Nike+ Fuel Band SE

This gizmo tracks how often and how intensely you move

Though Nike’s second generation Fuel Band SE looks and feels exactly as the original that was released nearly two years ago, Nike has managed to tweak a few things to make it more interesting. The first thing you notice about the Fuel Band SE is its colour trims; you can choose full black, total crimson, volt or pink foil. For an additional $20, you can go for the limited edition rose gold variant.

With the original Fuel Band, one had to spend about a minute going through various menu options to get the time. With the SE, one just have to double-click the home button. The SE’s dotted LED display changes brightness with the ambient light and is bright enough to be read in broad daylight.

The problem with the original Fuel Band was the need to recharge every second or third day. The SE takes care of that bother by increasing the battery life to over a week. Nike has also introduced Bluetooth Low Energy that allows the SE to communicate with your iPhone in real time, so no more pressing buttons or waiting for it to sync.

What has also changed with the SE is its software; now you can divide your workouts into sessions; so if you ran 5 km in the morning followed by a session of squash, the software can track each session, thus giving you better analysis on how you burn your calories and what works best for you.

The social side of the app has also changed; you can now put your friends in groups: say, a group for your tennis buddies and another for your weekend cycling friends. You can keep track of how you are performing with your friends.

The Fuel Band SE is water resistant like the first edition, but you still can’t go for a swim wearing it. And it still lags other devices on the sleep monitoring bit, on which Fitbit has managed to excel.

This device, which measures whole-body movement, is available in three sizes and is still one of the best looking wearables around.

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