Best fitness trackers 2017: The best activity bands to buy today

The wearables market offers a plethora of devices from smartwatches and heart rate measuring headphones to sports watches and activity trackers. There is such a breadth of choice, it’s difficult to know where to start, let alone make the right decision on the one best for you even after you’ve read all the fitness tracker reviews you can.

This feature rounds up the best activity trackers available to buy today that we’ve reviewed here at Pocket-lint. It only includes products we have tried and tested fully and it focuses around the wearables that are always-on and always tracking your activity, rather than those that specialise in specific activities.

For those after a device to count steps and calories, monitor sleep and perhaps even have the added bonus of reading heart rate, you have come to the right place.

Our top recommendation…

Here’s the best fitness tracker on the market at the moment balancing ease of use with price and all round features…

Pocket-lint

1. Fitbit Charge 2

Buy now at Amazon.co.uk | Buy now at Amazon.com

The Fitbit Charge 2 replaces the company’s Charge HR, taking the best features such as continuous heart rate monitoring, and adding a few more including VO2 Max, Guided Breathing and Connected GPS. It also takes on Fitbit’s new design ethos, found on the Alta and Alta HR, with interchangeable straps, a solid build quality and a larger, informative OLED display.

There are things that could be improved, such as smartphone notifications supporting third-party apps, waterproofing would be very much welcomed, and some data could be more easily accessible, but overall, the Charge 2 is great. If you’re looking for a well-designed, accurate fitness tracker with a fantastic app platform, then the Charge 2 fully takes charge.

Read the full review: Fitbit Charge 2 review

Best of the rest…

The Fitbit Charge 2 isn’t for everyone though. Luckily, there are plenty of other great fitness trackers to consider that we’ve reviewed if you want to get up, start moving and stay ahead of the game. Here are a few other fitness trackers that are worth considering:

Pocket-lint

2. Garmin Vivosmart HR+

Buy now at Amazon.co.uk | Buy now at Amazon.com

The Garmin Vivosmart HR+ stuffs a lot of functionality into a device that’s only a little larger than some other fitness tracker bands on this list. It isn’t as good looking as Fitbit’s latest devices, but it’s the feature set that appeals, with both heart rate monitoring and GPS on board.

The Garmin Vivosmart HR+ is an ideal device for someone who wants to track daily activity as well as record runs or walks in more detail, but doesn’t want to go the whole hog and start wearing a running watch all the time. 

Read the full review: Garmin Vivosmart HR+ review

Pocket-lint

3. Fitbit Alta HR

Buy now at Amazon.co.uk | Buy now at Amazon.com

The Fitbit Alta HR brings heart-rate tracking to its slim and stylish fitness tracker, the Alta, positioned a little further down this list. The earlier device is fabulous for basic tracking but it misses out on a couple of features, primarily heart rate monitoring.

There is still no waterproofing, GPS or elevation data and it the Alta HR isn’t as feature rich as the larger Charge 2, but it offers a slim, stylish everyday activity tracker with good heart rate tracking and general day-to-day activity monitoring. Sleep tracking is also great and it comes with the same interchangeable straps as the original Alta so you can switch bands out for a smarter look.

Read the full review: Fitbit Alta HR review

Pocket-lint

4. Withings Nokia Activité Steel HR

Buy now at Amazon.co.uk | Buy now at Amazon.com

The Withings Nokia Activité Steel HR is a beautifully designed device that does a great job of delivering style and smarts in a one package. It offers a classic design with premium materials and it’s certainly an activity tracker that steps away from the standard glorified rubber band look of many competitors.

Heart-rate tracking is good in the most, as is sleep tracking, while the battery life is excellent. The design it isn’t as subtle as the likes of the Fitbit Alta HR, which offers the same features bar the waterproofing and swim tracking, and the Steel HR isn’t overly cheap either. That said, if you want heart-rate monitoring with some added analogue appeal, this Withings number is not just a great choice – it’s the only choice.

Read the full review: Withings Activité Steel HR review

Pocket-lint

5. Fitbit Flex 2

Buy now at Amazon.co.uk | Buy now at Amazon.com

The Fitbit Flex 2 is a simple yet effective tracker with a more exciting design than its predecessor, meaning it looks less like a boring rubber band especially when paired with the interchangeable accessories. The far better two-pin clasp ensures a solid, comfortable fit and the addition of basic smartphone notifications and waterproofing is also great.

The Fitbit Flex 2 has a good thing going on: it’s simple, stylish and unobtrusive. It won’t be for those who want more data such as heart-rate or GPS tracking, but it’s a great device for those after basic tracking. 

Read the full review: Fitbit Flex 2 review

Pocket-lint

6. Samsung Gear Fit 2

Buy now at Amazon.co.uk | Buy now at Amazon.com

The Samsung Gear Fit 2 features excellent built-in GPS and heart-rate monitoring, along with a beautiful large screen that is not only nice to look at but responsive too.

