleep report sent to you via email that summarizes your sleep over the past week, benchmarking that shows a rolling average of your sleep data (sleep score, Toss & Turn, and sleep interruptions). This data can help you keep track of your progress toward higher quality sleep.
This is all in addition to the features they already provide, including "sleep quality" score, sleep duration, the time of night you fell asleep bed, and time of day you awoke.
Another major benefit of the Basis sleep tracking that always been available is that it is "mode-less": you don't need to mess with buttons or settings to tell it you've gone to sleep or woken up, unlike competitors including FitBit and the Jawbone UP.
Finally, the Habit Cards include good sleep practices to aim for, like having a consistent time that you go to sleep and wake up.
Here are their official releases on the January 2014 sleep feature additions:
http://www.mybasis.com/blog/2014/01/advanced-sleep-analysis-health-tracker/
http://www.mybasis.com/blog/2014/01/advanced-sleep-analysis/
In May, Basis announced that, with the help of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC), and the Northern California Institute of Research and Education (NCIRE), they've been testing the accuracy of their sleep detection against professional sleep detection equipment that's considered the best in the field. The preliminary results of this work are promising, showing that excellent correlation (r = 0.92) between the Basis estimates and the measurements from professional equipment for sleep duration and amount of time spent in each sleep stage.
Here's the Basis press release on the research: http://www.mybasis.com/sleep-validation/
And here's the full document: http://www.mybasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Validation-of-Basis-Science-Advanced-Sleep-Analysis.pdf
Below is an example of the web dashboard view and mobile dashboard view of the Basis sleep analysis feature.
The above example shows Advanced Sleep Analysis on the Web Dashboard.
Mobile Dashboard (iOS) view of Sleep Detail
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Mobile Dashboard view of Advanced Sleep Data
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A Product that Keeps Improving
The Basis has only met with the wrists of users in mid- to late-2013. These early adopters so far have voiced appreciation for the product's packaging, clean cut design, web interface, the modeless sleep detection, and the glut of personal data the device collects.
Some feel that it's still a growing device from a growing company, and having just launched, it is a new product from a new company. But I've been impressed with how much the company has brought to the table in just the three months I've owned the Basis:
The company is open to feature suggestions, too, having queried customers for their thoughts at least once since I purchased my Basis. Many current users have voiced a desire for a more detailed device screen, a stopwatch feature, an alarm feature, tracking of calories eaten, weight tracking, and compatibility with existing fitness websites like MyFitnessPal and Lose It. I won't be surprised if I see the Basis team incorporating some of these suggestions in their software updates.
The down side? On the site forums, several users have complained that the Basis B1 seems to undercount their steps when compared to the activity trackers they already own, though others have responded that the device works accurately for them. It is unclear whether the experience of undercounting is widespread or limited to a small handful of users and whether it's based on gait, walking surface, the software algorithm, or something else.
A early users had trouble with water coming into the watch (the company happily replaced the faulty watches according to their warranty). I think it's only natural that a new company with a new product will discover a few use cases that didn't fall under their waterproof testing or will have manufacturing variation resulting in a few devices that let water in -- and I think that they'll learn from the failure points of the returned units in order to better manufacture future units.
Don't write off the Basis on account of a handful of very early users' initial bad reactions; the product and its software are quickly improving and evolving. A fuller suite of features is on the way including an API that will let the device's data interface with existing fitness websites. Be sure to keep an eye on this product as its software matures!
Finally, many have praised the company's responsive and helpful customer service, and I can attest to their friendly help as well based on my own experience.
Some feel that it's still a growing device from a growing company, and having just launched, it is a new product from a new company. But I've been impressed with how much the company has brought to the table in just the three months I've owned the Basis:
- They made an iOS app that went from showing me the basics to doing everything the web dashboard does.
- They updated their web data display charts, taking them from "wow, that's cool" to "wow, that's really cool"
- They added a software update that let the watch automatically know when you're riding a bike!
