Only since going away with Nike back in September have I actually showed an interest in fitness trackers… other than my TomTom Running Watch, which I have always loved!
I used the Nike Fuel Band for a while, but for reasons unknown I just stopped wearing it. A couple of weeks ago I was given a Misfit Shine fitness tracker to review and have been addicted to it ever since. The Misfit Shine has so much to offer; here’s a breakdown of what it promises and then we’ll move on to my thoughts…
- Waterproof to 50 meters
- Watch function
- Tracks steps, swimming, cycling and sleep
- You can wear it almost anywhere on your body
- Battery operated, so no charging required
- Compatible with both iOS and Android
So, did it live up to the hype?
The Misfit Shine works best if the activity you’re doing is more cardio based, as from my experience over the past couple of weeks it doesn’t pick up on resistance/weight training. Below are two screen shots; the left is on a day when I did yoga and circuit resistance training and totally worked my butt off, the one on the right was last Sunday when I went for a short 2 mile run, followed by a walk around the park.
As you can see the Misfit Shine was LOVING my running and walking, but didn’t love my yoga and weights as much. Unless you wear a heart rate monitor, like Polar, you’ll find that this is the case with most other fitness trackers, so in the grand scheme of things the Misfit Shine is doing a marvellous job!
I’m not big on swimming or cycling, so I didn’t get to try it out for that, but as friend of mine has one and apparently she hits her daily target by just doing one spin class.
With any fitness tracker there’s the guilt factor. It’s 9pm on a Monday night, you’re at home, reading your book, but oh no, you’ve only reached 75% of your Misfit Shine target. Some people will be fine with this, but a few nights ago, this exact scenario happened to me, so I put my trainers on and went for a power walk, followed by hill sprints. I’d had a busy day and had already completed a 30min abs workout, but the Misfit Shine wasn’t able to pick up on that. I’m not complaining though, I loved having that little push to get outside in the fresh night air!
That being said, once you’ve synced your Misfit Shine you can go into the app and edit details about your day, for example you might want to log that between 8am and 9am you were doing a fast yoga flow class.
The other feature that I love is the sleep tracker, although at times it has angered me! Ha. Not because the Misfit did anything wrong, but because I knew I hadn’t slept well and the Misfit Shine just confirmed that… 1:50 hours of restful sleep. NOT COOL!
Like I said at the beginning of the post, there’s something about the Misfit Shine that becomes a little addictive. The first thing I think about now when I wake up is “I wonder how much sleep I got, better sync my Misfit Shine”, but I quite like the fact that it’s now a big part of my day and it definitely helps me stay more active throughout the day. I work from home most days, tapping away at my laptop, so since having this I’ve been much more conscious of needing to be up and about.
If I have any niggles about it, it would be that I look like a bit of a muppet when I sit there trying to double tap the Shine to see my progress, as it can take a few attempts to get right! Oh and the syncing every morning – it always seems to work on the third attempt. Other than that, it’s a keeper. I’m looking forward to getting a bit more advanced with it, connecting with friends via the app (I’m a little competitive) and also pairing it with MyFitnessPal and MapMyFitness.
I’m not hot on weighing myself, as I personally just like to work on how I feel rather than a number, but those that want an even more thorough tracker can use the weight goal tab and also link to an app called ‘Lose It!’.
As an all-round fitness tracker, the Misfit Shine is definitely one of the best out there and why wouldn’t it be when they have former Apple executives working on the algorithms!
Now, IT’S GIVEAWAY TIME!
Imperfect Matter has teamed up with Misfit UK to giveaway three coral coloured Misfit Shine activity trackers, and you can be in with a chance of winning one by entering on either Twitter or Instagram… or both if you want an extra chance of winning!
How to enter:
- Follow @CatMeffan on Instagram and Twitter
- Follow @MisfitUK on Instagram and Twitter
- Repost the Instagram photo on my profile about the competition using the hashtag #ImperfectMatterxMisfit telling us your favourite way to stay active. Please be sure to ‘@’ both @CatMeffan & @MisfitUK
- Retweet my competition tweet and follow both @CatMeffan & @MisfitUK
Terms & Conditions
- The competition is open to UK residents only
- Competition opens 7am Friday 21st November
- Closing date Sunday 30th November at 11pm
- Winners announced December 1st
GOOD LUCK! x