It has core tracking skills and relayed data but the accompany app isn’t as good as the likes of Fitbit so it might not be quite right for the more serious fitness fans, or hardened runner. The battery life is also so-so when exercising. Overall though, it’s a fab first wearable.

Read the full review: Samsung Gear Fit 2 review

Pocket-lint

7. Withings Nokia Activité

Buy now at Amazon.co.uk | Buy now at Amazon.com

The Withings Activité is Swiss Made and consequently most expensive version of the Activité range. It features a beautiful design with a fantastic build quality and although it appears to be an average analogue watch on first glance, it tracks your activity, counts your burned calories and monitors your sleep patterns.

There is an 8-month battery life and a decent app that is great when it comes to linking up with other platforms such as MyFitnessPal. The Withings Activité has its flaws like others on this list, the most irritating of which is not counting steps properly if you aren’t moving your arm but for those after a stylish activity tracker, this is one of the ones to beat. 

Read the full review: Withings Nokia Activité review

Pocket-lint

8. Fitbit Alta

Buy now at Amazon.co.uk | Buy now at Amazon.com

The Fitbit Alta is by far one of the most stylish of the Fitbit bunch, like its more capable brother the Alta HR and especially when paired with the additional straps. It isn’t as feature rich as some of its siblings, missing out a few key functions, such as heart rate monitoring, elevation data, GPS and waterproofing but for basic activity tracking, it’s a fabulous device.

Accuracy of step tracking is good, smart notifications are useful, the OLED display is lovely and the Fitbit app is one of the best out there. For some the Alta will be a little too basic, but for others, it will be a winner, especially in terms of its looks.

Read the full review: Fitbit Alta review

Pocket-lint

9. Fitbit Blaze

Buy now at Amazon.co.uk | Buy now at Amazon.com

The Fitbit Blaze brings all the features of the older Fitbit Charge HR, but adds text notifications, music control, a coloured touchscreen and connected GPS, along with a couple of other additions. Don’t mistake it for a smartwatch – it isn’t. The Blaze is more of a smart fitness watch that adds a couple of smart features, such as the ability to accept or reject incoming calls, but it has no third party app support.

The Blaze’s display is beautiful and the Fitbit platform is fantastic, but it’s not the tracker for everyone. It has some great features, including the Multi-Sport tracking, automatic activity recognition and the FitStar workouts. The price is much higher than the newer Charge 2 though – and you don’t get a whole lot extra functionality for your money. 

Read the full review: Fitbit Blaze review

Pocket-lint

10. Withings Go

Buy now at Amazon.co.uk | Buy now at Amazon.com

The Withings Go is one of the cheapest activity trackers out there. Its E Ink display couldn’t be called pretty but it is functional for showing step progress and, therefore, a good choice. The biggest problem the Go faces is that there isn’t a huge price difference between the budget and higher-end of the activity tracking market so an extra £50 could get you a better looking and more capable tracker.

For those who want what’s essentially a glorified pedometer with a few extra features, the Go is a great choice. For those after a proper activity tracker, there are better options out there providing you can afford to spend a little extra. 

Read the full review: Withings Go review

Alienware 15 review: Bigger, but not necessarily better

Getting your hands on a bleeding-edge gaming laptop is an exercise in chasing chip architecture. It’s sort of a waiting game. You wait for Intel and NVIDIA to upgrade their GPU and CPU standards, you wait for early adopter manufacturers to put them through their paces and, finally, you wait for the machine you want to hit the market with the new bells and whistles. In spring, we saw Dell’s Alienware 13 kitted out with Intel’s new Kaby Lake Core i7-7700HQ CPU and NVIDIA Pascal graphics — and now that same combo is available in the company’s larger 15-inch notebook.

Hardware

If you’ve seen the Alienware 13, you’ve pretty much seen this 15-inch variant. That’s not a bad thing — Alienware’s design language walks a fine line between the stereotypically aggressive aesthetics of modern gaming laptops and, well, something you wouldn’t be embarrassed to use in a coffee shop.

For the Alienware 15 (and the aforementioned 13) that means simple, muted grays accented by a stylish anodized-aluminum lid, the company’s trademark Alien head logo and just enough angled lines to keep it from looking like a square. Looking for just a little bit more flare? You can have it. Dell’s AlienFX LED lighting system will illuminate the machine’s keyboard, trackpad and strips of lights on the side of both its chassis and display in 19 colors.

Alienware’s modern design language looks every bit as good on the 15-inch model as it did on the smaller notebook, but not everything about it scales well. Behind the laptop’s screen is a small shelf extending about an inch past the display’s hinge. This extended piece of the chassis lends the machine an aggressive look and helps dissipate heat — but the overhang pushes the laptop’s front-to-back footprint out to a full 12 inches. That measurement is a little more in line with what we’d expect out of a 17-inch gaming laptop. In fact, it’s bigger than the depth measurement on both larger size MSI Dominator and Razer Blade Pro notebooks.