- They added the awesome BodyIQ feature that auto-tallies and displays on the watch my minutes of walking, biking and running
- They will soon be adding the Advanced Sleep Analysis, which more than patches up the one area they seemed weak in
- They even came out with a flashier and better-fitting watch design: the Carbon Steel Edition
The company is open to feature suggestions, too, having queried customers for their thoughts at least once since I purchased my Basis. Many current users have voiced a desire for a more detailed device screen, a stopwatch feature, an alarm feature, tracking of calories eaten, weight tracking, and compatibility with existing fitness websites like MyFitnessPal and Lose It. I won't be surprised if I see the Basis team incorporating some of these suggestions in their software updates.
The down side? On the site forums, several users have complained that the Basis B1 seems to undercount their steps when compared to the activity trackers they already own, though others have responded that the device works accurately for them. It is unclear whether the experience of undercounting is widespread or limited to a small handful of users and whether it's based on gait, walking surface, the software algorithm, or something else.
A early users had trouble with water coming into the watch (the company happily replaced the faulty watches according to their warranty). I think it's only natural that a new company with a new product will discover a few use cases that didn't fall under their waterproof testing or will have manufacturing variation resulting in a few devices that let water in -- and I think that they'll learn from the failure points of the returned units in order to better manufacture future units.
Don't write off the Basis on account of a handful of very early users' initial bad reactions; the product and its software are quickly improving and evolving. A fuller suite of features is on the way including an API that will let the device's data interface with existing fitness websites. Be sure to keep an eye on this product as its software matures!
Finally, many have praised the company's responsive and helpful customer service, and I can attest to their friendly help as well based on my own experience.
My Experience with the Basis Fitness Tracker
I've had the Basis B1 since early October 2013, and after about 3 months of constant daily use, I feel ready to share my reflections. My response is going to be colored by my prior familiarity with two other fitness trackers and the preferences they’ve shaped: I’ve used a Jawbone UP since January 2013, and I used a FitBit One from Nov 2012 to about December 2013. I've come back to this review and updated it periodically since then (in January 2014, and in August 2014) after wearing the Basis more, and after feature updates that Basis has rolled out.
In broad comparison to the Jawbone UP and the FitBit One, the greatest strengths of the Basis are the wide variety of detailed data it collects, the BodyIQ feature and the Habit cards, and the "Advanced Sleep Analysis Data."
Here's what I love:
Here's what I'm lukewarm on:
Here's what I wish would change:
Overall Reaction
I felt only so-so about my purchase in early October. But with each additional feature that the Basis has rolled out month by month, from Body IQ to a better app to Advanced Sleep, I've really come to treasure it! My favorite feature is the resting heart rate data; I love seeing the resting heart rate decrease over time as I get more fit. I do miss the bar charts, social "cheering" and ranked leaderboard features of FitBit, but am confident I'll keep getting happier and happier with my Basis as the company continues to expand on existing features and add new ones.
In broad comparison to the Jawbone UP and the FitBit One, the greatest strengths of the Basis are the wide variety of detailed data it collects, the BodyIQ feature and the Habit cards, and the "Advanced Sleep Analysis Data."
Here's what I love:
- I really love the heart rate data, and wish it could be used for very accurate in-activity heart rate monitoring rather than just averaged intermittent values. But I understand there are tradeoffs to make in terms of battery life, size of device, cost, and so on. Perhaps it means I should just buy a Mio Link :)
- The automatic sleep detection is great. I love not having to fiddle with buttons at night and in the morning.
- The habits cards are fun, and they work well in terms of incentivizing me to meet my goals. I wish I could add my own habits cards, too, though this may be a feature I can unlock when I achieve a higher "level", or it may be a feature they'll add.
- The interactive "Details" chart is really cool. It shows you almost minute-by-minute data for all the sensors.
- The activity tracker is very lightweight for its size. I was surprised by this when I picked it up out of the box for the first time.
