Not another fitness band!  Surely fitness bands are everywhere, coming in all forms and sizes, but I never thought that I’d be practically inseparable from this seemingly humble device that is the Soleus GO.

I had been wearing the Soleus GO practically all the time for the past two months and I just love it!  I even wear it more than I do my eyeglasses.  In fact, the only time I get separated from this device is when I’m charging it.  And yes, it is water resistant so I can take it to the showers with me.  But before anything else, here are Soleus GO’s specs and features:

With all these features, most useful and interesting for me are (in no particular order):

• Sleep Pattern Tracking
• Pedometer
• Wireless (Bluetooth) Syncing

I first got interested with the Soleus GO because of its sleep pattern tracking feature.  I’ve never had a device before that can monitor my sleep so it was worth a try.  As the nights passed by, the reports measured by Soleus GO made me more aware of my sleeping patterns and gave me some idea why on some days I felt tired despite the long hours of sleep, while on others I felt good despite the shorter sleeping hours.  The quality of sleep (deep sleep) is just as important as the length.

As a pedometer, Soleus GO is one of the best ones I’ve ever tried.  It records steps accurately without being too sensitive that it registers every movement you do.  This is particularly helpful since Soleus GO is wrist-based so it is more prone to movements than those placed on waists.  As for me, a pedometer is more useful than a GPS device for my daily routines as a pedometer can monitor how much you’re walking throughout the day, regardless whether it’s indoor or outdoor, in places where GPS can’t reach.

The wireless Bluetooth syncing is just convenience at its finest.  You don’t have to plug anything, just pair it with your device and the downloadable software takes care of getting your data into your device for whatever further purposes you may want.  And since it’s pairing with a “smart” device, Soleus GO gets “smart” too as it gains capability to get weather and temperature readings (if your smart device is online).  But the feature that surprised me most on how Soleus GO used Bluetooth is its ability to become a second screen for your notifications.  You should remain connected with your device for this to work though so your battery life may suffer a bit.

On the downside though, the phone software that Soleus GO leaves a lot to be desired, but it does its job.  The software is anything but intuitive so you should try tapping along in places you don’t expect to find buried features.  To be honest, I only use this software when I absolutely have to get my past read outs from the device.

Tip: Press and hold the S1 (the one with a single dot, ○) button to quickly toggle Bluetooth on/off

As a wearable device, Soleus Go is pretty comfortable and very secure.  This is one of the reasons I don’t mind wearing it all the time.  It is quite narrow so it doesn’t feel hot on the wrist, and it’s very light so you’d eventually forget it’s there.  And as I mentioned earlier, it is water resistant so you can take it with you while taking a shower (which is a good time to wash it as well).

Pros:

• Comfortable
• Lightweight
• Good pedometer
• Sleep pattern tracking
• Wireless data transfer
• Notifications from paired device
• Bright screen
• Excellent battery life

Cons:

• Difficult to press buttons
• Phone app

As you can see from my list above, there are only two “Cons” that I find with Soleus GO, a hardware and software issue.  The physical buttons on the Soleus GO is made of rubber and pressing it is anything but easy.  Oftentimes I have to use my nail to press it but since it’s made of rubber, it can be a bit of a concern.

Tip: You can simulate an S1 (○) button press on the Soleus GO by shaking your wrist at least twice.

On the software side however, Soleus could’ve provided a more “inspiring” look for its app.  It simply looks awkward on the iOS platform, but looks aside, it’s simply not that intuitive.  I didn’t even know that you can open your past records until I accidentally tapped areas I didn’t know were functioning as buttons!  The amount of customizations or settings you can adjust from the software is quite limited, and the “clear data on device” button does not work.

If I could add one more “opportunity” for improvement, it would be better use of the limited screen real estate on the Soleus GO.  Notifications for instance, is limited to 20 characters and is displayed scrolling horizontally using a font size that’s the entire height of the screen.  For one, if your notification contained sensitive information like passwords or account numbers, everyone around you would see as it’s too big for privacy (which is why I keep Bluetooth off on my Soleus GO to prevent this).  It also takes a while to see the entire 20 characters due to the width of the screen.  In my opinion, a longer character limit with smaller font shown on two lines scrolling vertically would be much more useful in terms of viewing information faster and privacy reasons.  Or make it a user option.

Tip: If you’re having trouble pairing your device via Bluetooth, try resetting your Soleus GO by pressing and holding the S1 (○) and S2 (○○) buttons at the same time, and then retry.

In the end, Soleus GOs downsides are far outweighed by its benefits.  It is excellent as a wearable device because of its comfort, excellent as a pedometer because of its ideal sensitivity, and it is excellent as a watch because of its very long battery life.  Since I keep Bluetooth off to avoid sensitive information from my phone’s notification from being broadcasted in public, not only do I save my phone’s battery life, I also extend Soleus GO’s by many folds!  It runs a week on a single charge with regular use and Bluetooth constantly on and paired with a device, turned off it runs for weeks, no kidding!  My more than two months (and counting!) of wearing it practically 24/7 is enough testament on how much I love and recommend Soleus GO!  It is a good product for both runners and walkers alike for monitoring their daily metrics.

Soleus GO! is available at L TIMESTUDIO and TIMEGEAR boutiques and has an SRP of ₱7,450.

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