This larger-than-average footprint isn’t a deal-breaker, but it hampers the laptop’s portability. Most 15-inch laptops walk a fine line between power and mobility — but the Alienware 15 barely fits into my largest backpack, and only if I keep nothing else in the bag’s main pocket. It was a struggle to get it in and out of that bag too, which made taking the machine through airport security a disaster. During my month with the laptop, it lived in my luggage as often as my personal bag.

Unlike most notebooks, the Alienware 15 hides most of its connections behind the screen. That protruding shelf is home to Ethernet, mini DisplayPort and HDMI connectors, a USB Type-C thunderbolt port, the AC adapter socket and the Alienware’s proprietary Graphics connector. There are also headset, microphone and an additional USB Type-C connectors on the machine’s left edge. Users looking for standard USB 3.0 ports will find one on each side.

Keyboard and Trackpad

Somehow, we still live in a world where otherwise great laptops can be spoiled by sticky keyboards, mushy mouse buttons and inaccurate touch pads. Thankfully, that’s not the case here. The Alienware 15 features the same great keyboard and mouse we saw on the company’s smaller notebook — featuring an alphabet of firm yet springy full-size key-caps, a spacious, smooth tracking surface with excellent multi-touch gesture recognition and two large, responsive mouse buttons. It’s wonderful when a keyboard is so good that there’s practically nothing negative to say about it.

If I had to stretch for a complaint, however, I’d call out Alienware’s set of five TactX hotkeys. These buttons are located just to the left side of the main keyboard and can be programmed to launch applications, run recorded key macros or duplicate any other key. It does all of that perfectly fine, but I repeatedly found myself tapping the TactX’s top button whenever I reached for the laptop’s Esc key. It would be nice if the keys were positioned in a way that made that mistake impossible. Or, you know, I could learn how to type better. Either way.

Display and sound

Our review unit didn’t ship with one of those fancy 4K displays that’s all the rage these days, but what it does have is just about perfect for a gaming laptop. Not only is this bright, 400-nit, 1080p display offer ideal compromise between resolution and in-game graphics settings, but it also boasts a 120Hz refresh rate — which means it can comfortably display games at up to 120 frames a second without suffering from screen-tearing or frame-skip issues. Its viewing angles are a little shallow, but it’s a worthy trade off for buttery-smooth gameplay. If you’re not looking for high frame rates, Dell also offers the machine with a 3840 x 2160 IGZO IPS option.

The Alienware 15’s speakers are a bit of a disappointment, however. Not because they are bad themselves — they’re perfectly fine, producing loud, clear audio without distortion — but the machine’s “virtual surround” trick somehow doesn’t work quite as well as it did on the Alienware 13. That machine had me turning my head to see if something fell down across the room. The 15, on the other hand, can boast only of clear, separated sound. Stereo speakers that are merely good, and nothing else.

Performance

The Alienware 15 might be a little cumbersome, but there’s a lot of power in its oversized chassis. Powered by a 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU, 16GB of memory and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 GPU, it ran circles around my gaming library. Games like Overwatch, Battlefield 1, Just Cause 3 and Resident Evil 7 all punched above 100 frames a second on their highest settings at the machine’s native 1080p resolution. My more intensive games, like GTA5 and The Witcher 3 and Watch Dogs 2, would occasionally drop into the low 50s, but on average, every game in my library averaged out at 60fps at a minimum.

With a score of 8,152 in VRMark’s Orange room test (and 1,730 in the more intensive Blue Room benchmark), the machine has the chops to handle most consumer virtual-reality games at their default settings, too — though hardware setup might be a little cumbersome. The Alienware 15’s default ports are more than enough to power an HTC Vive, but Oculus Rift users won’t have access to enough USB ports without using a USB-C converter.

Battery life

Alienware 15
4:31
Surface Book with Performance Base (2016)
16:15
Apple MacBook Pro 2016 (13-inch, no Touch Bar)
11:42
HP Spectre x360 (13-inch, 2015)
11:34
Apple MacBook Pro with Retina display (13-inch, 2015)
11:23
Apple MacBook Pro 2016 (15-inch)
11:00
HP Spectre x360 15t
10:17
Apple MacBook Pro 2016 (13-inch, Touch Bar)
9:55
ASUS ZenBook 3
9:45
Apple MacBook (2016)
8:45
Samsung Notebook 9
8:16
Alienware 13
7:32
Microsoft Surface Pro 4
7:15
HP Spectre 13
7:07
Razer Blade Stealth (Spring 2016)
5:48
Razer Blade Stealth (Fall 2016)
5:36
Dell XPS 15 (2016)
5:25 (7:40 with the mobile charger)
Razer Blade Pro (2016)
3:48
ASUS ROG Strix GL502VS
3:03

The machine handled my normal workflow fine too, easily managing the disorganized mess of windows, browser tabs, editing software and chat clients I use on a daily basis. It’s nice to have a machine that can run circles around the Adobe Creative Suite, but sadly, the Alienware 15 can’t do it for very long. Our standard battery test ran the machine down in just over four and a half hours. That may be about par for a high-performance gaming laptop, but low expectations won’t get me through my workday without a power outlet.