- I'm a small woman with thin arms and wrists. I was very happy to see that the original band fits me and even has a notch or two smaller to go, if needed (I have the original Basis B1, not the Carbon Steel Edition). A few male and female friends commented to me that it looks large and masculine on my wrist, though I (usually) think it looks cool. It does look funny to wear it on the same wrist as my Jawbone UP, though. For those with especially tiny wrists, the new Carbon Steel Edition can fit even smaller and narrower wrists.
Here's what I'm lukewarm on:
- I like the skin temperature data, but I don't think it really tells me anything other than whether I'm outside (sudden drop in temp) or asleep under covers (high temp) or wearing a long sleeve shirt. In effect, the skin temperature is collected less for the users' curiosity and more to help the band calculate the intensity of your exercise by finding the difference between skin temperature and ambient temperature.
- Same with the galvanic response (perspiration measurement). It really only seems to tell me whether I just came out of a humid shower and whether I was working out. And because moisture gets trapped between my skin and the back of the watch, it makes the data look like I sweat for longer than I do.
- I wish the watch had come with a free white band in addition to the black band. I'd like one, but find it pricey for plastic (~$25), especially considering that the watch is ~$200.
- I like having a display on the watch face, but I wish that it didn't always revert to the time. I’d prefer if I could bring the screen to the "steps" or “heart rate” data and have it stay on that data item until I hit the button to view the next item. For me, the use case would be while running to monitor progress, or just throughout the day as a progress reminder.
- So far I only had one Basis software glitch, which is pretty good in comparison to other fitness trackers I've tried. While out on a run, the screen, backlight and buttons stopped working -- it went entirely blank. I came home and synced it in the cradle based on troubleshooting information I found on the Basis website, and that fixed it.
Here's what I wish would change:
- As cool as the detailed chart is, I'm longing to also have data presented like it is in FitBit, where I can see bar charts of my steps, calories, and other metrics by day, week, month, year.
- While you can pause most Habit Cards, there are some you can't, like the "wear your Basis 12 hours a day." I wish I could pause that one, because I know I'm going to wear it 12 hours a day. Earning points to do that seems like cheating, versus earning points for the things that are legitimate, like fitting in a 20 minute run.
- Prior to the Advanced-Sleep updates, I was underwhelmed with the sleep data. But now that the watch categorizes REM sleep and other cool things, I've found it to be much more interesting. However, it doesn't always estimate sleep correctly: a period watching a movie while being very still might be categorized as sleep, for example. Or if I wake up unexpectedly early, the Basis might not correctly notice that I went back to sleep for another hour. For that reason, I wish I could manually adjust the sleep data when it's incorrect.
- Similarly, the Basis doesn't always correctly track my time spent bicycling. It seems most likely to not notice biking when it's at a slow, leisurely pace. On the other hand, it sometimes thinks other activities -- like rock climbing -- *are* biking.
- When running or walking from place to place outdoors, the B1 captures steps on par with the FitBit One (So far, in counting my steps manually and comparing with the One, the One seems very accurate). However, I notice that the Basis misses many of the steps I make when walking more softly around the home (carpeted) at a normal pace. I once hit my 10,000 steps/day goal with the B1, only to see that I had covered 15,000 steps according to my FitBit One -- and probably more on the Jawbone UP (the UP, for me, is more likely to *overcount* wrist activity or jostling as steps).
- The FitBit One and the Jawbone UP let me override recorded data, a feature it would be great to see on the Basis, too. For example, if I'm on the subway for an hour, or on a bumpy car ride, or riding a horse, I might want to override any erroneous steps recorded during that period.
- The Basis is not very feminine. Sometimes I like the clunky, sporty, "I stepped through a time portal from 1985" look, and other times I wish it looked smaller, sleeker, and more modern. While it is usually pretty comfortable, sometimes I find it uncomfortable at night when I'm trying to sleep.
