PEAR Sports Fitness Tracker Review
There are so many different fitness trackers, it’s hard to tell which one really stands above the rest. I had the Fitbit tracker for a couple of weeks but returned it when I realized I didn’t care about how many steps I took a day. I’d much rather go for a run or get a workout at the gym. There are also many different fitness apps that can help track your workouts. I’ve jumped back and forth between RunKeeper and Endomondo. I liked how RunKeeper can be synced with my Pebble smartwatch, but it doesn’t seem all too accurate (based off the few times I used it). What is Pear Sports? “PEAR is the smart training system that coaches you in real time, creating the ultimate workout experience, inspiring you to reach your goals.” It is a combination of a heart rate monitor, headphones, and smartphone app that is your virtual trainer.
Of the few workouts I used the Pear Sports, I ran into a few issues. First, I couldn’t connect the heart rate monitor to the app (see first screenshot). I wasn’t sure if it was a bluetooth or battery issues (really hope not user error..) I was finally able to connect to it and it seemed to measure my heart rate fairly accurately. I went on a few runs with it simultaneously with Endomondo. There are many different types of workouts you can choose from, but I just stuck with the freeform workout which would measure my time, distance, etc. It would tell me my time, distance and heart rate every 5 minutes, which is probably too often for my liking. When I compared it with the distanced measured from Endomondo, they were pretty off. Looking at the map data (screenshot), you’ll see that the zig zags in the map, no I didn’t jump into neighbor’s backyards! I also had a hard time completing the workout because the buttons at the bottom was cut off. There are three buttons you can press: delete, share, done (see both screenshots).
I think most of these issues can be fixed through app updates, and I’ve seen a few come through recently. There’s definitely room for improvement and I look forward to using it again in the future.