Despite its screaming performance, the 15 did give me a few issues. Fresh out of the box, the laptop had a little trouble staying connected to WiFi — quietly dropping the connection at the Engadget office a few times every hour. The issue subsided after a system update, but it made my first day with the machine mildly annoying.

Wrapup

The Alienware 15 is almost everything you could ask for in a midsize gaming laptop. It’s a stylish, powerful machine with the latest GPU architecture, Intel’s new seventh-gen CPUs and a fantastic build quality — it’s just a little large for a machine of its class.

That’s not a deal-breaker, but it is a little weird. Fifteen-inch gaming rigs usually fill a sweet spot between portability and power, but the Alienware 15’s oversized footprint throws that balance off. If you’re dead set on the Alienware brand and are sure you want the machine’s GTX 1070, it’s still not a bad option — but if you find yourself looking at the laptop’s cheaper 1060 configuration, consider looking at the Alienware 13 instead. Bigger isn’t bad, but it’s not always better, either.

Texas bill could mean jail time for flying a drone over oil facilities

The ebb and flow of legal rules when it comes to flying a drone, whether it’s a cheap mainstream model or something a little more intense, is confusing. It also differs depending on country, and even state. When it comes to Texas, both the House and the Senate are pushing a bill that could attach jail sentences to any pilot found guilty of flying something over oil and gas drilling facilities, as well as telecomms infrastructure and concentrated animal feeding operations — factory farms. Politicians want these structures added to a “critical infrastructure” list, where flying a drone lower than 400 feet aboveit would be a Class B misdemeanor and could even mean up to 180 days in jail.

The facilities would join a list that includes power plants, dams and other refineries, but critics say the additions would affect the public’s First Amendment rights. Alicia Calzada, a Haynes and Boone media attorney told The Texas Observer that it takes a law “that’s already unconstitutional and making it worse.”

While the bill passed Senate on Wednesday, the House version– which passed last month –is slightly different. This means the bills have to be tweaked to ensure both parts of the legislature agree on it before it becomes legal.

Texas’ drone laws a generally stricter than elsewhere in the US. While many states limit how much law enforcement can use drones to monitor the public, a Texas Privacy Act aims itself more at citizens that fly drones over private property. The inclusion of concentrated animal feeding operations is particularly contentious, with a diminished argument as how they can be classified “critical infrastructure”.

Drones ares a safer, cheaper option for independently monitoring emissions from oil sites — reporters or researchers would otherwise have to charter a helicopter for similar results. Calzada notes: “Drones create an opportunity to tell a story in a better way for less money, but it’s also much safer.”

Source: Texas Observer, Senate Committee Meeting (HB 1643)

ASUS’ Tango-powered ZenFone AR will hit the US in July

We already knew from Google I/O that ASUS’ ZenFone AR, the second-ever Tango phone (and the first to also support Daydream), was getting close to its official launch, and that it’s coming to the US as a Verizon exclusive this summer. Thankfully, we now know when people will actually be able to buy one. Right after ASUS’ pre-Computex keynote today, I sat down with CEO Jerry Shen who revealed that this device will finally be launching in Taiwan in mid-June, followed by a US launch as soon as end of June or early July.

It’s been six months since we last spent quality time with the ZenFone AR, and believe us: all the additional time spent on it has been worth it. According to ASUS’ own tests, out of the 100+ existing Tango AR apps, about 40 to 50 of them now run stably on the ZenFone AR, and the list is expected to grow as more apps are updated for Android Nougat. Shen added that the number of Tango apps is expected to reach over 1,000 next year, and his company will be doing its part by hosting AR developer conferences with Google — there’ll be one in Taiwan in July.

During my brief hands-on today I got to try the BMW i Visualiser app, Lowe’s Vision, iStaging (a home decorating app from Taiwan) and Matterport Scenes, all of which ran surprisingly smoothly with great tracking — a far cry from the laggy experience Chris Velazco and I had on the bulkier and underpowered Lenovo Phab 2 Pro. This is all thanks to the extra help from Qualcomm for fine-tuning the Snapdragon 821 horsepower chipset inside the ZenFone AR. Specifically, the optimization focused deeply on the chipset’s Hexagon 680 digital signal processor, which is pushed to its full potential using the latest coding. The difference between this and what we saw on the Phab 2 Pro is often staggering, enough to make the ZenFone AR the best choice for anyone looking to dabble in mobile augmented reality.

