While this could be motivational for some, it's hard not to see this feature and worry about how people with anorexia or a body dysmorphic disorder might react. The 3D scan can then be adjusted to show what you might look like if you gain or lose weight. The microphone can be muted by pressing a button, or you can not opt in to the feature in the first place if you don't want to use it at all.Īmazon says data related to the 3D body scans and your tone of voice are stored locally on the Halo and your smartphone, and never touch the company's servers (once the scan has been created). The other headline feature setting the Halo apart from any Fitbit is how it uses a microphone to listen to the tone of your voice – intermittently throughout the day – and estimate your emotions. The company claims this system is more accurate at estimating body fat percentage than any smart scale you might have in your bathroom. Once returned to your phone, the data is deleted from Amazon servers, and Amazon says the photos remain there for no more than 12 hours in total. The first of these uses the camera of your smartphone to take four photos (front, back and both sides), which are then uploaded to Amazon's server, turned into a 3D scan, and analyzed using artificial intelligence to determine your body fat percentage. The stand-out features included in the subscription (which has nothing to do with Amazon Prime) are the ability to create 3D body scans to estimate your body fat percentage, and a system that uses a microphone to listen to the emotion in your voice.Ī 3D body scan is created using four smartphone photos Amazon Speaking of monthly subscriptions, most of the Amazon Halo's features require a $3.99 fee, otherwise it turns into a simple activity and sleep tracker. The Inspire 2 cannot record temperature at all. ![]() The new Fitbit Versa 3 smartwatch can do this too, but it's part of Fitbit's $9.99-a-month Premium service. One key difference is how the Halo calculates your average body temperature at the time you wake up each morning. Sleep tracking is present on both wearables, but the Halo again seeks to avoid over-analysis and instead presents its data in a simpler way. To flag up certain types of exercise, you need to enter the data manually in the companion smartphone app (for iOS and Android). We'll then switch sides and look at how the screen-less Halo stacks up to the more feature-packed Apple Watch.įitbit (and just about everyone else in this market) provides live data on steps, distance and activity, to be digested daily and constantly improved upon.īoth devices can spot the intensity of your activity, but where the Fitbit can automatically recognize the type of activity or exercise you're doing, the Halo can only identify walking and running, then spot the differences between light, moderate and intense activity. We're going to look at the Fitbit Inspire 2, as it is equally new, costs the same as the Halo ($100), and has a more compact display than Fibit's other smartwatch-like products. But Amazon is keen to stress how it has built Halo and its features with user privacy front-and-center.įirst, the parallels between Amazon Halo and Fitbit. The latter may sound positively Orwellian, especially coming from a company who tasked contractors with listening to Alexa recordings of Amazon Echo owners without their knowledge. Best fitness trackers for sensitive skin 2020.To compete against the Apple Watch and Fitbit-like devices already on the market, the Halo covers the activity- and sleep-tracking basics, but also strives to be different by estimating body fat percentage via your smartphone camera, and analyzing your emotional state by listening to your voice. ![]() ![]() Amazon today revealed its first health- and fitness-tracking wearable, called the Halo.
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