Top 10 Gift Ideas from Luxury Watches for Men

All of us, men and women alike, enjoy those moments when we receive a nicely wrapped up gift box sent to our workplaces or homes! Very often, when I choose to give someone a gift, I get stuck on which gift to select! If you have tried choosing a gift for someone, you will know it's no easy feat selecting a gift for someone, even if it is for someone you know very well - like a partner, colleague or friend. This is because we always want to match their taste and at the same time maintain a level of uniqueness. However, through experience, I have noticed some items when given as gifts will be appreciated by virtually everyone; for instance, men really love wrist watches; atleast I do! So don't be afraid, buy him that watch, he certainly will like it!

As I was "window shopping" I made a selection of the top 10 watches that I would really be pleased to receive as a gift compiled in a random list as follows;

1. Classic Fusion Titanium Watch

Classic Fusion is a swiss made luxury watch by Hublot. It features a sleek titanium finish with classic leather straps. The Hublot Classic Fusion is built with an automatic movement mechanism for self-winding with its crown made from sapphire crystal glass. It is water proof up to a depth 50 metres or water pressure of 5 Atmospheres.

The Hublot Classic Fusion is truly an evolution timepiece with an unmistakeably elegant masculine look. Though pricey, going for about £5,400, its a timepiece virtually any man would love on his wrist.

2. TAG Heuer Formula 1 Chronograph Automatic Watch

The TAG Heuer Formula 1 is built with ideals of high performance, unique style and durability.  The swiss-made watch features a stainless steel case, an automatic movement self-winding mechanism and a scratch resistant sapphire crystal glass crown. It can survive under water up to a depth of 200 meters or 20 Atmospheres.
The steel case houses a beautiful black sun-brushed dial. The dial is embellished with luminous hands and markers for increased legibility especially under low light conditions, an aperture for the date at three and three chronographs at six, nine and twelve giving the watch a distinctive elegant look. The TAG Heuer Formula 1 costs about £2,375.

3. Jaeger-LeCoultre Duometre à Quantième Lunaire

This timepiece is a real deal for watch enthusiasts! No wonder it carries a price tag of £26,200. It is a swiss elaborately designed timepiece, put together from 374 pieces. It features a mechanical movement winding mechanism, 21,600 vibrations per hour,  a 50-hour power reserve, 40 jewels, 2 barrels, hour-minute-second display with twin power reserve, date and moon phase display plus jumping seconds.
Its beautifully crafted Rose Gold case coupled with the leather straps give this Duometre a stunning appearance that will make you stand out! Like the Classic Fussion, the Duometre is made with a sapphire glass and remains water tight up to a water depth of 50 meters.

4. Audemars Piguet Royal Oak

Royal Oak watches bring back memories of the British Royal Navy as their design was inspired by the British Royal Navy Battleships. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watch features an automatic self-winding mechanism, 3120 movements per hour and a 60 hour power reserve. It is composed of a total of 280 parts and 40 jewels. It has a date display at 3 o'clock. The crown of this watch is made from sapphire crystal glass. This model has a black dial enhanced by the iconic “Grande Tapisserie” pattern. The hands and markers are made using white gold. It costs roughly £12,500.

5. IWC Hand-Wound Eight Days

This £7,900 IWC Portofino Hand-Wound Eight Days model is housed in a stainless steel case and a sapphire glass crown.  Its hand-wound mechanical movement has a power reserve lasts up to 8 days for each wind. What's more, you are able to keep track of your power reserve, jumping seconds and date on its display.
This true masterpiece features alligator straps and a sapphire glass caseback through which the full view of the beautifully decorated Breguet spring movement is visible.

