All the activity bracelets They have become the accessory that many users wear on their wrists every day. These types of products carry a series of accelerometers that, together with the appropriate algorithms, are capable of detecting when we are walking, sleeping or doing other types of very specific activities.
Since the iPhone 5s, the Apple mobile also incorporates a coprocessor that is responsible for recording our activityAfter all, the iPhone accompanies us most of the day in our pockets or next to the table while we are working.
Is the iPhone or activity bracelets more accurate? According to a university study, iPhone 5s and Galaxy S4 are able to measure activity more realistically. In this study, in addition to the iPhone 5s and the Galaxy S4, the Nike Fuelband, Jawbone UP24, Digi-Walker SW-200, Fitbit Flex, Fitbit One and Fitbit Zip activity wristbands were used.
In the case of mobiles, a margin of 12,9% error while in the case of bracelets, the mean error was 22,7%. Of all the wristbands analyzed, the FitBit One and the FitBit Zip were the ones that recorded the data closest to reality.
As you can see, the information shown on the activity bracelets is indicative and depending on which cases, the margin of error is very large.
I have been able to experience this myself with several products of this type. The problem is that when going on the wrist, daily activities such as cooking, making the bed, even typing with the computer keyboard they generate false steps even though we are completely static in a position.
Depending on the precision of the bracelet, we can have data that is far from reality. Instead, We usually carry the iPhone in our pocket and it is not affected for these everyday tasks. If we start cooking, our legs do not move and the iPhone will not register any missteps.
Surely you have seen other types of wearables that are used as brooch on clothesSome are even put on socks. Without a doubt, these are much more reliable than the ones we wear on our wrist.
The Apple Watch will arrive in April to get ahead of this terrain. We will have to see the precision offered by the Apple Watch against this type of movement, although it will almost certainly have that high margin of error. It is very difficult to discriminate certain movements and that they are not taken into account by steps. We will wait for the first analyzes to clarify this issue further.
Current activity wristbands, which are capable of measuring heart rate, do offer a very approximate measurement of the user's reality. Although it is true that the margin of error that is discussed in the article is 22%, many of the bracelets have an accelerometer incorporated, capable of more accurately distinguishing movements.