On October 6, Microsoft bracelet 2 was released together with Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book. Although concealed by the light of the latter two, Microsoft's bracelet 2 is also a very special existence in the bracelet world. In addition to the curved OLED screen, the Microsoft bracelet 2 is also the wearable device with the most sensors on the earth. The heart rate sensor GPS、 Light sensor, temperature sensor, ultraviolet sensor, barometer and blood oxygen detector are all available. It is equipped with the most aggressive smart bracelet.

appearance

The left is the first generation, and the right is the second generation

The most shocking thing about this generation of Microsoft bracelet is not its numerous sensors, but its wonderful appearance. The generation without ergonomic design is one of the best in wearable devices, no matter in appearance or wearing comfort. The Microsoft bracelet 2 uses a curved screen and a metal body, and there is no strange bulge in the strap (the strap of the early generation was stuffed with a battery block), which makes the Microsoft bracelet 2 more normal and beautiful.

The two buttons on the side are also made of frosted metal, and the home key is in the middle, which is not as hard as that of a generation and bounces back quickly. The silicone material of the watch strap is very comfortable to touch. It is more comfortable to wear without a generation of battery blocks.

The length of the buckle can be adjusted at will. The aging problem of the watch strap in the first generation is expected to be improved after the batteries and sensors of the side watch strap are transferred to the buckle.

The heart rate sensor and skin electrode contacts are on the back of the bracelet.

The charging interface and UV sensor are designed on the buckle, and the acceleration sensor, GPS, etc. are inside the body.

Band width difference, first generation on the left, second generation on the right

Although it looks more exquisite, the strap of the second generation is actually wider than that of the first generation, and the ugly things are hidden in the clasp of the bracelet. The clasp thickness of Microsoft's bracelet 2 exceeds that of the first generation. This cliff is the peak of the smart bracelet and even the smart watch. The huge bulge is nearly twice as thick as the main body.

Screen display

Microsoft bracelet 2 uses a shorter but wider curved AMOLED screen+Corning Gorilla Generation 3 glass, the screen size is 32 * 12.8mm, 225PPI (320 * 128), while the first generation screen is 33 * 11mm, 247PPI (320 * 106). Although the screen is still smaller than that of a smart watch, it is far more than a normal smart bracelet (the size is also).

In terms of display effect, it may be difficult to compare with smart watches like moto360, but it is much better than smart bracelets like Fitbit Surge. But I have to mention the display direction of the screen, because the screen extends vertically and is perpendicular to the normal hand lifting direction. When reading the screen content, the most suitable wearing posture is to wear the screen toward the inside of the wrist. If you follow the normal wearing style, looking at the screen with your head tilted may induce cervical spondylosis

Wear

The original Microsoft bracelet, even though it can't fit the wrist according to the shape, is still barely wearable. With the addition of the arc screen and the body, the situation of the second generation has improved significantly, and there will be no problem of the strap battery block rubbing hands.

Tragically, though the appearance has been greatly improved, the overall wearing comfort of the second generation of Microsoft bracelet has not improved much. The main reason is that the buckles have increased rather than decreased. It hurts when you type with them. Even if you wear the smallest size, it can still hold your whole wrist up.

If your wrist is thin, the long screen of the two generations of Microsoft bracelet will still make the body wider than your wrist. If you wear it loosely, the distance between the wrist and the bracelet is enough to insert fingers, which will directly affect the accuracy of heart rate and skin electrode sensors.

However, if you wear it tightly, it will press your hand, and it will stick to your hand sweatily when you exercise, and you will have an obvious foreign body feeling when you sleep. If an excellent wearable device is intended to make people forget or unable to detect its existence, the Microsoft bracelet is absolutely negative and thick, and its sense of being "shou" is too obvious, especially when typing.

Of course, this generation of bracelets can also be worn when the screen is turned to the palm of the hand, but when typing, it is the screen that rubs the desktop. It will not only make a noise, but also be very painful

The waterproof and dustproof grade of the machine is IP67, which can last for 30 minutes at a water depth of one meter, but it is not recommended to wear swimming or bathing, which is significantly improved than that of the first generation. However, in order to reduce costs and improve the sensitivity of sensors, this trade-off is worth making.