6. Gucci G-Timeless Automatic Mens Watch

The Gucci-G is designed with an aesthetic look to keep it strikingly attractive even amidst changing fashion trends. Gucci-G is a swiss-made watch featuring a suave black dial, stainless steel case, scratch resistant sapphire crystal glass and with black leather straps. The suave dial features a diamond patterned backdrop, an aperture for the date at three o'clock, a small seconds indicator, gold hands and markers. The Gucci-G is remains water tight up to 50 metres under water and is powered by a Swiss Made ETA 2895 automatic movement, which makes it a high performance chrono.
Retail price: £1,295

7. Maurice Lacroix Les Classiques Date Mens Watch

This £990 timepiece features a simple silver dial adorned with three gold hands, gold dial markers and the date at 3 o'clock. It commands a great appeal through its gold on silver coloured dial presenting a wearer with a classic refined look. The Les Classiques Date Automatic mens watch is a perfect timepiece for any professional because its aesthetic looks are able to keep up with the dynamic fashion trends.
The Les Classiques is crafted in Switzerland and features a steel case, a sapphire crystal glass crown and leather straps.

8. Bell & Ross Aviation BRS 39mm- BRS-BL-ST/SRB

The Bell & Ross Aviation BRS watch has its origins in aviation. The design is inspired by the instruments found in the cockpit. Bell and Ross Aviation Watch BRS-BL-ST/SRB is a swiss made watch housed in a brushed stainless stell case with black rubber straps. It is designed with quartz movement and features a black dial with small-seconds sub-dial and a scratch resistant sapphire glass. It is water resistant up to 50 meters under water. It costs about £1,450.

9. Breitling Transocean 38 Automatic Watch

The Transocean model is a contemporary classic! It is a shock-resistant, anti-magnetic and watertight timepiece designed to outlast an average watch. It features precise automatic movement, robust stainless steel case and scratch resistant sapphire crystal glass. This model is water tight up to an impressive water depth of 100 meters or 10 Atmospheres.
The dial is adorned with an aperture for the date at 12, above sits the iconic Bretling signature. Additionally, there is a jumping seconds dial, silver hands and markers forming an impressively elegant masterpiece with high performance.
Retail Price: £4,220

10. Officine Panerai Luminor 1950 3 Days Automatic Watch

This premium watch features the Panerai P.9000 automatic mechanical movement and is built from 197 components and 28 jewels. The panerai P.9000 beats at 28,800 VpH and is built with an integrated anti-shock device. The calibre comes with a power reserve of 3 days. The black dial is adorned with luminous hands, Arabic numerals, jumping seconds hand at 9 and a date display aperture at 3. It is housed in a polished stainless steel case, anti glare sapphire crystal glass crown and a transparent caseback. This watch features a stainless steel bracelet with deployment clasp and is water tight up to a depth of 300 meters under water.

As you might have noticed from my selection, all these watches feature a distinctive styling that will virtually match with any fashion trend even though most men are not so keen on fashion. I would rather say men go with those clothes that naturally appeal to them. Any variants of these can work magic as a gift! The price tag being no issue, it possible to get similar designs from cheaper models!    

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Sennheiser HD 598 - Over the Ear Headphones

The Sennheiser HD 598 are high-end over the ear (circum-aural) headphones from Sennheiser priced at $249.95. They feature velour ear pads and a leatheratte headband headset to ensure listening comfort during long sessions. The velour ear pads are designed in such a way as to completely cover your ears and channel all audio signals directly into your ear canal, while the open back earcup design allows some sound to leak out of the headphone and also lets in more ambient sounds into the headphone. This results in a more natural or speaker-like sound and a realistic spatial sound field.
These headphones are supplied in a beige-colour with high-gloss burl wooden parts and matching ear pads in a sophisticated premium finish.

Features of the Sennheiser HD 598

• Open circum-aural headphones with E.A.R. technology 

The Sennheiser HD 598 are full size headphones with earcups fully wrapping around your ears and have been designed to give you outstanding sonic accuracy and clarity while ensuring your listening comfort for extended periods through Sennheiser's intuitive "Ergonomic Acoustic Refinement" (E.A.R.) design.  The E.A.R design ensures all audio signals are directly into your lugholes while ensuring maximum comfort.

• DuoFol Diaphragms  

DuoFol diaphragms consist of a thin membrane film attached to a voice coil designed to provide a wide sound stage with ultra-fast response and rest times for improved sound transparency and reduced distortion. The diaphragm shape and size is intuitively crafted to limit intermodulation distortion. In simple terms, when an audio signal at a given frequencies passes through an imperfect audio system, several noise frequencies will be present at the output which are either multiples, sums and differences of frequencies of the original audio signal but much weaker than the desired audio signal frequencies. This distortion becomes significant when the volume is turned up!

