Polar Loop Activity Tracker Review

What an awesome piece of kit!

Having written to Father Christmas (OK, OK, we can all dream!) for an activity band, I was thrilled to get a Polar Loop to review. In fact I couldn't wait for it to arrive!

I eagerly un-wrapped the parcel and expected to have to wade through an enormous instruction booklet to be able to get started. Nothing could be further from the truth. There was a small leaflet and within minutes I was 'up and running'. (Further more detailed instructions were available online.)

The Polar Loop Blackcurrant came with a USB lead. As instructed, I attached one end to the Polar Loop and plugged the other into the computer. This 'woke' the Polar Loop up and I was prompted to set the Loop up, and to download and install Polar Flowsync. This was completed in a few minutes. I then signed up to the Polar Flow web service, entered my physical details and was ready to go!

Backtracking a little, the Polar Loop is an activity tracker and is available in three colours Smokey black, Misty blue and Blackcurrant with a recommended retail price of £84.50.

Like most activity trackers, it is a smart bracelet and is worn on the opposite wrist to the hand that you write with. All of your activity gets recorded and, at the touch of a button, the Polar Loop shows the time, daily activity goal (and what is required to fulfil that), the number of calories you've burned and the number of steps taken.

The Polar Loop is also capable of monitoring sleep patterns. It records both restful and restless sleep and calculates restful sleep as a percentage.

During exercise, it's possible to add a heart rate sensor (sold as an optional extra).

The Polar Loop is paired with a free online service and also an app (compatible with Apple iPhone 4S/5/5C/5S, iPod Touch, iPad and iPad Mini, as well as Android devices with Android 4.3 or later - for instance the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, or LG Nexus 5.)

Sadly my phone is not compatible even with the latest updates.

The Polar Loop tracks all the healthy choices made during the day and shows how they benefit your overall health. Their unique technology can track five different levels of activity and can tell the difference between light intensity walking and running. It is even possible to wear it whilst swimming and it is waterproof to 20m.

As a company, Polar have been creating wearable technology since 1977 to suit your body and sporting activities. The Loop weighs just 41g and is designed for everyone, whether you want to run faster, cycle higher, lose a few pounds or just track your daily movements for a bit of motivation.

On first opening the box there were instructions given to shorten the strap for a snug fit on the wrist. A paper tape measure was included that let you know how many notches needed to be cut from each side, though this was rather conservative as it indicated that I needed to take three from one side and two from the other. Having re-attached the metal clasp it was obvious more needed to come off.

In total to ensure the necessary snug fit, I removed five notches from each side. My wrist size is 16cms so it is a generous fit. A tool was included to remove the spring clip as was a spare spring clip.

Activity trackers are all the rage at the moment and there are several other similar products on the market. I researched a few of these and my findings about their respective functionality can be seen in the table below.

Not all features were advertised as being present on individually named items, so unfortunately I can't 100% guarantee that an 'N' means a feature is not present.

The Polar Loop states that it can be worn swimming and only one of the above mentioned this feature, so if you like a swim, that's certainly advantageous.

Overall, I feel that the Polar Loop compares well with its competitors. In particular I think you have to dismiss the the Misfit and Jawbone UP Move as they are priced at the lower end of the market and have very few features.

The Loop is the cheapest of the others I looked at, and has the same features offered by the Garmin Vivosmart that retails at an extra £45.49!

Although the distance walked is not a feature offered by the Loop itself, the number of steps walked is converted to distance when you sync. This is a shame as I am sure this must be a simple addition.

The battery life was of a concern to me. The Polar Loop has a battery life of 6 days and is charged via the USB lead attached to the computer.

After downloading the previous day's data the Polar Loop automatically starts charging. I have noticed from the display that between 10% and 20% of the charge is used on a daily basis.

I am a very active person and as soon as the weather improves will take the caravan away for a week at a time for walking holidays. The Polar Loop is able to store 12 days of data before it starts to overwrite and, as the battery is just 6 days, this could pose problems. However it's possible to overcome this by carrying a USB backup battery charger.

As I had concerns I decided to do some research to compare battery life amongst other makes/models. And actually, the Loop compares fairly well to most similar products.

One issue though is that I've been wearing my pedometer alongside the Polar Loop and have noticed a huge discrepancy in the number of steps recorded.

On occasion the figure varies by about 3000 steps. The pedometer that I wear is a £20 Omron which is worn on the hip and I think this is where the issue lies.

When I took the Grandchildren for a walk in their double buggy, no steps were added to the Loop's total. I then realized that this was because my arms were still on the handle. This was also apparent when I used a treadmill to help me get to my daily goal. As I had run on it and had held the pulse meter the whole time no steps were recorded. The next time I used the treadmill I had to consciously let my left arm swing free which I found awkward.

I love the look of the Polar Loop. It is light to wear, unobtrusive and I like the colour too. It can be worn with all items of clothing without screaming "I am monitoring my activity."

I like the versatility and being able to not only have the time (something that not all of the activity trackers offer), but also know how far off my activity goal that I am.

The Polar Loop can be set to one of three levels to enable you to reach your daily activity goal. There are several ways that these levels can be achieved and remember, the Polar Loop is capable of detecting your levels of intensity.

The first level goal would take around 7 hours of standing and light household chores to achieve. Whereas you'd hit the same goal with two hours or so of walking, or just under an hour of jogging or more vigorous exercise. The highest goal would take around 50% more effort.

At present I am working at the lowest of three goals. The activity goal is an LED bar that gradually fills during the day to show how near to goal you are. It then scrolls to tell you how much time needs to be spent jogging/walking /upping activity to achieve this. Once goal is achieved, stars and goal light up in LEDs.

Having input my gender, height and weight the total calories burned includes the basal metabolic rate not just activity. I find this very useful as I do watch my weight and it is interesting to compare calories burned with what I have eaten! I look forward to downloading the data each morning and seeing the previous day's summary and it is incredibly interesting to see my sleep patterns.

I am sure that I am not as inactive as the Loop records at times! There is the option to have an inactivity alert sent to your mobile phone, but sadly my mobile is not compatible. However, since using the Polar Loop I have had less inactivity alerts than I would have expected. (These are summarised on the daily data, whether your phone is connected or not.)

I find it very motivating to see how close to goal that I am. It encourages me to move more to ensure that I reach my 'Goal'. On several days I have almost reached 200% of the target and once we start using the caravan and go off on our walking holidays I shall increase to the next level.

I am incredibly pleased with this awesome piece of technology and would certainly both buy and recommend its purchase. My husband is going to buy one for himself so that we can compete and compare!