With yesterday's announcement of Microsoft's brand new fitness Band we thought it was time to see how it stacks up against its competition. We compared it to the Samsung Gear Fit, probably one of its closest competitors.
But we also took a look at the Fitbit Surge and the Apple Watch, both upcoming products that do some of the same things the Microsoft Band does. Check out the full spec sheet below.
| Microsoft Band | Apple Watch | Samsung Gear Fit | Fitbit Surge | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design | Band | Square Watch | Band | Square Watch |
| Removable Band | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Screen | 1.4" TFT | 1.5/1.65" | 1.84” Super AMOLED | 1.25" Monochrome LCD |
| Resolution | 320 x 106 px | ? | 432 x 128 px | ? |
| Battery | 2x 100 mAh Li-ion | ? | 210 mAh Li-ion | Li-ion |
| Battery Life | 2 days | 3-4 days, up to 5 | up to 7 days | |
| Charging | Charging dock | Charging dock | Charging dock | Proprietary cable |
| Charge time | ? | ? | 1-2 hours | |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 4.0 | Bluetooth 4.0 | Bluetooth 4.0 | Bluetooth 4.0 |
| GPS | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Water resistance | IP 54 | ? | IP 67 | IP 68 ( 5 ATM) |
| Notifications | Calls, Text, Social, Rich* | Calls, Text, Social, Rich* | Calls, Text, Social, Rich* | Calls, Text |
| Actionable | No | Yes | Yes | Music controls |
| Voice | Cortana | Siri | No | No |
| Haptic feedback | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Heart tracker | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Accelerometer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Gyro | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Skin temp | Yes | No | No | No |
| UV | Yes | No | No | No |
| Galvanic | Yes | No | No | No |
| Compatibility | Windows, iOS, Android | iOS | Galaxy Android** | Windows, iOS, Android |
| Price | $199 | starts at $349 | $149 | $249 |
So what do you think? Does Microsoft's Band stack up against the competition based on these specs and its cross-platform support or is the device destined to be a failure?
*Rich notifications are defined as those not listed above, including but not limited to notifications from third party apps, email, calendars, etc.
** A limited number of Samsung Galaxy devices, all running Android.
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