• Neodymium Ferrous Magnet and Aluminium Voice Coils

The permanent magnets adopted for the Sennheiser HD 598 are highly optimized and field-strengthened neodymium ferrous magnets. This coupled with lightweight aluminum voice coils provide a superior dynamic response and efficiency.

• Surround Reflector 

The Sennheiser HD 598 features open earcups that provide a spatial field - a perception of distance from the sound source. To improve on this, the HD 598 is further equipped with a surround reflector to provide an extended spatial sound field.

• Velour Ear pads and Leatheratte headband 

The HD 598 Ear pads are made of velour fabric, which makes them have a smooth and tender feel to provide extra wearing comfort during listening sessions. Its headband is lined with leatheratte - an imitation of leather, to complete a luxurious and comfortable headphone set.

Design attributes of the Sennheiser HD 598 Over the Ear Headphones

• Dynamic Transducer type

The Sennheiser HD 598 headphones have been designed with dynamic transducers with Duofol diaphragms or call them cones. This means that once a changing current is impressed on the voice coil suspended in the field of a permanent magnet, it creates a magnetic field which changes polarity and direction at the rate of the changing current. When the dynamically changing magnetic field interacts with the permanent magnet, it creates a repulsive force when the polarities of the two fields match and an attractive force when the polarities are different. This vibrates the voice coil several times a second [depending on changing current] carrying the duofol diaphragm or cone with it and consequently the air around it - creating music sound. The permanent magnets adopted in the HD 598 are made from highly optimized and field-strengthened neodymium ferrous material to provide an excellent dynamic response.

• Frequency response

The Sennheiser HD 598 headphones respond to an incredibly wider audio frequency spectrum, going from as low as 12Hz  and as high as 38,500Hz. This means the HD 598 has been designed with an audiophile in mind and it certainly lives up to this expectation and moreover for a fraction of the cost of high end audiophile headphones!

• Input Impedance

The Sennheiser HD 598 is generally a low impedance headphone with input impedance in the order of 50 Ohms. This means, the HD 598 will still give you quality output on most modern home cinema systems and professional audio equipment, which are designed with low impedance output headphone jacks.

• Sensitivity

Sensitivity of a headphone determines how loud a headphone is for a given level of a sound signal input. It is measured in decibels of Sound pressure level (SPL). Sound Pressure Level (SPL) is the change in local air pressure that results due to a disturbance caused by a sound wave. For the Sennheiser HD 598, the SPL value has measured to be 112 dB at 1kHz for an amplifier input voltage of 1Vrms.

• Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is a widely and intentionally misrepresented concept by most audio equipment manufacturers. The value of the THD ratio ideally should represent how much of the unwanted frequencies (harmonics) a given audio system has at its output for an entire audio signal range of 20Hz - 20kHz. Traditionally, this is quoted by manufacturers as measured for a single frequency. For the Sennheiser HD 598, this value of THD is <0.1% at 1kHz, and 100 dB SPL.

• Dimensions and weight of the HD 598

The HD 598 is shipped in a product packaging that measures (L x B x H): 205 x 100 x 240 mm and  weighs a net weight of 294 g. 

• What's In The Box?

A 3 meter, single sided and changeable OFC, 4-strand copper cable, a gold-plated 6.3 mm stereo jack with a 3.5 mm gold-plated adaptor and Sennheiser HD 598 headphones.

Buying guide

• The headphones sound really good for an open back earcup design, and coupled with their low input Impedance, you can invariably use them with any Hi-Fi stereo or home cinema without a preamplifier and still get excellent results.

• The Sennheiser HD 598 lives up to its promise of wearing comfort; even after long hours use, you never get the awful burning ears sensation.

• Open back earcup designs normally have problems with poor Bass. But with the HD 598, the Bass is clear and just sufficient. 

• Like all open back earcup designs, the HD 598 are always a distress to the people around you because they allow music sound to escape from the headphones, which is perceived as noise by others. So you cannot use them while on your travels; on the Airplane for instance or in a public place. 

