The Compact Activity Recall Centre
Appealing to, among other people, fitness freaks, hypochondriacs and arrange a healthy living enthusiasts, a Withings Pulse might appear on a few Christmas lists this year – despite its hefty £90 price tag.
This well designed, matte black box is packed with functions for monitoring your wellbeing both day and night. It quickly hit mainstream outlets like Currys and Argos after making a first appearance in the summer. It is light – a mere 8 grams – and it just 43mm x 22 mm x 8 mm, slips easily into a pocket or can just about be worn on the wrist.
Carry it around by day and it will tell you how active you have been, how many steps you've taken, how far you've walked (including strolls to the kettle), how far you've climbed when tackling hills and stairs and will estimate your calories burned. Take it to bed and it will analyse your sleep patterns and tell you whether you are getting good quality kip to set you up for the day ahead.
Pop your finger on the back of its case at any time and you will get an instant pulse readout. All the info is displayed on a 128 by 32 pixel touchscreen with access to a full fortnight of activity history – the same duration as its battery is reputed to last before needing a recharge.
Enthusiast will want to use its Bluetooth syncing function to get their data into the with Withings smartphone App for a more in-depth analysis of the days endeavours. I am not sure though what it can do for those whose main exercise is fingers on the keyboards!
