Misfit Shine Fitness Tracker Overview

[section_title title=Usage & Final Thoughts]

Setup and Use

The Shine is incredibly easy to set up. Once you have used the supplied tool to open the case and fit  the CR2032 battery (which supposedly lasts up to two months), the device then needs to sync with the app on either an iPhone4S or Android 4.3 (Jellybean) device. When successfully paired and synced you can create goals or track activities in the app, although the features are fairly limited and there is no way to port the data to another service like MyFitnessPal or even cross sync between iOS and the Android app. Whilst the features my be sparse, it is incredibly easy to use:

The Shine it fairly accurate at measuring the paces you take – I found it very hard to fool it by just shaking my arm or imitating the swinging motion. Typically the app is setup so you need 1000 points to achieve your goal, and in wearing the device I only actually achieved this once, when I went on a 4 mile walk, which is odd as I only got a quarter of the way around when I played several games of squash. To check the status of the device you just have to tap the face of the Shine twice and it will portray your progress by lighting up the necessary points. After showing you your progress it will then display the time, and it does this by dimly lighting up the points 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock, and then the current hour will light up brightly, followed by the nearest 5 minute increment, followed by up to 4 flashes to indicate the exact minute – so 10.37 will show as the 10th dot lighting up, followed by the 35 minute light, which flashes twice.

The Shine can also monitor your sleeping patterns, which you activate by tapping 3 times , which will then flash to indicate it is activated. I’m guessing the deep sleep is tracked by next to zero movements, which did seem to correlate correctly with me getting a good night sleep and a longer deep sleep time. All of the information tracked is available too see fully on the app, so you have to sync it each time. The iOS app is much more polished than the Android version, which is a shame as both apps should have the same functionality – although I have been told that an Android update is on the way.

I did love the fact that the device was fully waterproof, so I could wear it whilst swimming or in the shower and not have to worry about damaging it – something not all the other wearable fitness devices have.

Final Thoughts

Overall the Misfit Shine is a lovely, sleek looking device, which is very easy to use and encourages you to hit your goals. The progress tracking is a great way to see how you are doing and just prompts you to do that little bit more – walk instead of drive etc. The Shine is heavily form over function however; the app is very limited in terms of features, there is no GPS tracking or the ability to port the information to a third party app like MyFitnessPal, which I personally think is a big disappointment – although this is currently the issue with Android and I have been informed of an impending update that should add more features to it.  For the money it does seem like you are paying a lot for the aesthetics, as opposed to the amount of features, however if you’re not fussed by the limitations and just want a gorgeous looking and easy to use fitness tracker, then the Shine should by all means be considered.