Jay Wicks
Sleep, it’s a wonderful thing.
I’ve tried tracking the quality of it through numerous apps and have found them all useless. When Activ8rlives asked me to try out their Activity Tracker the BuddyBand2, with its sleep tracking ability, I jumped at the chance.
I’ve been using the BuddyBand2 for 10 days to see what kind of sleep I’ve been having and with it being National Sleep Month, what better time to try it out.
The tracker itself is simple, a LED screen with a touch button for functionality. What more, if you’re not keen on the belt clip, you’ve various different watch straps to choose from: baby pink and blue or black (which was my preference).
Once set up (which was easy enough with the Android app), I was able to put the BuddyBand2 on auto-sleep at 11 pm, which worked perfectly as I’m usually in bed by that point, but you can tell the tracker to ‘go to sleep’ by holding the action button for 3-seconds.
So, when asleep the watch is able to track the amount you move whilst sleeping. When in a deep REM sleep, you’ll be still, and when restless you’re either coming out or going into another REM cycle (which lasts around 90 minutes).
Since using the watch, I haven’t had a night with a sleep quality less than 80% – it’s so reassuring that I’m actually getting a decent night’s sleep. Thanks to the Android Activ8rlives4 Wellness & Food Diary app, I’m able to go back and see the detailed analysis of my day.
In terms of deep sleep, I’m getting between 7 and 8 hours sleep per night, with bedtime of around midnight and awake time around 7.45am every day which works well for me (albeit a little rushed in the morning).
Overall, the tracker has been perfect for tracking sleep, but also my activity in the day, with steps, calories and distance all measured as a matter of course, which for me is just an added bonus. At just short of £50, it doesn’t even break the bank! You can buy directly from Activ8rlives here.
http://www.jaywicks.com/tech/review-activ8rlives-buddyband2/