Chris Velazco contributed to this story.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Computex 2017!

Bonkers inventor Colin Furze turns a microwave into a video game console

Why it matters to you

It’s probably best you don’t try this at home, but Colin Furze’s solution for killing time is nevertheless entertaining.

If you just can’t stand waiting for your microwave to nuke your potato or whatever other morsel you choose to chuck in, then Colin Furze’s latest creation could be just the ticket.

The bonkers British inventor and YouTube star has just cooked up the “Play-O-Wave” machine, essentially a game console built into a microwave oven. The absurd appliance eliminates the stress of having to listen to your food hiss and pop, as well as the pressure of trying to choose a smartphone app within a very tight time frame.

Furze built the contraption in response to a viewer’s request — a regular feature of his YouTube channel where fans are encouraged to send in ideas. This particular challenge was posted by a guy called Dan, someone evidently partial to the occasional onion topped with peanut butter.

Dan’s problem? He can’t stand waiting around for the two minutes that his wacky snack takes to cook, so he called on Furze to formulate a fix.

After racking his brain for all of a few seconds, Furze, who in the past has also built the world’s fastest bumper car, a fully operational thermite cannon, and an enormous 360-degree swing (in his yard), came up with the idea of inserting a video screen into the door of a microwave oven and adding retrogaming functionality.

It took a bit of work, Furze said, as his initial effort saw the oven’s microwaves playing havoc with the display, prompting him to build something that offered a little more protection. Besides a thicker-than-usual door, the design also includes several switches and inputs, and of course the all-important game machine.

Keen to try out his finished Play-O-Wave, Furze plays a blocky bike game as the microwave cooks Dan’s diabolical onion-and-peanut-butter combo. The YouTube video (above) ends with Furze taking a bite out of the vile-looking snack, with his response, hardly surprisingly, one of utter disgust.

Furze describes his Play-O-Wave as a work in progress, though somehow we can’t see the likes of Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo knocking on his door with an offer anytime soon.

OnePlus rolls out a referral program ahead of OnePlus 5 launch

Save some cash on OnePlus accessories with its referral program.

OnePlus is launching a referral program ahead of the launch of its next flagship. To be eligible, you should have purchased a OnePlus smartphone directly from the company’s website in the past. To register, you’ll need to head to the referral page and click the Get your sharable link button to get a unique code that you can share with your friends and family.

Once they use the link to purchase a smartphone from OnePlus, they’ll get $20 (or equivalent) off an accessory, and you’ll pick up 100 referral points that can be used toward an accessory, discount on a phone, or exclusive OnePlus gear.

From OnePlus:

Anyone who’s ever bought a OnePlus smartphone past, present, or future, can get a unique referral link. Once you’ve got a link, just share it with someone interested in buying a OnePlus device and wait for them to hit the order button. If your friend uses your link to purchase a OnePlus smartphone, they’ll receive $20 – or an equivalent amount in your local currency – off on an accessory of their choosing. No more than 30 days later, we’ll drop 100 referral points in your referral hub.

So, what can you spend these points on? Well, that referral hub we mentioned earlier is constantly going to be updated with new stuff to get. Whether it be a cool accessory, a discount on a new phone, or exclusive OnePlus gear, the hub will always be chock-full of great free items for you to grab.

Interested? Sign up for the OnePlus referral program from the link below. It doesn’t look like the program is live in India just yet, but it is available in other markets.

OnePlus referral program

OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 3

• OnePlus 3T review: Rekindling a love story
• OnePlus 3T vs. OnePlus 3: What’s the difference?
• OnePlus 3T specs
• Latest OnePlus 3 news
• Discuss OnePlus 3T and 3 in the forums

OnePlus
Amazon

New Google Play Music subscribers now get a four-month trial

New customers can try out Google Play Music for free for 120 days.

Google typically offers a 90-day trial for customers looking to evaluate Google Play Music, but the company is now rolling out a four-month free trial for new subscribers. If you’re using another streaming service and are looking to make the switch to Play Music, you now have an addition 30 days to decide if you want to continue. Once the trial ends, you’ll have to shell out $9.99 per month.

In addition to accessing Play Music’s catalog of over 40 million songs, you’ll be able to upload up to 50,000 songs from your own music collection — 100,000 if you’re using a Samsung phone — to the service. The UI is in need of a revamp and the device usage policy is antiquated, but overall there’s plenty to like in Play Music.

There’s no telling how long the offer will last, so if you’re interested in seeing what the deal is with Play Music, hit up the link below to subscribe.

Sign up for Google Play Music

Casio WSD-F20 review: The best Android Wear sports watch for outdoor activities

Last year, Casio took the wraps off its first Android Wear watch aimed at active outdoors people: the WSD-F10. Although it never officially made its way over to the UK, the watch was clearly aimed to offer something that hadn’t really existed before.

