Moov Now: An activity tracker with a brain (hands-on)

Moov Now: An activity tracker with a brain (hands-on)

Until recently, the only activity tracking I was really doing was through the Health app on my iPhone. I write about wearables from time to time, and have dabbled in the tracking universe, but never felt the need to commit to any one device for personal use. That said, the time I spent with Moov’s new Moov Now device provided me with clarity and flexibility in my workouts and daily activity that I haven’t experienced with other wearables.

Moov Now is small. The device itself is about the size of three quarters stacked on top of one another and sits inside of a lightweight silicon band that can be worn around your wrist or ankle. It’s comfortable, light, and I hardly notice it’s there. The size is deceptive, though, because the core is the mastermind behind some seriously powerful fitness programs in the corresponding Moov app (iOS and Android). It’s also far more advanced than the entry-level trackers that focus on steps or time spent idle.

“The Moov is one device that powers ten different programs with 200 different levels and variations,” says Moov co-founder Meng Li, “so the content itself is much richer and you get a lot of different ways to exercise within Moov, rather than just counting your steps.”

There are plenty of wearables that are designed for daily use — the ones that track activity passively and report on steps, calories, distance, etc. Moov’s Daily component does something similar, tracking the amount of time you spent active and estimating how many calories you burned (both active and passive). It also tracks your sleeping habits and breaks sleeping time into a “restorative sleep” subcategory.

The daily tracking is helpful, and I really appreciate on the days when I can’t squeeze in a run — I still want to know how much I manage to get up and move around. That said, Moov Now isn’t necessarily for folks who are just looking for daily tracking. It presents many of the same metrics as Fitbit and Jawbone wearables, but it’s designed to be an active wearable — one that’s meant for training and activity, rather than just keeping track of how many flights you climb on your way up to your office and back down again.

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