Microsoft Band 2 - Medium

I've had the Band 2 for about two months now, and I have found it to be what I hoped it would be. It tracks my steps throughout the day, it tracks my runs, it tracks my sleep, it notifies me of texts and calls, and it reminds me of things. Those are the functions I've used the most.The step tracker has been very accurate for me. It tracks my steps with my hands in my pockets, while I'm carrying a suitcase, or while I'm swinging my arms freely. It does seem to need a few steps to "get going," but after that, it counts steps well.The run data is the best I've ever had, though I have to admit the only thing I've used in the past is a phone and a paired chest heart rate monitor. I didn't like having the monitor strapped to my chest, so I rarely used it. The Band is much better for me. Distance and speed both seem to be accurate. It has taken a while for the GPS to lock on usually, but I can just start and it will track my steps and then lock on to GPS after a little while.The sleep data has been great, and it has helped me learn a lot about my sleep. For example, when I go to bed late (after midnight), I have much less deep sleep, which explains that even when I sleep a fair number of hours, I don't feel as rested when I go to bed late. Also, I like that it monitors heart rate throughout the night so I can compare heart rate with sleep and wake cycles.I have missed far fewer phone calls and texts because of the Band 2 notifications. Occasionally, if I'm doing something active, I won't notice the buzzing on my wrist, but I have far fewer missed communications now. I rarely use the reply function on the Band. I mostly just notice when someone is trying to get a hold of me.Similar to the call and text functions, the reminders help keep me on task and get me to the right place at the right time. I also like being able to glance at my calendar, see what emails are coming through, and catch up on some headlines.At first, the Band was a little uncomfortable, but I adjusted to it in a few days. Now, I don't usually notice it. It is helping me to be more aware of my fitness, and it has demonstrated to me that I'm not burning as many calories each day as I thought I was. This helps explain my lack of weight loss.I didn't get a screen protector, and my screen has a few very small scratches that I can see if I hold it in the sunlight and look for them. I do not take it easy on my Band, and it is holding up really well so far.After a couple of weeks, my Band started to smell. I hadn't been wiping it down, and it was emitting a noticeable unpleasant odor (sort of like smelly feet). I was afraid I would have to take drastic measures, but I looked up the care instructions, and they just said to wipe the thing down with a towel. I was dubious, but I did as instructed, and it took care of the problem. I wipe it down each day or two now (takes about 30 seconds), and the smell has not returned.Quick tip: In lieu of a "find my phone" feature, you can use the Band to start playing music on your phone. Turn the volume all the way up, and then walk around your house trying to locate the music. I end up doing this more than I care to admit, but I save time because I don't spend much time looking for my phone.

I bought 2 of these units when they first came out - one for my wife and one for me. Mine had the infamous cracking band after a few months of use. It started splitting on the outer surface at the edge of where something hard ends in the upper portion of the band - about an inch from the screen. I don't know if it is circuit board or what, but it was not a tear from the side, the surface started splitting at the edge - moving towards the center- but only going about half way through the band to the hard piece in the band. I sent it in and they replaced it, but that is not very comforting. It will probably do it again just after the warranty runs out. For the price, that it completely and totally unacceptable.Also, I had surgery to remove a kidney - I was told to get weight down to help my remaining kidney cope better. So I wanted this band to help with that. I was excited to utilize it with MyFitnessPal for tracking exercise and food intake. The integration here is week. Too many issues with how the exercise is taken into MyFitnessPal where things just don't really sync up well. More difficult than its worth. Maybe this is a MyFitnessPal issue, or maybe not - but it doens't work well in either case and that reflects on the band.I had hoped that with the way it tracks heart rate and such, that it would track exercise well by constantly monitoring your activity - heart rate, steps, etc... But no, you have to choose an exercise or turn on/off a general exercise mode. We live in a rural setting and do a lot of odd things that are hard to track. Like, sawing wood with a chainsaw, moving/stacking log pieces, splitting firewood, stacking firewood, digging footers, mixing concrete, moving lumber, shoveling dirt, using a pick-axe to break hard dirt/rock, etc... On top of it, this stuff is full of frequent starting/stopping. I am busy doing this stuff. I don't remember to start the band/stop the band/start the band/ stop the band, etc...Sometimes I need to get to work on things around the house, but with the short battery life, many times it's not charged when I'm ready to get to work, so it doesn't get used. With having to send it in for replacement and the frequent re-charges, I just find it hard to keep in routine to have it on all the time when I need it. I can't remember to start/stop the thing 20 times a day while doing my physically demanding chores. I just think the week physical design, the week logical design, and the price all go together for a poor rating.And this is just mine. My wife has the same issues - as she helps me a lot with our chores, so getting a realistic idea of calories burned is for all practical purposes moot. Hers has not cracked in the band, but it has simply stopped working - for the second time now! I'm getting ready to send hers in again on it's second failure. It keeps doing things like saying it's battery is dead when it's plugged into the charger, when before plugging it in, it showed is had a good partial charge - like 50% or so. Or, plug it in and once it says it is at 100% charge, she disconnects it and it's dead. Or even is not all the way dead, then charged, and then disconnected - it says the battery went dead and the settings/time have to be reset. Then, finally, just dead - it won't charge and won't come on. Mine has done some of this as well, but never outright died.Again, when we bought these - that was $500. That is a lot of money to waste. At the rate they keep having failures - I have not expectation of them outlasting their warranties by any significant amount of time - and then we will simply be out this money, time, and aggravation.I absolutely do not recommend these to anyone. Even if you are a typical exercise personal dong regular workouts and can track you particular type of workouts with consistent times, etc... the hardware failures are an indication of the pending loss of your hard earned money.