For 2017, it’s time for the sequel: the WSD-F20. Running Android Wear 2.0, this new watch heads up a niche market that still has very little direct competition. Sure, there are plenty of sports watches aimed at active people, just most aren’t in the Android Wear camp.

And the WDC-F20 seemingly does it all. Whether you’re kayaking, hiking, or mountain biking, there’s plenty on offer here to tempt you, alongside the usual array of Android Wear apps and connectivity. 

Despite that, the question remains: is the WSD-F20 good enough at the all-important tracking side of things to tempt people away from “proper” sports watches? With watches from the likes of Garmin and Suunto, among others, it’s a tough ask. So we set to the hills of the Lake District to see how the WSD-F20 answered its call of the wild.

Casio WSD-F20 review: Design

• 61.7 x 57.7 x 15.3mm; 92g
• MIL-STD-810G durability
• Water proof to 50 meters (5 bar)

There’s no getting away from the size of this Casio. The WSD-F20 is big and chunky, just like the company’s well-renowned G-Shock watches. It’s big enough that it dwarfs even the likes of the Garmin Fenix 5, and the Fossil Q range. It’s formidable.

Given the specifications and hardware features, however, this extra size makes sense. The form means there’s space for the intriguing dual-layer display – which we’ll come to in more detail later.

Pocket-lint

The watch is also built to high standards of durability. Specifically, it’s been tested to US military standards and bares the MIL-STD-810 certification, with water resistance up to 5 bars of pressure, which equates to a depth of 50 meters beneath the waves.

The overall industrial and rugged look gives a sense that it is built like a tank. It gives you that reassurance that it’s a serious watch, for serious outdoor activities.

The chunky plastic ring around the display is marked with indexes for the time, with splashes of orange (on the orange trim model) at the 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock positions. The outer edges of this frame are marked with brand names and various labels to indicate what the buttons and sensors do.

This hardy plastic frame protrudes from the screen, to protect it against drops and impacts, and sits on top of a sturdy metal base, held in place by exposed screws, finishing off that rugged look.

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On the right edge of the case there are three large, round buttons. Again, parts of the frame protrude to protect these buttons. The middle button is the usual Android Wear home/apps screen button, which sits in between a Tool button and App button.

The left edge plays home to an air pressure sensor and the proprietary magnetic single-pin charging port. Think of it almost as a single-pin MagSafe charger, as you’d find on a MacBook. This magnet is strong enough to hold onto the watch, although it will detach with a quick, sharp tug.

Unlike most sports-focused watches, there is no heart-rate monitor in the WSD-F20. The underside of the case is a flat sheet of brushed metal. Given that it’s already 15.3mm thick, we hate to think how chunky it would be with the added sensor protruding underneath. Maybe that’ll be the FD30’s thing?

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Despite appearances, we had no real issues wearing the watch; it was pretty comfortable throughout our hilltop excursions. If there’s one area that we think needs improving, it’s the strap: it’s not easily detached, so isn’t designed to come off quickly for easy swapping with other straps; also the material is quite stiff and the holes for the clasp are spaced a little too far apart, which meant we couldn’t find a perfect fit. 

Casio WSD-F20 review: Screen(s)

• Dual-layer display
• Monochrome and colour screens
• 320 x 300 pixel LCD

Similar to its predecessor, the WSD-F20 features two screens. It’s a really interesting concept, and one which has definite benefits, specifically in regards to the battery life.

Pocket-lint

One layer is a regular colour LCD display, the other is a monochrome e-ink panel. The latter panel works much the same as the kinds of screens we’ve seen on devices like the Garmin Fenix 5 and Pebble smartwatches. It doesn’t use a backlight, and has a low refresh rate, so it doesn’t consume a lot of battery power. It’s also relatively easy to see most of the time (assuming there’s enough ambient light), and its constant display of the time very clear.

The main colour display is fairly standard: it’s bright, colourful and standard resolution for a sports or smart watch. That means it’s sharp enough viewed at arm’s length to ensure details on the display aren’t fuzzy or pixelated.

There is a black cutout “flat tyre” at the bottom though – an area where the display cannot display – which is always a disappointment to see in any round watch face. Although, it must be said, with Casio’s bespoke watch faces and the size of the watch frame combined, it’s not as noticeable as on other, more slimline and fashion-focused smartwatches.

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The colour display’s main issue is that viewing angles aren’t very good. Unless you’re looking at it directly at the right angle, the screen’s contrast gets too low, similar to old laptop screens that needed to be just at the right angle in order to view properly. Add that its colour saturation and contrast aren’t particularly high at the best of times, and the F20’s screen feels like a pretty lacklustre colour offering that’s not very easy to see outdoors when in bright daylight. 

