Caitlin Cimino / Android Authority
I am fortunate to work with a group of lovable, enthusiastic and deeply knowledgeable tech enthusiasts from around the world. As a team, we review products in depth, digging into features, pouring over manuals, comparing competitors, and collaborating with peers in ever-active Slack channels. Mine Android Authority. Teammates include knowledge, experience, insights and diligence, as well as artistic and tailored writing skills.
However, anyone who says, “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” probably isn’t a wearable reviewer. For starters, you can’t work without the word work. What’s more, you can’t try out tech gadgets without struggling with some glitches. Here are six unexpected but fun pitfalls I encountered when reviewing fitness gadgets.
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1. Running in circles
Caitlin Cimino / Android Authority
From budget fitness trackers to the Apple Watch Series 8, the top wearables on the market are even tracking GPS watches. For a reviewer, that means every time there’s a new device in the inbox, it’s time to tie it up.
A few weeks after moving into my new home, I set about putting together a watch for Garmin’s then-new Vivomove Sport, one of my favorite hybrid watches. Unfortunately, the device landed in the middle of Oahu’s rainy season. Desperate to stick to my prescribed schedule (and forgetting the importance of first impressions), I set out in the rain.
I “met” several of my new neighbors that afternoon as I psychotically ran through their houses in the pouring rain. Unfortunately, the loop I chose was only about a third of a mile, so I passed each house more than a dozen times. I waved to everyone I saw, beaming something between a smile and a look of surprise. I thought of finishing my run at the supermarket so that no one would connect me to the newly bought house. An unseen, older man shouted in “Aloha Caitlin!” It just made me wonder how he knew my name.
Confused, I finally made it to the driveway at the same time as the postman. To his credit, he didn’t even raise an eyebrow. In case I’m still wondering, he just gave me some junk mail, verifying that I was a current resident. When it was time to push the heart rate monitor’s limits, I had the foresight to move my muddy paces into the backyard that only a neighbor’s dog could judge me in a shared fence.
2. Facing the information (or lack thereof)
Caitlin Cimino / Android Authority
Even when you get in that run, ride, yoga, or HIIT workout, that doesn’t always mean you have anything to show for it. he said nothing It’s more demoralizing than completing a workout, uploading the data, and seeing complete garbage. In my evaluation experiences, faulty equipment consistently meets human error to ensure that at least one or two workouts a month are not used.
To that end, reviewing gadgets is a character-building experience. On one particularly dark night, (dark in the sense, not as in starlight dark), I completed three back-to-back interval workouts on the world’s most moderate gel bike seat cushion.
I looked forward to the first workout. Who doesn’t love endless spinning pedals just to move absolutely anywhere? An hour later, when the heart rate data uploaded completely wrong, I cursed the usual suspects and started again. I was frustrated but determined. The workout was just to back up the information I got from the run earlier, and I wanted to summarize the review. So, I extended the heater and extended the low times. I shouted Spotify at Alexa and congratulated myself on my success. I think one day I daydream about cycling with love, and I’ll put up the cash for a Peloton or some other high-end bike.
After the second workout, I decided not to sit at my desk dripping in sweat and took a shower. It was only 9:30 PM, but I was wearing pajamas and tea water. I was riding the high you felt after doing something you really didn’t want to do. Satisfied with myself, I uploaded the final heart rate graph, slapped on my review, and sent it off to my editor. I was a well-oiled machine.
Walking to my desk, I picked up my sweaty bra and threw it into the bathroom. And I stood and watched as a wave of despair washed over me. I didn’t put the chest strap back on after the first workout. Even if the evaluation unit produces perfect peaks and beautiful valleys, there will be no control group, and no way to verify accuracy or compare data.
Blinded by self-loathing, I lost my sense of logic. First, I decided that a movie would be the best way to distract myself since I was going to continue my private tour of France at 10pm. I pulled the stationary bike down the stairs and lined it up about a meter from my TV screen. I also decided that starting the workout ASAP made more sense than changing clothes and proceeded to fit the bike in shamrock pajamas and a very wet messy bun. Less than an hour later, my Apple Watch asked if I was still working. I wasn’t. I was lying on the carpet, sweaty and drenched in shower water, wearing loose-fitting knickers and a pair of lucky pajamas.
3. Inability to count Zs
Caitlin Cimino / Android Authority
After all that work, you’d think the body needs rest, but this body doesn’t. With an over-caffeinated balance and an over-active mind, my sleep tracking often suffers from a lack of data. This is problematic as many widgets require hours of eye contact to analyze. Instead of merrily counting REM cycles and wondering what a cute Fitbit Sleep Profile animal I am, I spend most mornings looking at the sleep score that suggests I can fight crime by moonlight.
