I wore 4 wearables on my left arm, and 8 on my right arm, to understand how they might vary with regard to number of steps walked and calories burned during the day. After repeating this test a number of times, the variances are still being displayed, suggesting that results from these devices do vary in the real world, and are not down to chance during my testing.

1. Real World Test
Activity tracking using 12 wearables
17th Feb 2016
Maneesh Juneja

2. Disclosure
• I have no commercial ties to any of the companies that make the
wearable technology used in this test
• All of the devices were purchased by me using my own funds
• My views expressed are my own

3. 12 devices.
4 smartwatches. 8 activity trackers.
From Left to Right
Huawei Watch
Microsoft Band 2
Basis Peak
Apple Watch
From Left to Right
Mi Band 1S
Fitbit Flex
Misfit Flash
Moov Now

4. Background
• The majority of the population are yet to use a wearable to track activity
• Insurers, employers and healthcare systems may be experimenting with
using basic data obtained from wearables
• My objective is to test the accuracy of wearables in terms of walking
(steps, miles walked, calories burned)
• This is a real world test, not a clinical trial
• Needs to be repeated & results validated
• Measurements may vary because the device is not closest to the wrist. I
will have to repeat the test later, but swapping the position of devices on
each arm
• Need a baseline for reference – mechanical German made waist mounted
pedometer has been ordered

5. Left arm (my non dominant arm) - smartwatches
• All devices worn continuously for 6.5 hours during the day
• All devices were fully charged prior to start of test
• Each device was connected by Bluetooth to the phone for duration of test
• Basis Peak, Microsoft Band, and Huawei watch paired with Samsung
Galaxy S6 Edge +
• Apple Watch paired with iPhone 6+
• All devices are were touching my skin (some use heart rate monitoring
for calorie burned algorithm)
• My exact date of birth (or year and month), weight (108kg), height (6’2”)
entered in apps for all devices

6. Right arm (my dominant arm) - information
• All devices worn continuously for 6.5 hours during the day
• 4 different models, but wearing 2 identical products of each model
• In addition to comparing with the smartwatches on my left arm, I’m interested whether the
identical products also produce identical results
• 4 devices connected by Bluetooth to iPhone 6+
• 4 devices connected by Bluetooth to Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+
• All 8 devices were touching my skin
• My exact date of birth (or year and month), weight (108kg), height (6’2”) entered in apps for all
devices
• In Fitbit app, dominant arm as a location selected
• In Mi Band app, right arm as a location selected
• In Misfit app, wrist as a location selected
• In Moov app, no ability to select location of device

7. Data from Left Arm
Full table of results from both arms in later slides

8. Huawei Watch
Basis Peak
Microsoft Band 2
Apple Watch

9. Data from Right Arm
Showing screenshots from app since the devices don’t have displays

10. Mi Band 1S (1st away from wrist) Mi Band 1S (2nd away from wrist)

11. Fitbit Flex Green (3rd away from wrist) Fitbit Flex Red (4th away from wrist)*
*Had problems syncing this evening. Will exclude from analysis.

12. Misfit Black (5th away from wrist) Misfit White (6th away from wrist)

13. Moov Now Red (7th away from wrist) Moov Now Green (8th away from wrist)

14. Q. Why are calories on Apple watch so low?
• A. Apple Watch only shows ‘active’ calories. The Health app will show
the ‘resting’ and ‘active’ calories, when added up can be compared
with other devices. I assume this applies to the low numbers from
Huawei Watch & Mi Band 1S too.
126.02+1,859.34
= 1,985.36

15. Glossary
•LA = Left Arm
•RA = Right Arm
•1W = 1st away from wrist
•2W = 2nd away from wrist
•And so on

16. Device Firmware version Steps walked Distance
(miles)
Calories burned Steps per mile
(derived)
Position
Huawei Watch 1.3.0.2421912 1,887 N/A 167 (active calories) N/A LA 4W
Microsoft Band 2 2.0.4117.0 26 R 1,732 0.93 2,081 1,862 LA 3W
Basis Peak 1.18.3.0 1,328 N/A 2.593 N/A LA 2W
Apple Watch 2.1 (13S661) 1,672 0.92 1,985 (active 126) 1,817 LA 1W
Mi Band 1S 4.15.11.20 2,505 1.10 162 (active calories) 2,277 RA 1W
Mi Band 1S 4.15.11.20 2,211 0.98 142 (active calories) 2,256 RA 2W
Fitbit Flex (Green) 81 1,839 0.89 2,054 2,066 RA 3W
Fitbit Flex (Red) 7.81 1,730 N/A N/A N/A RA 4W
Misfit Flash (Black) N/A 1,456 0.60 2,358 2,427 RA 5W
Misfit Flash (White) N/A 1,400 0.50 2.368 2,800 RA 6W
Moov Now (Red) 6.0* N/A N/A 2,141 N/A RA 7W
Moov Now (Green) 5.0* N/A N/A 2,149 N/A RA 8W
*Note: Moov app on iPhone & Galaxy are both reporting firmware as up-to-date, which is bizarre.

