I just spent the last hour or so fitting, installing, charging and updating the software (desktop and android) as well as the new firmware. The whole process seems buggy having stalled twice. Syncing to my Samsung Note 2 Android smartphone was a pain too. Although all good once I figured out that you have to wear the Loop in order to get the Bluetooth to pair.
Color is Black Currant but it also comes in Black and Mystic Blue. The Polar Loop’s strap is custom fitted meaning you have to take the clasp off and cut it yourself. The tool to undo the clasp is included, as well as a measuring piece of paper to help you with sizing your wrist. Sounds difficult and a hassle but not too bad. Personally I like custom fitted for me stuff.
The “button” is not actually a button in the sense that there is something to depress. Its more like a button on a touch screen. A simple touch would trigger the screen to come on. See the carved oval with the line in the middle in the picture below? That’s the “button”.
I will be back with more details…
Jan. 01, 2015
Ok, so I’ve worn this activity tracker for a few days now and I can add the following info:
1) Although I haven’t swam with it on yet, I have showered and washed dishes (fully submerging the Polar Loop in warm soapy water). It’s still working.
2) Although setting up the Polar Loop to sync with my Android Phone (Samsung Note II) was a bit finnicky, as in, it didn’t go smoothly at all the actual syncing was smooth. Fire up the app, it’ll tell you to tap the button on the loop and voila it syncs. Pretty quickly too.
3) Setting up the Polar Loop to my laptop didn’t go smoothly as well (Asus Transformer, win 8.2 touch screen) but after a few tries it completed.4) The button works. I haven’t experienced it not working. The water from the shower hitting the button will activate it. It’s more of a touch button rather than an actual “raised” button.
5) When cutting the band, I would suggest not cutting exactly the numbers indicated on the “measuring tape” corresponding to your wrist size. It may not be accurate. AND or you didn’t measure the exact place on your wrist where the Polar Loop fits most comfortable for you. I cut mine 1 ‘dot’ at a time and over the course of 3 days ended up cutting more than the tape measure indicated but I love the way it fits now.
My thoughts so far:
The software is very simple. Both on the android app and on my laptop. Honestly tho, I haven’t really looked into it yet. Haven’t had the time to or feel the need to. However, I did see the “social” part of the software and I set my profile to private and hope it really is private. I don’t need to know/see anyone else’s progress/stats or whatever and I don’t want to show the world mine either.Then there’s the inactivity notification, I saw it in the Polar Flow (Android App). The literature for the app indicate that there are no “real time” notifications within Polar Flow . The notifications are by LED on the Polar Loop and audible tone from your phone. For me, I’m getting “real time” pop up notification on my phones screen but no sound and no LED flashes from my Polar Loop.
NOTE: It seems there was an update that now crashes the app when you try to get into Settings/Notifications….
Jan. 8, 2015
Charged the Polar Loop for the 2nd time a couple days ago (not too bad, every 5 or so days I think it is). Ok, after the charge / sync with my laptop, I get the inactivity LED notification. Specifically, it is a message that scrolls across the display on the Loop. It says “time to move” (something like that). Still no audible sound from my phone AND it seems my data only syncs every other day now….Not that it really matters much right now as I’m only doing cycling and light weights and yoga. Not high on arm movements thus hard for the Loop to track. I think when I recover and do a more strenuous work out, it’ll all work out maybe I’ll get the compatible heart rate monitor as well..
Get it as a set:
Jan. 21, 2015
Here we are after an update or two on the Android App, syncing the Polar Loop to Samsung Note II is hassle free. All the days sync, it connects on the first try and is done in minutes. Charging is pretty quick too. The Polar loop will display “low battery” on the display and when plugged in to charge, the battery’s capacity will be shown on the Loop’s display as a %. Without having actually timed it, from “low battery” to 100% charged, I’d say it takes around an hour. So far, the only noticeable wear and tear are the couple of scratches I got on the clasp. No fading or discoloration on the band and the silver colored trim has not faded or tarnished. All in all, I really like this band and would recommended it to people like me, who needs a visual cue and stats (for activity tracking) to break the monotony of prolonged desk work. To me it’s like playing character based mobile games but instead of “leveling up” my character, I’m actually making myself healthier!
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to drop me a note in the comments. Thanks.