Wyze has been disrupting multiple markets by introducing affordable products with incredible features. We’ve seen it in the Pan Cam, Wyze Lock, and Wyze Scale that we most recently took a look at. Coming in at just $25, the Wyze Band can track activity, sleep, and your heart rate, and also control Alexa-enabled devices. How well does it do all of this for that price? Head below to see it in action.
Out of the box
Getting the band out of the box, there isn’t much in there. We have the band, the charger, and a quick start guide. First things first, charge the Band with the included charger. A clamp design securely clips the USB charger onto the Wyze Band to make sure you have a good connection.
It is easy to get the Band connected to the Wyze app and once connected, it’s ready to go. On top of we have the screen with a home button on the bottom. One side is bare, while the other holds two microphones for directing Alexa. On the bottom, we have the connections for charging as well as the heart rate sensor.
Overall I found the Wyze Band very comfortable. I’m used to wearing a watch, but because of the Band’s lightweight and relatively small design, I didn’t find it cumbersome at all. Likewise, the watch strap is comfortable and easy to adjust.
Screen and Controls
With 120×240 pixels, the AMOLED color display was plenty bright for me even outside. Actually, at night it was kind of annoying when trying to get to sleep. If I moved and the Band detected movement the screen would turn on and act like a flashlight in my darkroom.
Wyze has put a few features into the Band to customize screen brightness, though. While there is no auto-brightness feature, the raise to wake feature can be disabled for set times like 10 pm to 6 am and there is a night mode that can be turned on, dimming the screen, to start and end at designated hours.
Wyze Band: Video
You can change the background to different color schemes inside the Wyze app. Currently, I have it set as a simple black. The only way I could get that color, though, was to take a picture with my camera up against something to black it out and upload that picture as my background.
Controlling the Band is pretty straight forward and intuitive. You can swipe up and down, left and right, and tap to select. At the bottom is a home button or back button for further navigation. For the most part, it is pretty responsive, with just a little bit of lag. but it felt like the Wyze Band was following my input.
Occasionally I had to make large gestures to make the screen turn on with raise to wake. This is probably standard with a lot of screen-wielding fitness trackers but was something I’m not used to with the Withings Steel HR Sport I am wearing most of the time.
Tracking
As a tracker, the Wyze Band seems to work relatively well, though it’s not perfect. Steps wise, it seemed to report more steps than what I had experienced with the Steel HR. Now I didn’t do any in-depth analysis and comparisons, but from watching reports from Withings over the last year, I was surprised at how many steps the Wyze Band was reporting.
When using the Band for tracking a run, the reported distance was also off from what my phone recorded in the Nike+ app. After completing a 3.11 mile run with GPS tracking, in the Wyze app, the tracker reported only 2.6 miles.
I found the heart rate to be pretty accurate, though. Most of the time it was in line with what my Steel HR was reporting, which I’ve compared against heart rate monitors at the gym. Just like with the Steel HR, though, I did need to wipe the sensor down if I was sweating a lot during a workout to get an accurate reading.
What’s in the App?
Within the Wyze app, you’ll find controls for the Band as well as all of your smart home devices. Select the band, and you can view stats for all of your activity, customize raise to wake and night mode settings, and enable or disable notifications. Here you can also set alarms and add, remove, or reposition any of the different functions on the Band.
Alexa, does this thing work?
The only thing that I’ve had trouble getting to work was Alexa’s control. For me that wasn’t actually a deal-breaker, I don’t think I’ll be talking to Alexa on my wrist very often. But I wanted to include it in the review, obviously. So after sending a few support emails, I ended up getting it to work by deleting and re-installing the Wyze app. Now everything works flawlessly.
With Alexa setup, you can easily ask questions and control other enabled devices, like the Hue lights I have in my office. Obviously just like with any other device, Alexa is only as helpful as you make it.
Wrapping up
Overall, the Wyze Band is an incredible deal for the price, just like the Scale. You might run into some small issues here and there, but if you want to start on a path of tracking fitness, heart rate, sleep, and some basic home control, then this is a great choice at just $25.
Buy Wyze Band
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