Function and application

Although the response of the operation is slightly improved, the sliding is smoother than before, and the response of the home key is faster. But the second generation processor is the same as the first generation (MCU+64M storage of ARM Cortex M4). The system level is very close to that of the first generation. The square tiles similar to the WP system have several more color matching and customization functions. In addition, the setting of the wearing hand and the display direction has also been added. The function of lighting up when lifting the hand has also been added.

The machine can be used normally without connecting to the mobile phone. Its main function is to collect the data of 11 sensors (heart rate sensor, three-axis accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS, light sensor, body temperature sensor, ultraviolet sensor, capacitance sensor, skin response sensor, barometer) that are proud of, in addition to displaying the time.

The basic motion monitoring function has a variety of modes to choose from, such as weight loss, fitness, cycling, yoga, etc. Their usage is much the same. Before starting exercise, you should manually click on the corresponding sport type, and then you will see your own track record, running data analysis and exercise suggestions. Taking cycling as an example, after turning on motion monitoring, the bracelet will record altitude distance, exercise time, calories, GPS track record, average speed and distance, and prediction of time to recover physical strength.

The maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max) is the only function of this company. It refers to the amount of oxygen the body takes in during exercise. It is also the most accurate cardiovascular detection. The higher the number, the better the physique. After five exercises, the machine can automatically calculate and predict your various body index values, and provide many data and health suggestions for improvement. It will even guide you to better rest.

The machine has an automatic sleep monitoring function. It does not need to enter or exit the sleep monitoring manually. However, if it is stationary for a long time, it will still be recorded as sleep. It has made a small improvement. After turning on the sleep tracking function and collecting enough data, the machine will start ringing the alarm clock half an hour before and after you set the sleep goal. Of course, you can turn off this function if you don't like it.

Microsoft's health management application is compatible with Android, iOS and WP, but Cortana voice assistant can only run on WP, so when connecting other mobile phones, Microsoft's bracelet 2 can't use voice function, and it doesn't even have a virtual keyboard to reply to messages.

The machine will provide detailed health data monitoring, in addition to displaying time, calendar and schedule, weather, stocks, Facebook/Twitter and other functions. It supports message push and Starbucks payment (although it has nothing to do with the mainland), and can use Cortana to receive voice commands. It can also watch to push navigation instructions in real time when Google Maps navigates (but it still needs to look askew).

Microsoft has provided a webpage version of the data statistics page, which also includes body trend prediction and daily/weekly/monthly statistics. At first, I thought that who would use the web version in this era, but this would really be addictive. The richness of statistical data can make the data maniac so moved that he can't get up on his knees.

What's more impressive is that Microsoft's health applications can synchronize with the data of Jawbone, Runkeeper, MapMyFitness and other similar products. This makes people even more suspicious that Microsoft's bracelet is actually just a "display device" that Microsoft makes for third-party manufacturers, just like Google's Prince series mobile phones. Their goal is not to sell, but to let more hardware manufacturers make hardware for Microsoft's healthy platform.

Endurance

The machine can also last two and a half days after turning on the shaking screen and heart rate sensor, and its endurance is similar to that of the first generation. Of course, if GPS is always on, there are many message push, and the screen is always on, the endurance will certainly be ugly. However, for a device with color screen, GPS and message push, it is very difficult. The charging time of the second generation was shortened to 35 minutes, much better than the first generation's 1.5 hours.

Microsoft stressed that the charging and discharging cycle of the bracelet is 1000 times, and it will be nearly scrapped in about three years. However, even if it has not been upgraded by then, it is estimated that its plastic watch strap has already been sacrificed first.

summary

The Microsoft bracelet 2 has been redesigned, and its appearance and wearing comfort are much better. However, as a bracelet, its sense of existence is still too strong; Up to 11 sensors can help you record physical and environmental data that cannot be recorded by similar products, but the price is about the same as that of a smart watch, and it is $50 more expensive than the previous generation ($199 for the first generation of Microsoft bracelet), which is close to the price of a smart watch.

However, even at $250, its cost performance is still not flattering than its appearance, and only the foot counter and heart rate sensor's Fitbit Surge is much higher. If you are a dataholic like the author, but do not need the functions of third-party apps, Microsoft's bracelet 2 is the strongest and most suitable intelligent wearable device (although it is really not as comfortable as other devices). But if you are sister paper or just want a simple and comfortable intelligent wearable device, you'd better go out and turn left to find Apple Watch and Android Wear.

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