Casio WSD-F20 review: Tracking and software

• GPS, GLONASS + Michibiki
• Activity app for tracking
• Android Wear 2.0
• Moments Setter app

Apart from the missing heart-rate sensor, the Casio has virtually everything you need to track your outdoor jaunts. There’s a pressure sensor on the side to accurately measure air pressure and altitude, which seemed accurate enough once set up. If you’re ever up in the mountains and need to see how high you’ve climbed, there aren’t many watches as capable as the new Casio.

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To start tracking, simply launch the Android Wear apps screen, choose the Activity app, then swipe across to the relevant activity. We tested it when kayaking on a lake and when hiking up to the top of Helm Crag. The information displayed on screen altered depending on the different activity, which shows the watch is sensitive.

Using hiking as an example, there’s the usual distance and time alongside altitude, time, goal and pace. A swipe across the screen reveals ascent and decent stats, or a map.

One of the better features of this tracking is that it can carry on in the background. So you can go back to the watch face, look through the useful default tool widgets – there’s a full-screen compass, altimeter, barometer, and a sunrise/sunset tool – by the press of the Tools button.

We tested the Casio’s route tracking alongside a Garmin Fenix 5 and found that it tracked just as reliably.

It was only after stopping the activity we tracked using Casio’s built-in Activity app that we came across our first issue: once an activity is stopped, that’s it. There’s no screen giving a summary of what you’ve just done, no hints and tips about how much recovery time you need, no achievements. Nothing.

The only way to see a basic summary was by swiping up the notification cards from the watch face, but then once that’s dismissed, it’s all gone. Bizarrely, there’s no companion app on smartphone either, so none of this data is saved anywhere once you’ve dismissed that notification card. 

There is a workaround, in that you could just download and use any of the third-party fitness tracking apps from the Google Play Store. But then again, in a watch that’s all about outdoor activity tracking, Casio’s built-in offering should be thorough and useful enough that you don’t want to download anything extra.

It’s worth noting – as if the heart-rate sensor not being there wasn’t a big enough clue – this is not a running watch. Casio’s Activity app doesn’t include a running mode. Again, you could download Strava – as an example – but you won’t get heart rate details without an external sensor.

There’s also the Moments Setter app which you customise to show you specific updates at certain points. For instance, if you’re aiming to hit 2000m altitude, it can show you the remaining altitude from 200m away. Other examples for hiking include showing an altitude graph every time you go up 200m, or displaying a map every 200m. For different activities, the options change. 

One of the best uses of the watch – specifically for hiking – is a third-party app called ViewRanger. It’s one of the most well regarded hiking and mapping services available. If you happen to be going up a planned route, like one of the Wainwrights, you can normally find it on ViewRanger and have directions and details pushed to the FD20. You can even download detailed maps.

Casio WSD-F20 review: Performance and battery life

• 1-2 days battery per charge
• Up to 9 hours high-accuracy GPS tracking
• Up to 25 hours battery-saver tracking
• Magnetic charger

Because of the dual-layer screen, and various settings, the battery performance of the F20 can be something of a Jekyll and Hyde act. Using it like a regular Android Wear watch with the always-on display setting yields similar results to most other Android Wear watches. That’s to say, you’ll make it through a day on a full charge, probably more.

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With the always-on display switched off in the settings, the Casio watch relies more on secondary monochrome screen, only lighting up the main display when you raise it. In this mode, we got it through two days fairly comfortably. Starting the day at 100 per cent, we got to close to midnight with between 50-60 per cent left over most days.

The big benefit of using the secondary layer of screen comes when tracking an activity in the background. With the screen automatically turning off in favour of the monochrome screen, you can get up to 9 hours of tracking with the watch set to prioritise location accuracy over battery performance. Casio claims you can get 25 hours with it set to prioritise the battery.

In our real-life usage, we found the F20 lasted somewhere close to the spec sheet’s claims. Two and half hours of tracking a hike used around 35 per cent of the battery. Likewise, a half-an-hour run used less than 10 per cent. In both of these activities, we were checking the progress fairly regularly. 

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As for overall performance, in terms of speed and fluidity, this Casio has been one of the best watches we’ve used running Android Wear. Switching between screens, scrolling through the apps list, loading apps, and switching between the Tools was swift and lag-free. There’s not been any stutter whatsoever. 

Verdict

As an Android Wear watch, there’s a lot to like about the Casio. It’s fast, fluid, responsive and very feature-rich. In fact, it’s easily one of the best performing Android Wear watches we’ve ever used.

From a sports tracking perspective, however, it’s not perfect. The built-in software is detailed and works well when actively tracking an activity. But not being able to dig into statistics of recent activities once you’ve dismissed a notification card seems like an obvious flaw. There should be an easier way to see all previous activities off the bat, without digging into a third-party app. It’s a good job that Android Wear means such apps exist to cater your experience.

While the F20’s battery life is fine, we also suspect those wanting to take extreme challenges like the a coast-to-coast walk or the Three Peaks challenge won’t want to rely on a watch that will last them a day or two at best. It would likely last one ascent and descent of the bigger mountains in the UK, but would need to be plugged in straight afterwards. That plus the so-so colour screen see the Casio WSD-F20 slight off the pulse (if you’ll excuse the pun) when it comes to dedicated outdoor activity sportswatches.

