The skinny on Amazon's new Halo wellness tracker
I’m not exactly sure why, but I got an email invitation to pre-order Amazon’s new Halo wellness tracker about two months ago. The details were scant, but what I saw intrigued me, so I signed myself up—with the expressed caveat that I would have to be approved. I kind of forgot about it after that, and then a few weeks ago I got the thumbs-up to order, so I plunked down $65 (the special pre-order price) and waited patiently for the early November ship date.
Once I got the notification that my Halo was on its way I got really excited. (It’s hard to find something to look forward to these days.) I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but I knew I was getting a wearable bracelet of sorts without a display—kind of like the original FitBit. But once I slapped it on, I quickly learned it was a lot more than that. After a quick set-up that involved reading several literary passages so the Halo could profile my “normal speaking” tone and entering my vitals (i.e. height and weight), I was pretty much good to go.
In terms of physical activity, the primary metrics you see first are points and steps. Points are based on intensity and duration of movement as well as heart rate. The first weekly milestone was 150 points (based on WHO and CDC activity guidelines), and I blew through that in just one 1.5-hour tennis practice. The Halo also breaks up your activity between intense, moderate and light, and you lose points for sedentary time—and you can easily see how many calories you burned with a few extra taps. Perhaps my favorite feature was that I was able to go into the app to log my tennis practice afterwards—which was always a challenge with my Apple Watch. If you like data, trust me, you get a lot of it.
The next main tile is sleep—and I can use all the help I can get in that department. It’s very similar to every other sleep tracker I’ve used, and it records the time it takes to fall asleep, the actual time your asleep, and the time spent in REM, light and deep sleep—and in the morning you get a sleep quality score. But my favorite part is the integrated “sleep labs.” I embarked on a 7-day sound bath “lab,” which has been game-changing after two nights. (Expect another post solely about sound baths, because I’m obsessed.)
There’s also a body scan feature, which I reluctantly tested. Yup, I stripped down to my skivvies and used my phone to take 360-degree photos of my body (while my husband and son were at lacrosse practice). Essentially, the next time I do one, it will highlight any changes in my body dimensions and body fat percentage.
The last, and my most favorite Halo feature is Tone (of voice, that is). Remember those literary passages I read? The Halo listens in every so often to gauge my positivity and energy—and the goal is to make you more aware of how you sound to others. Well, according to the Halo I’m a miserable bitch, since most of my “notable moments” are “aggressive,” “dismissive,” “irritated,” “discouraged,” “condescending” and “stubborn” although I’m consistently “happy” when I play tennis—go figure. (Chalk it up to a pandemic and home-schooling.) You can also tap the button at the start of a conversation for more in depth analysis, and although I haven’t tried this yet, I see the potential for highlighting interpersonal dynamics when I actually start hanging out with people other than my son and husband again.
In addition to the sound bath lab I’m currently doing, there are so many others for fitness, meditation and more. I got 6 months of free “full” service that allows me to access all of these features, and after this trial period it’s $3.99 a month. (A small price to pay for so much data—I’m such a geek.)
The band itself is super-comfy, and I really like that there isn’t a display to distract me and that I don’t have to spend time clearing notifications. This is one of the main reasons I’ve been on the outs with my Apple Watch—the constant influx of information started to get exhausting. I still look at my wrist to see what time it is (and don’t get it), but this is obviously a conditioned response that I’m sure will subside. In terms of battery life, it’s supposed to last for one to two days depending on the features you activate, and so far I’ve been able to get away with charging it when I’m in the shower.
All in all, I am SO happy I bought the Halo tracker. I’ve been wearing it for a week and I’m already obsessed. I just searched for it on Amazon and it’s still only available by invitation, but you can request early access. I have a sneaking suspicion that this will change sooner rather than later so it will be ready for holiday gifting—whether for yourself or someone else! (Go for it!)