17. Variance between highest and lowest results
on both arms
Measurement Highest Lowest Variance (Highest-
lowest)
Percent Variance
between lowest and
highest
Steps 2,505 (Mi Band 1S – RA
1W)
1,328 (Basis Peak – LA
2W) 1,177 88.6%
Distance (miles) 1.10 (Mi Band 1S – RA
1W)
0.50 (Misfit Flash White
– RA 6W)
0.60 120.0%
Total Calories
(includes Active
Calories)
2,593 (Basis Peak – LA
2W)
1,985 (Apple Watch – LA
1W)
608 30.6%
Active Calories
(those from
activity tracked)
167 (Huawei watch – LA
4W)
126 (Apple Watch – LA
1W)
41 32.5%

18. Variance between highest and lowest results
on left arm
Measurement Highest Lowest Variance (Highest-
lowest)
Percent Variance
between lowest and
highest
Steps 1,887 (Huawei Watch –
LA 4W)
1,328 (Basis Peak – LA
2W)
559 42.1%
Distance (miles) 0.93 (Apple Watch – LA
1W)
0.92 (Microsoft Band 2 –
LA 3W)
0.1 10.9%
Calories 2,593 (Basis Peak – LA
2W)
1,985 (Apple Watch – LA
1W)
608 30.6%

19. Variance between highest and lowest results
on right arm
Measurement Highest Lowest Variance (Highest-
lowest)
Percent Variance
between lowest and
highest
Steps 2,505 (Mi Band 1S – RA
1W)
1,400 (Misfit Flash
White –RA 6W)
1,105 78.9%
Distance (miles) 1.10 (Mi Band 1S – RA
1W)
0.50 (Misfit Flash White
– RA 6W)
0.60 120.0%
Total Calories
(includes Active
Calories)
2,368 (Misfit Flash
White– RA 6W)
2,054 (Fitbit Flex Green
– RA 3W)
314 15.3%

20. Variance between Mi Band 1S on right arm
Measurement 1st away from wrist
(paired to iPhone 6+)
2nd away from wrist
(paired to S6 Edge+)
Variance (2nd away-
1st away)
Percent Variance
Steps 2,505 2,211 -294 -11.7%
Distance
(miles)
1.10 0.98 -0.12 -10.9%
Active
Calories
162 142 -20 -12.3%

21. Variance between Fitbit Flex on right arm
(test not done due to missing data)
Measurement Green model (3rd away
from wrist)
Red model (4th away
from wrist)
Variance (4th away-
3rd away)
Percent Variance
Steps
Distance
(miles)
Total Calories
Burned

22. Variance between Misfit Flash on right arm
Measurement Black model (5th away
from wrist)
White model (6th away
from wrist)
Variance (6th away-
5th away)
Percent Variance
Steps 1,456 1,400 -56 -3.8%
Distance
(miles)
0.60 0.50 -0.10 -16.7%
Total Calories
Burned
2,358 2,368 10 0.4%

23. Variance between Moov Now on right arm
Measurement Red model (7th away
from wrist)
Green model (8th away
from wrist)
Variance (8th away-
7th away)
Percent Variance
Total Calories
Burned
2,141 2,149 8 -0.4%
Active
Minutes
0 0 0 0.0%

24. Insights - Distance from wrist
• Many have suggested that the results may be affected because most
of the devices I’m testing are worn away from the expected position
on the wrist (where you would normally wear it)
• Whilst that may be true, my test is also to look at how results vary
because someone wore the device in a different way compared to
how the manufacturer recommends it be worn
• For example, a user may have jewelry, bracelet or some other kind of
wrist band already that means they put the wearable further away
from the wrist

25. Insights – Which arm?
I’m wearing the Moov Now on my right arm (dominant)
which is not what is recommended by the manufacturer
who suggest wearing it on your non dominant arm

26. 15.5 hours of restorative sleep?
• That’s what the Moov Now trackers report
• What it reports as ‘sleep’ time was actually the duration that both
devices were on the shelf, not in use
• Bizarre to see this happening, as other devices used during this test
don’t do the same thing

27. Many straps are not easy to put on
User experience begins when you attach it to your wrist. I found the easiest to
attach is the Apple Watch (light blue strap) – The worst are the Huawei watch &
the Fitbit Flex. In fact, all of the trackers on my right arm are far too fiddly when trying to
Attach to my wrist.

28. All feedback welcome
• If you have any feedback, want to share your own findings, or have
suggestions on how I could improve my testing, please do get in touch
• The best way is on Twitter @maneeshjuneja
• If would rather send me a message privately, you can email me via my
website