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MDR-XB950BT/B Extra Bass Boost Bluetooth Headset

The MDR-XB950BT/B is a wide, adjustable closed-back type of headband headset that completely covers your ears to minimize background noise and give you a studio like sound environment. You can operate it as a  wireless headband headset via Bluetooth or using the supplied cord as a fixed headset. The MDR-XB950BT/B features large dome driver (speaker) units with electronic bass boot and active noise cancellation. With the XB950BT you have the convenience of answering calls and managing your playlists wirelessly through its Bluetooth feature.

 

 

 

 

 

Full tech Specs of the MDR-XB950BT/B Bluetooth Headset

40 mm, dome Driver unit

The dome drivers adopted by Sony particularly for this MDR-XB950BT/B headset respond virtually flawlessly across the entire audio signal range of 20-20kHz. Their size allows them to reproduce perfect and high quality low frequency notes giving you a studio sound experience. 

MDR-XB950BT/B Sensitivity

Sensitivity of a headphone is a measure of how loud a headphone is if a given level of an audio source is impressed at its input terminals. It shows how effectively a given headphone converts an input audio voltage into an acoustic or sound signal. Sensitivity is normally stated as Sound Pressure Level (SPL) in dB (decibels) per mW(milli watt) or SPL dB/mW.
The MDR-XB950BT/B is rated at 102dB/mW sensitivity using the supplied cord. This means it produces an acoustic signal of 102dB of Sound Pressure Level if 1 mW of an audio signal is impressed at its terminals. Please note that, sensitivity is not linear! For instance doubling the power of the input audio signal to 2 mW does not double the SPL to say 204dB. The engineering and mathematics involved is beyond the scope of this article. 
Typical headphone sensitivity ranges between 80dB/mW to 125dB/mW. The higher this value is, the louder a given headset will be for a given input and the converse is true.

 

Extended Comfort

The lush, wrap around ear cushions provide a seal out for background noise while allowing for a comfortable listening experience for extended periods.

Frequency Response a.k.a Bandwidth 

The MDR-XB950BT/B gives an almost linear response for frequencies between 3Hz and 28kHz using the supplied cord while the effective frequency range in Bluetooth mode is 20-20kHz. All frequencies outside this range are severely attenuated or marginally reproduced. The large frequency response range is attributable to the large (40mm) dome drivers adopted for this headset. However, this choice sacrifices the higher tweeter-like and woofer-like amplification gains you would experience if different drivers were adopted for this purpose. Sony cleverly 'outwits' this drawback using a specially designed Digital Signal Processor (DSP) to electronically boost the low frequency response (Electronic Bass Boost).

Electronic Bass Boost 

This is a feature built into the MDR-XB950BT/B in which a DSP designed with special audio codecs remarkably improves the low-end bass response of headphones. The DSP produces club-like music with enhanced bass by a mere press of a Bass Boost Button.

Supported Audio File Formats

• SBC codec support

 All Bluetooth devices are designed to support SBC codec by default. SBC is a low complexity and medium bit rate sub-band codec for the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) which was specified by the Special Interest Group (SIG) for data transfer between Bluetooth devices. It was specified to optimally utilize the limited Bluetooth bandwidth and additionally, conform to the low power data transmission constraints.

• AAC codec support

• aptX codec support

General

• Can be used as a wireless headband headset with Bluetooth on or as a fixed headset using the supplied detachable cord.
• The MDR-XB950BT/B has an Active Noise Control switch on the on ear-cup
• Gold-plated stereo mini plug

Hardware

• Omni directional, electret condenser microphone. An electret is a stable dielectric with a permanent electrostatic charge. The effective operational frequency range of the microphone is from 100 Hz - 4,000 Hz.
• Detachable stereo connecting cord
• Micro-USB charging cable
• Remote Control : Via Bluetooth AVRCP: Play, Pause, FF, FR, Volume +/-, Bass Boost on/off

Power

• Built-in Lithium-ion rechargeable battery
• Battery Life (Approx) : Continuous music playback: up to 20 hours; Continuous communications: up to 20 hours; Standby time: up to 200 hours
• Battery Charging (Approx) : Appox. 4 hours for full charge
• Power Handling Capacity : 1000 mW using supplied stereo cord
• Power Consumption in Operation : 1.5 W

Speaker (Driver unit)

Sony adopted the 40mm dome type dynamic closed speakers for the MDR-XB950BT/B with measured impedance of  24 ohms at 1 kHz using supplied cable. When we speak of impedance of a headset we mean the measure of opposition to the flow of an audio signal current through the speaker circuit.

