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• Sachin Bahal

Using the Amazon Halo band in Canada

It seems like every major tech company is getting into fitness trackers and the latest company to do so is Amazon with their Halo Band. 

Setup


To get started with the Amazon Halo band, you’ll need the companion app for Android or iOS. 


Since the device isn’t available for purchase in Canada, you’ll need a U.S. Google account or Apple ID to download the app. After you’ve downloaded the app, open it and follow the steps to set up your Halo band. 

Using the Amazon Halo band


The Amazon Halo is fairly simple in its design. Unlike other fitness trackers, the Halo band doesn’t have a screen but it does have a heart rate monitor on the back and a side button to mute the mic. 

Battery life is around a week or so but less if you have the mic on detecting your tone every day. But the charging cradle is fairly chunky and is much larger than the band itself. 

The Halo band’s strap is made from fabric and is comfortable to wear and comes in multiple sizes and colours. There is also a silicone sport band available. 

The biggest selling point of the Amazon Halo is that it can detect your tone of voice (using the built-in mic) and tells you if you’re one of four categories:

  • High Positivity & High Energy (i.e. Amused, delighted, excited etc.)
  • High Positivity & Low Energy (i.e Content appreciative, caring etc.)
  • Low Positivity & Low Energy (i.e Reserved, discouraged, worried etc.)
  • Low Positivity & High Energy (i.e Displeased, irritated, enraged etc.)

The app can then show your what percentage your tone is and even show what time of day that you’re most positive and highest energy. When I tried the tone feature, the app would only show that I had a neutral tone, even if I changed how I talked. 


If you prefer to not use the tone feature, you can turn off the mic but holding down the side button. Just like other fitness trackers, the Halo can track steps, activity, sleep, heart rate.

The Amazon Halo app is split into four sections, Data, Discover, Live and Settings. 

Data shows your stuff like activity, sleep tracking, tone stats and Body Scan. The Body Scan feature is one that not all users are going to like. 

Basically, the app will have you take a series of photos of yourself in your underwear to create a 3D model. This 3D model will be used to calculate your Body Fat %. After doing it, it is a bit creepy. Amazon says the body scans are processed in the cloud by machine but then are deleted. But if you don’t feel comfortable with the Body Scan feature, you don’t have to use it. 

Discover is where you can find At-home workouts, guided meditations, sleep sounds, and other ways to stay healthy. Some programs available are from companies like Lifesum, SWEAT, and Headspace.

 

Live shows your current heart rate or tone in real-time. And settings is where you can change the band settings, manage your Halo membership. 

With the Halo Membership you get: 

  • Body Scan
  • Tone Detection
  • Activity Score
  • Activity Intensity
  • Sleep Score
  • Sleep Stages
  • Labs (i.e experimental features)

Without a Halo Membership, you still get access to the following: 

  • Steps
  • Heart Rate
  • Live Heart Rate
  • Calories
  • Activity Sessions
  • Time Asleep
  • Time Awake
  • Sleep Temperature
  • Labs (Limited)

The Halo Membership is free for the first six months and then renews at $3.99 USD per month. If you want to cancel, you’ll need to contact Amazon US customer service. 

In Summary

In the end, the Amazon Halo band is just another fitness tracker with one unique feature (the tone detection) that works but isn’t that useful. Another thing to keep in mind is the Halo membership on top of the band’s price. 

Where to Buy: 

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