THE pandemic has caused a lot of stress to many people as a result of staying at home and having lack of exercise. This may not be good for your health in the long term.However, if you have a device that can help monitor your health like stress level, blood oxygen, heart rate, the regular daily steps count, as well as a range of specific types of exercises. Besides that, there are also the new ECG app, an on-wrist skin temperature sensor, and a six plus days of battery life. For me, having a long battery is key as it saves you from bringing the charger on a short trip. The watch is aso equipped with GPS and a heart rate sensor.
Design
Fitbit Sense is one of the best looking smartwatches in the Fitbit line. The not-too-big screen with a fine gold steel band surrounding the display, and without any knob dial, gives it a clean, yet exclusive look and feel. The quick release strap makes it easy for users to ally the various styles of straps on the Sense. Hence, making it a fashionable smart watch to wear. Being Fitbit's most powerful and intelligent device to date, the Fitbit Sense features a new design language that is inspired by the human body, combining friendly silhouettes and a graceful form with purposeful materials. Besides that, the watch is water resistant up to 50 metres, while the biosensor core within has been configured to house the most sensors of any Fitbit device, while maintaining a sleek aesthetic and long battery life. The watch display is made of AMOLED which features an integrated ambient light sensor to automatically dim the screen for easier viewing, along with an optional always-on display mode.However, I feel the display is a bit small compared to competitors' brands, but display size preference is subjective to individual users. You can customise widgets, redesign notifications and on-screen apps for a cleaner look.
Features and performance
One of the reasons people wear smart and health watches is the ability of these devices to give them what the smartphone cannot.Basic things like counting daily steps can be done easily with a smartphone, but if you want more, like monitoring your stress, blood oxygen, ECG, then a smart watch like this Fitbit Sense will do the job. I particularly like the new EDA sensor on Fitbit Sense measures electrodermal activity responses. This sensor is designed to measure your stress level, as many people are feeling stressed doing work from home. While it may sound not important, stress is actually a global issue, with one in three people experiencing a lot of worry or stress, as well as psychological and physiological symptoms caused by stress.
Over time, the physical strain from stress can contribute to a variety of health problems if unmanaged, like an increased risk for high blood pressure and heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and mental health disorders like anxiety or depression.Therefore, having a device that can measure your stress level is good. Like other smart and heath watches, Fitbit has an app called Fitbit that gives users more insights into their fitness activities, as well as connect to the Fitbit community.
Back on the street management, the combined on-device and in-app experience with Fitbit Sense gives you insights into your body's response to stress with tools to help you manage both your physical and mental stress.
Using the EDA sensor
The new EDA sensor measures electrodermal activity responses. To use the EDA scanner, just place your palm over the face of the watch to detect small electrical changes in the sweat level of your skin.After a couple of minutes, the watch will give a report on your stress level. You'll also get to see an EDA response graph on-device and in the mobile app to gauge your progress over time and reflect on how you feel emotionally.You'll get results ranging from 1 to 100, with a higher score indicating your body is showing fewer physical signs of stress, the score is coupled with recommendations to better manage stress, like breathing exercises and other mindfulness tools.
Summary of fitness level
Another great feature about Fitbit is that it gives users access to the new mindfulness tile in the Fitbit app.Here, you can set a weekly mindfulness goal and reminders, reflect on your stress, log your mood after sessions, and meditate as a part of your mindfulness practice. If you subscribe to Fitbit's premium service, you'll get to choose from more than 100 meditation sessions from popular brands like Aaptiv, Aura, Breathe and Ten Percent Happier,13 listen to a variety of relaxing sounds from Fitbit, and see how your practice correlates with your mood over time.
Measuring oxygen level
If you download the SpO2 clock face, it will make it easeir for you to track your oxygen saturation levels while you sleep. This app could indicate how difficult or easy it was for you to breathe during the night. Available for free to all Fitbit smartwatch users in the Fitbit App Gallery, the clock face will show you your nightly average SpO2 percentage on your wrist after you wake up in the morning.Fitbit Sense also combines all of the key health, fitness and smart features found on Fitbit's other smartwatches, including on-board GPS, 20 plus on-device exercise modes, SmartTrack automatic activity tracking, Cardio Fitness Level and Score, and advanced sleep tools. Besides that, the device also allows you to stay connected with a range of smart features for added convenience, including a built-in speaker and microphone to take calls and reply to texts with voice commands, 21 choice of Amazon Alexa or Google voice assistants, seven contactless payments, apps and clock faces and more.
Conclusion
If you're looking for an all-rounder fitness watch that can give you all the information and guidance on your health journey, the Fitbit Sense is a great option. The device is priced at RM1,498 and comes with a free six-month trial of Fitbit Premium.