Back in 2020, thefitness trackermarket already felt overcrowded. But Amazon is not a company to shy away from a fight, and it nonetheless decided to dive right in, introducing a whole bundle of products and corresponding services. Its decidedly unusualHalo Banddidn’t have a screen, and instead focused on rather unique features (that maybe verged on gimmicky), like its ability to map body fat and analyze your vocal tone with the help of AI. Fast-forward to 2023, and these embellishments haven’t proven enough for Amazon Halo to find its place in the market and thrive. As a result, last monthAmazon decided to kill Halo— a call that was a long time coming, if not from day one.
Getting the basics right isn’t that easy
The Amazon Halo Band didn’t want to be a replica of every other budget fitness tracker out there. To stand out from the crowd, it shifted its focus away from basic step-tracking to features intended to scan body fat and analyze what your voice sounds like to others: delighted, sad, or whatever else the Band thinks is right.
While all that sounds futuristic andmaybeeven a little appealing, these two features quickly turned a bit creepy when you considered that the body analysis demanded you take photos of yourself in your undies and upload them to the cloud. Even though Amazon assured users of its commitment to privacy-preserving measures, like purging your data immediately after processing, that didn’t do much for people not comfortable handing such photos over to Amazon (or any other company, for that matter) in the first place.
Some angles of Amazon’s approach made more sense than others. How it calculates your activity level actually sounded pretty reasonable if you’re just starting out with your workout journey. Instead of nudging you to hit a certain daily number of steps or exercise hours, Amazon Halo devices gave you weekly goals. Different kinds of activities earned you points towards a weekly total of 150,as recommended by the American Heart Associationfor your overall well-being.
Maybe the area where the Halo Band andHalo Viewscored the weakest was their limited metrics available for even basic workouts. For instance, the devicescouldn’t track distance and pace when walking or running, even while connected to your phone’s GPS, which is crucial data to have. Amazon’s trackers were also quite limited in their number of supported workout types, while options from Fitbit and Apple track are far more flexible with their tracking, right out of the box. Given these shortcomings, Amazon’s body fat and tone analysis could only take Halo devices so far.
You want me to pay a subscription forwhat?
Fitness brands are nothing short of inlovewith the idea of paid subscription plans these days, packed with extra paywalled features — so why shouldn’t Amazon? The company even undercut its competition by offering a plan that cost just $4 a month, compared to the $10 you might pay elsewhere. But as it turns out, trying to make a subscription palatable just by having a low price alone wasn’t enough.
Amazon generously included one year (or six months, depending on the model) of Halo membership with the purchase of its devices. During your first year, you got to enjoy the full experience as Amazon intended, without missing a thing. After that trial elapsed, though, you had two options: either live without features as basic as your sleep score (along with some additional exercise insights), or start coughing up four bucks a month.
Besides stuff like workout videos, that money also got you the body fat and vocal tone analysis we’ve complained about (honestly, users were better off without those), making the subscription feel like more of an annoyance than a truly helpful add-on. Amazon did attempt to course-correctby bringing sleep scores even to non-members, but it was too late by then.
Considering the Halo trackers weren’t that useful on their own, did it even make sense to pay an extra monthly fee? Amazon’s decision to shut down the Halo division should provide a clear answer to that.
Amazon could learn a thing or two from Apple
Comparing a fitness band to a smartwatch is like comparing an orange to, well, an apple. Even though Apple doesn’t make its own fitness band, and the cheapest Apple Watch SE starts at $250,it sells more fitness trackers than any other company— and not just in the US, but worldwide. That says a lot about the things that people are looking for in their fitness trackers and the balance they’ll accept from drawbacks — Apple’s battery life can’t compete with the likes of Fitbit, and Qi-compatible charging would be a nice option.
But more importantly — and as much ironically — Apple doesn’t arm-twist you into coughing up a monthly fee by locking basic features behind its Fitness+ subscription. All Watch features, including workout metrics and scores, are available right out of the box. If you do choose to pay for Fitness+, that offers real value-adds, like a guided exercise program for yourself.
Even without Halo you’ve still got plenty of options
While iPhone owners have a couple of expensive smartwatches to choose from, one perk of the Android ecosystem is the sheer number of options at your disposal that are not only good, but also cost much less. Budget trackers like theMi Band 7get you all you can ask for from a fitness band — and no, you don’t need to pay a monthly fee for basic tracking, with everything already included in its affordable $50 price tag.
Among thetop fitness bands, you could always go for our favorite, the Fitbit Inspire 3, which offers a far better package than the Halo View for a similar price and without any unnecessary gimmicks. It’s capable of measuring all your key workout metrics, and is light enough to be worn all day and night — plus its battery lasts for days, not hours.
If you’re inclined to get a proper full-featured watch to go with your Android phone, Samsung makes some of thebest Android smartwatchesout there. you may even use the money Amazon refunded for your Halo hardware purchase to treat yourself to aSamsung Galaxy Watch 5(or maybe the olderGalaxy Watch 4if you can snag a tempting deal). Ultimately, you’ve got plenty of options, regardless of what you’re looking for — even without Amazon Halo hardware among them.
Fitbit Inspire 3
Coming from Fitbit, the Inspire 3 is far better than the Amazon Halo View at doing what it is supposed to. You get a compact, lightweight build for all-day usage, a nice color touchscreen, and a feature-packed companion app. And you don’t necessarily need to get the Fitbit Premium subscription to make the most of the Inspire 3.