Still, the WSD-F20’s dual-layer screen technology is innovative and certainly makes a lasting impression. If you’re not a runner, we can comfortably say this Casio is the best Android Wear watch designed for outdoor sports. The flip side of that is that Android Wear isn’t necessarily the best platform designed for outdoor sports.

Alternative to consider

Garmin Fenix 5

There’s no denying that the Fenix 5 is one of the best multisports trackers around. Its software is fantastic, and the companion app on the phone is even better. Its battery can last two weeks without needing to be charged, and the screen is easy to see most of the time. It might cost a little more, but it’s a better all-rounder than anything running Android Wear. 

Read the full article: Garmin Fenix 5 review

The Morning After: Monday, May 29th 2017

Hey, good morning!

Welcome to the new week. Most of you are probably enjoying a three-day weekend, but the show never stops at Engadget. We have a team of reporters settling into Taipei for Asia’s biggest PC show, Computex, while we also look at the brutal realities of whether we’ll ever find life beyond Earth.

Albeit with ads.
You can play ‘Crazy Taxi’ on your smartphone for free

If you’ve always been intrigued by the early noughties appeal of Crazy Taxi, but didn’t want to lay down cash on that curiosity, you now have no excuse. Sega has made both Android and iOS versions free to play. And if the ads drive you crazy, you can plunk down a mere two bucks. Or just delete the thing.

It’s been eight years since Victorian London was swept underground by a swarm of bats.
‘Fallen London’ and the secret to writing an infinite gothic game

Fallen London is a deep choose-your-own-adventure game that debuted back in 2009, with no moving pictures to guide players into new worlds. Instead, it’s text-based, allowing fans to decide how they’ll react to certain scenarios while they wander around a Victorian version of London that’s trapped in an underground dimension. It’s still available in browser form, but it’s also on iOS and Android, spawning a successful spinoff mobile franchise in the process. Just this week, Failbetter Games announced it would place renewed focus on Fallen London, tying up some of its stories and systems. The lore is probably unlike any other game story you’ve experienced before.

We’ve never had a better chance of finding extraterrestrial life — if it exists.
The search for a habitable second Earth

Wrapping up our Tomorrow Week, Steve Dent looks into how scientists and researchers are searching for habitable planets beyond this blue and green orb. Interestingly, half the research takes place right here, as teams try to unlock the mystery of how life started on Earth in the first place.

The Extremely Large Telescope has been years in the making.
Construction starts on the world’s largest optical telescope

This is related to said search: After years of planning and no shortage of financial anxiety, construction has officially started on the Extremely Large Telescope. Contractors are now building the main structure and dome of the Chile-based observer ahead of its initial service in 2024. With a 43-yard aperture, this promises to be the world’s largest optical telescope for a long time, even compared to future projects.

Infinite (battery) lives
USB-powered Sega Nomad gives you near-endless game time

Sega’s Genesis Nomad was always a compromise: It ran 16-bit console games on mid-90s handheld tech, but took six AA batteries just to get three hours of playtime. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could use modern hardware to play without constant (and sometimes expensive) battery swaps? The Sega Holic (aka Catch22 on NeoGAF) thinks so. He just teased a homebrew Nomad modification that lets the portable system run on USB power.

But wait, there’s more…

• Sana’s smart sleep goggles for insomniacs will be out in 2018
• Nintendo is making a lot of Switch consoles in preparation for the holidays
• After Math: That took long enough

Apple’s Last 17-inch MacBook Pro Set to Become Obsolete

Apple will soon make the Mid-2011 MacBook Air and Late 2011 MacBook Pro obsolete, meaning the two models will no longer be accepted for official repair in Apple Stores from June 30.

The computers are about to be added to Apple’s vintage and obsolete products document, according to 9to5Mac, indicating that Apple has discontinued hardware support for both MacBooks in all regions except for California and Turkey.

Also set to be included in the obsolescence list is the Mid-2009 17-inch MacBook Pro, which is the last 17-inch computer Apple has made.

The company’s large form factor laptops first made an appearance in 2003 with the launch of the 17-inch G4 Powerbook, which cost $3299 and featured a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, and a 60GB hard drive. A 17-inch MacBook Pro formed part of Apple’s notebook lineup between April 2006 and June 2012. The last major update to Apple’s 17-inch Pro machine came in January 2009, when a unibody variant was unveiled.

Apart from the computers, the iPhone 3GS and the first generation 802.11n AirPort Express will also be added to the list, as part of Apple’s routine practice of making legacy devices obsolete. The company ended support for the polycarbonate MacBook and mid-2009 MacBook Pro models earlier this month.

Tag: vintage and obsolete
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