Weights and Measurements

• Cord Length (Approx.) : 1.2m Headphone cable,  0.5m micro-USB cable for battery charging
• Weight (Approx.) : 10 oz. (280 g) without cord

Wireless features

• The Bluetooth version adopted for MDR-XB950BT/B is version 3.0 and operates in the 2.4 GHz band (2.4000 GHz-2.4835 GHz). It uses Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS) techniques to data transmission.
• It uses the Advanced Audio Distribution Profile (A2DP) for audio streaming with a transmission range of 20-20kHz and line of sight of 30 ft or 10 m.
• The MDR-XB950BT/B has the NFC capability for Bluetooth pairing.

Buying guide

• This headband headset is relatively priced; going for $199.9 as compared to similar premium sound headsets that can very easily go for as much as $600. The MDR-XB950BT is a compromise between professional studio application and an ordinary usage.

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Monster DNA Pro Wireless Head Phones

Monster's DNA Pro Wireless headphones makes use of the proven acoustic features of its predecessor, DNA Pro over-ear headphones. This DNA Pro Wireless model revolutionizes your aural experience while listening to music from smartphones, media players and other Bluetooth enabled devices. Support for low energy advanced Bluetooth feature makes it possible to stream music wirelessly to the DNA Pro Wireless headphone for several hours, enjoying a crisp and CD-like quality sound.

Attractive features of the DNA Pro Wireless Headphones

• Support for Low Energy Bluetooth 4.0 (BT 4.0 LE)

Bluetooth Smart or Bluetooth 4.0 LE is an extension of classic Bluetooth technology that enables communicating devices conserve battery power. Typically, the average power consumption for BT 4.0 LE enabled devices is about 10mW while for Classic Bluetooth enabled devices is about 1W. Clearly, with a DNA Pro Wireless headphone equipped with this technology you should expect more hours of music streaming.

• Embedded AAC for iOS devices

Monster's DNA Pro Wireless supports Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) codec which is the default lossy digital audio compression technique adopted for iPhone and all iOS based devices. AAC is a coding standard that achieves better sound quality than MP3 for the same bit rate and was designed to replace MP3 coding standard.  Because Monster's DNA Pro Wireless supports AAC, you are certain to enjoy a quality sound output.

• aptX codec technology

AAC codec is for iOS devices while for aptX codec is for Android devices. aptX is a near-lossless wireless codec developed for Android devices. The aptX codec is currently applied in the music industry, public broadcasters, film studios smartphones, etc because it can deliver CD-like quality audio over Bluetooth. Bluetooth has a limited bandwidth so it is not always possible to deliver high bit rate high quality audio. But thanks to aptX codec, the bit rates are significantly reduced while preserving audio quality and minimizing latency inherent in its low audio coding delay.
Additionally, because a Bluetooth connection is limited by a maximum bandwidth, aptX codec reduces the size of audio files and sequences them over the Bluetooth connection without affecting the sound quality.

• Deep bass and Crisp sound

Just like all Monster's DNA headphones, the DNA Pro Wireless model offers you the much coveted bass with crisp detail. DNA Pro Wireless headphones are tuned for a live music experience.

• Active noise cancellation

The DNA Pro Wireless features an Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) mechanism to enhance user experience. With the ANC, interfering noise signal is picked, analyzed and its signal characteristics such as amplitude and phase measured. A replica of the noise signal is then generated and transmitted in antiphase to the noise signal thereby interfering with the noise signal and countering its effects.

• Touch interface 

No more pressing buttons to control your music playlist and volume. The DNA Pro Wireless introduces a touch interface for this function to enhance user experience.