In that sense, for me, it’s a sleep data tracking product for reviews. I try to put my best foot forward with blackout curtains and a comfortable sleeping environment. After dinner I limit my fluids and scare the birds awake. Naturally, I add the tools I need, then check and double-check their qualifications before diving in. I also casually declare that I have “a few hours to go in” without worrying that I’ve made an important deep dive. Project. Then I put down my ridiculous sleep mask and start an audiobook.
Hours later I was refreshed and happy. Sure enough, I recorded a lot of Zs. I check my device. It is 4 o’clock in the morning. I worked three hours and finished Harry Potter for the 57th time. I lay in bed longer and I think other people worry about my lack of sleep for work.
4. Evaluate as a family matter
Caitlin Cimino / Android Authority
I thought I had found a fitness challenge earlier this year when the launch of the Garmin Instinct 2 coincided perfectly with a planned ski trip. The gear covers more sport modes than summer camp, and I was determined to use some alpine-appropriate gear.
To adequately set the scene, I am a fan of gear. I love hobbies as much as I love buying things I don’t need for said hobbies. Thanks to Garmin, I was equipped with the perfect wearable, and paired it with tinted goggles and a ski jacket with a unique design. I flew to Utah and hit the slopes with the gentleness of someone who thought moguls looked like mummy beetles.
Each night I reviewed my GPS data, looking for the lines I had mapped on the face of the mountain. After seven days and one very long roll, I found myself with torn ligaments, a dislocated shoulder and a bruised ego. Wearables can monitor your chair lift trips and powder runs, but they’ll also monitor your embarrassing toboggan trip with Ski Patrol. Downstairs, strangers will see my adorable coat first coming down a “hard run,” which is what people say when they sweep out on an easy run but want to be nice about it.
While waiting for surgery, I gave my best puppy dog eyes to my colleague, typing away on my Apple Watch how-to from my overstuffed recovery room. For the next several months, I tested assessment units during physical therapy sessions, evaluating features and settings from the comfort of my couch. Then I pass them on to my partner for running and riding. He sweats his way through workouts, reporting back important fitness stats and diligently preparing for the next session. Granted, I bought him a new pair of running shoes, but I chose a pair that wouldn’t be known to hold a heel.
5. Acting my age
Caitlin Cimino / Android Authority.
Today’s wearables offer amazing security tools like SOS alerts, notifications and more. For mature users, these features provide life-saving assistance and peace of mind. For minor reviewers, a certain safety feature provides endless entertainment.
The Apple Watch Ultra is now equipped with an 86 decibel siren to help users call for help on remote trails. An avid hiker, I tested the Ultra’s siren in a pine forest, on an oceanside cliff, and in the middle of an empty field.
My incredibly helpful partner (see above) was particularly put off by the Ultra Siren. Raised in a clean, Midwestern home with manners and politeness, he is sensitive to voices and very respectful of others. He wasn’t happy when I “tested” the siren while weighing bananas at the supermarket. I don’t like bananas, and I felt the sirens alerting my friend at the store to let him know I was picking bananas for him. I also thought it would be fun to embarrass him. Since then, we’ve decided that, like Thor’s hammer, Siren is a force I don’t deserve to wield.
6. Monitoring poor habits
Caitlin Cimino / Android Authority.
I will never drink water to please Garmin, Apple, or Fitbit. As such, the first feature I disable on watches is water tracking because I can’t stand the judgement.
During one review, I decided to make a concerted effort to drink water. One step was to eliminate options. This means drinking everything at hand to avoid future temptation. Diet coke, beet juice, homemade iced tea and oat milk. Step two was to make water accessible and attractive. I filled various hydro flasks and strategically placed them in my usual habitats: my desk, the bedside, and the cozy corner seat of my couch. Step Three: Apply Conviction. Hoping this would translate into accountability, I told various nonchalant people about the need for watering.
Less than 24 hours later, at 11 a.m., I stood staring at the open fridge, reminding myself that beer was not an ideal solution to thirst. It’s not that I don’t like water; What it doesn’t seem to do is taste, and I find that very unsatisfying. I drank a glass of water and grabbed a sticky pad. “You’re not a cactus” I wrote on several sheets of paper and taped them to whatever I could reach for. This includes a coffee maker, a pitcher of pickles, an ice pop, and my partner’s milk.
On the third day, I finished one of the previously filled water bottles. I also decided to return the green tea to normal. On the fourth day, I drank six cups of green tea. On day five, I started hard with rapid-fire 8oz chugs. However, I was frustrated when I had to use the bathroom five times before 9am. At the end of the evaluation period, I reached two conclusions. One: It’s easier to drink almost nothing than to drink enough water. Two: I am a cactus 🌵