There are dozens of self-tracking gadgets on the market. Most of these gadgets are great motivational helpers, but not all produce data that is accessible and useful beyond that. The following gadgets have been tested over the past year, and integrated with Zenobase.

Fitbit One

The Fitbit One is the most accurate step counter we have seen so far. It also tracks distance and elevation gain, which is more useful, really, and does so more reliably than most GPS devices–especially on trails that don’t follow smooth lines.

The Fitbit One can also be used to track sleep, but requires manual starting and stopping, and, for many people, the reported sleep efficiency is completely off.

BodyMedia FIT

The BodyMedia FIT can also count steps, but its main selling point is the ability to track how many calories you are burning throughout the day. For most purposes, this is more useful than counting steps or distance, unless all your exercise consists of walking at a steady pace on even trails.

The BodyMedia FIT is also a convenient sleep tracker, as it detects when you are lying down; the accuracy of the reported sleep efficiency seems questionable at high resolution, but is acceptable when averaged over a night.

Withings Wireless Scale

Withings’ Wireless Scale is perfect for people who are too lazy to manually record their body weight once a day.

The scale also measures body fat %, but it’s not clear if that data is accurate enough to be useful (comparable devices have the same issue).

Netatmo Personal Weather Station

Ever wonder how environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, noise levels and air quality affect your sleep or your productivity at work? Netatmo’s Personal Weather Station collects the data you need to answer such questions.

Polar H7 Heart Rate Monitor

The Polar H7 is one of the few gadgets that are accurate enough to measure heart rate variability.

Polar has an app, but for iOS only, and does not provide an API. However, the device supports Bluetooth LE and can therefore be used with other apps such as RunKeeper.

The Polar H7 isn’t ideal for 24/7 recording (you’d have to replace the button battery too often and remain connected to an external device), but works well for recording exercise sessions or doing resting heart rate tests.

One caveat: Polar appears to have quality control issues (our device stopped giving reliable data after just a few weeks), and their support isn’t very good.

NeuroSky MindWave

The NeuroSky MindWave is a headset that can be used e.g. to rate your level of relaxation and focus during a meditation session using a custom app.

The headset can be difficult and uncomfortable to wear, and doesn’t appear to be very durable, either (our device stopped giving reliable data after a few months of sporadic use). Might want to wait for the next generation…

Other Devices (Not Tested)

  • Jawbone
  • Misfit Shine (no API)
  • MyBasis (no API)
  • Nike Fuelband (closed API)
  • Withings Pulse (partially closed API)
  • Zeo (no longer available)

Let us know if there are any other gadgets we overlooked or that you’d like us to support!