Overall Reaction
I felt only so-so about my purchase in early October. But with each additional feature that the Basis has rolled out month by month, from Body IQ to a better app to Advanced Sleep, I've really come to treasure it! My favorite feature is the resting heart rate data; I love seeing the resting heart rate decrease over time as I get more fit. I do miss the bar charts, social "cheering" and ranked leaderboard features of FitBit, but am confident I'll keep getting happier and happier with my Basis as the company continues to expand on existing features and add new ones.
LET'S BREAK IT DOWN
Features & Added Benefits
Basis has five sensors that work together to track steps, resting heart rate, activity level, calories burned, sleep (duration, times woken, quality of sleep), body temperature, and perspiration levels. As you walk, run, or bike, the watch tallies your minutes spent in each activity and shows it on the watch face. Though it does have a watch face that tells the time, it does not have an alarm or stopwatch feature.
Hardware & Wearing
The Basis has the form factor of a watch with a traditional adjustable notch-based band. A watch-like display face displays various information that you can toggle through including steps, time, heart rate, and more. It is water resistant and can be worn through showers, in the rain, or while doing dishes or other "wet" activities, but cannot be worn while swimming. While wet, the device screen locks to prevent constant toggling of the capacitive touch buttons by drops of water.
The original Basis B1 comes with a black watch strap, and you can accessorize with additional bands that are sold separately: a white strap or two different designer straps (Kaleidoscope or Electric Spring). The Carbon Steel Edition comes with its own special carbon steel strap, which is not compatible with the strap for the original Basis.
With respect to people who have nickel allergies, the metal sensors on the back of the band Basis do contain a small amount of nickel. I have a slight nickel allergy and did have a small reaction, but only when I was wearing a large number of trackers for 24 hours to compare them all against each other -- when I asked Basis about it, they did offer to let me return the Basis in original packaging for a partial refund depending on its condition. However, I haven't had a problem since then as long as I've just worn the Basis on its own. Basis responds:
The original Basis B1 comes with a black watch strap, and you can accessorize with additional bands that are sold separately: a white strap or two different designer straps (Kaleidoscope or Electric Spring). The Carbon Steel Edition comes with its own special carbon steel strap, which is not compatible with the strap for the original Basis.
With respect to people who have nickel allergies, the metal sensors on the back of the band Basis do contain a small amount of nickel. I have a slight nickel allergy and did have a small reaction, but only when I was wearing a large number of trackers for 24 hours to compare them all against each other -- when I asked Basis about it, they did offer to let me return the Basis in original packaging for a partial refund depending on its condition. However, I haven't had a problem since then as long as I've just worn the Basis on its own. Basis responds:
"All metal on the Basis band is made from a steel alloy that does contain some nickel. We've had mixed results with people who have a nickel allergy, some are not bothered at all, and others experience a minor rash. The alloy we use is 303/304 stainless steel, which you can read about here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel#Types_of_stainless_steel
Battery Life & Charging
The Basis B1 band has a rechargeable battery that can be charged via a USB cable that comes with the device. The charge lasts approximately 3 to 5 days and takes 2 to 3 hours to charge.
Data Syncing
You can sync you data manually via a USB cable provided with the product. The B1 is also bluetooth-enabled, and the company has made wireless syncing available for Android and iPhone/iOS.
Device Compatibility
You can view your data via a computer and via mobile apps on select Android and iOS devices. There is no API.
Though as of this review you can't directly access your raw data via the Basis site, at least one user has provided a how-to if you're willing to roll up your sleeves and do a little DIY: https://github.com/btroia/basis-data-export/blob/master/README.md I've tried the approach above to export all the raw data from my Basis, and did so successfully.
Though as of this review you can't directly access your raw data via the Basis site, at least one user has provided a how-to if you're willing to roll up your sleeves and do a little DIY: https://github.com/btroia/basis-data-export/blob/master/README.md I've tried the approach above to export all the raw data from my Basis, and did so successfully.
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FitBit Zip Review
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Header photo by gregralich, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Product feature photos courtesy of the Basis press kit.
Header photo by gregralich, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Product feature photos courtesy of the Basis press kit.
