Amazon takes on Apple Watch with Halo fitness band that can even measure your body fat percentage
AMAZON is set to take on the Apple Watch with its new Halo health and wellness wristband and app.
The wearable fitness accessory has no display but contains a sensor that corresponds with a smartphone app.
Rumours are rife that the Apple Watch 6 will be revealed next month but there’s been some doubts over what features it will include.
Amazon Halo is essentially just a fitness sensor on a woven fabric wristband.
It comes in pink, black and silver.
There are also silicon options to choose from.
The colour of the sensor module also changes depending on what wrist strap colour you choose.
You can pick black on black, silver on silver, or pink on rose gold.
Despite its minimalist look, Amazon Halo can do a lot of the things you’d expect from a fitness tracker.
The wristband contains an accelerometer, heart rate monitor and temperature sensor.
It also has two microphones for communication and an on/off button.
Some drawbacks of the device include it not containing Alexa, GPS and the ability to message or ring people.
However, its corresponding app does have a cool 3D body scan feature that can measure your body fat percentage.
It can measure your sleep, steps and workout intensities just like lots of other fitness trackers.
Amazon Halo usually costs $99.99 (£75) but you can get it for $64.99 as part of an Early Access offer.
A more advanced version of the corresponding app will set you back $3.99 a month.
The product is currently only listed on the US version of Amazon so we don’t yet have prices for other countries.
Amazon has said that Halo was designed with “privacy in mind” when it comes to use of personal data.
What is Alexa?
If you've never heard of Alexa, here's what you need to know...
- Alexa is an “intelligent” personal assistant built by Amazon.
- You can find her on several different devices, including Amazon’s Echo speakers.
- Alexa responds to voice commands, and can talk back to you.
- She can perform thousands of different tasks, including telling you about the news or weather.
- But she can do more complex things too, like ordering a pizza or arranging an Uber taxi pick-up.
- To activate Alexa, you need to say “Alexa” to an Amazon Echo speaker.
- Alexa speaks 15 language variants, including French, Portuguese, Hindi, and Spanish.
- Because she’s powered by artificial intelligence, Alexa is constantly getting smarter.
- Alexa will also get more used to your voice, and better understand what you want her to do over time.
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