• Power saving mode

The DNA Pro Wireless headphones automatically power off when either they are folded and when there is no input for a prolonged period, thus saving you precious playback time on battery.

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LG Lifeband Touch Activity Tracker

As innovation in the wearables technology gains momentum, a distinction between smartwatches and fitness trackers is slowly blurring. An example is the LG Lifeband Touch Activity tracker which combines both functionality. It features an OLED touch screen smartphone media controls, incoming Call ID and SMS ID service controls. LG Lifeband Touch Activity Tracker is a device to help you keep up your fitness levels as well as effortlessly access your smartphone during workouts.

Features and Full Tech specs of LG Lifeband Touch

• 3-axis accelerometer

The three axis accelerometer forms the core function of the LG Lifeband Touch. It accurately tracks and measures horizontal, vertical and lateral body movements.

• Altimeter

The altimeter measures current height of an object with reference to a datum point normally sea level. The altimeter built into the LG Lifeband Touch Activity Tracker is used in conjunction with GPS to determine more accurately the current elevation of the "Lifeband Touch" - nominally your current elevation.

• Bright OLED Touch screen Display

LG Lifeband Touch is built with a 0.91 inch, 128 x32 resolution OLED screen display. An OLED a.k.a Organic Light Emitting Diode by construction uses a thin film of an organic semiconductor layer to emit light when subjected to the flow of an electric current. Displays built on this technology offer a very bright and rich display.

• Tracking Metrics

LG Lifeband touch is designed with features to accurately track steps taken, distance covered, Runtime of workouts, Calories expended, Pacing level, ascent or descent. It achieves this using data measured by the altimeter and the three axis accelerometer.

• Gesture recognition technology

LG Lifeband uses gesture recognition technology for controlling the display. You can activate or de-activate the OLED display by the flick of the wrist.

• Compatibility with other fitness apps

The data collected from the tracking sensors is interpreted and processed by LG's fitness app to give meaningful and useable statistical data representation. In addition, the Lifeband Touch interfaces and shares data with other fitness apps like RunKeeper, MyFitnessPal, Wahoo fitness, Zephyr and Polar.

• LG Fitness app smartphone compatibility

LG Fitness app supports data syncing with iOS and Android smartphones. Only iOS 6 or later smartphones on iPhone 4S/5/5S/5C and iPod Touch are currently supported. On Android platform only android 4.3 on LG G2, LG Nexus 5, LG G Flex and Samsung Galaxy Note2/Note3/S3/S4/Round are currently supported.

• Bluetooth 4.0

LG Lifeband is enabled with low energy Bluetooth for wireless data transfer and syncing. Call and SMS notifications are made possible via this Bluetooth connection.

• Long Battery Life

The battery installed in the LG Lifeband Touch can last up to approximately 5 days on a single charge without an active Bluetooth link and approximately 3 days when the Bluetooth link is active.

• Media Playback Controls

With the LG Lifeband Touch Activity track you needn't fiddle with your smartphone controls to listen to your favorite playlist while you workout. All you need is the revolutionary LG HRM Earphone Heart Rate Monitor and a Bluetooth enabled phone. Sync your Lifeband Activity Tracker with your smartphone and control essential music functions on your Lifeband Touch Activity Tracker screen. Answer and terminate phone calls by a simple touch on your OLED screen.

• Water Resistant

Lifeband Touch Activity tracker is splash proof and may not survive if submerged under water for extended periods.

• Vibration motor and Alerts

Inside an LG Lifeband Touch activty tracker is a tiny vibration motor which provides support for notifications on incoming calls and SMS, Wake up alarm and activity performance.

• Heart Rate Monitor Compatibility

LG Lifeband Touch is compatible with LG HRM Earphones, Polar H7/H6, Zephyr HxMTM Smart and Wahoo Blue HR heart rate monitor headphones.

• Multiple User Profiles

LG Lifeband Touch Activity tracker supports multiple user profiles. Create, customize and save your user profile for quick access of your routines.

• Weight

Lifeband Touch Activity Tracker weighs approximately 0.1lbs

Buying guide

• To get the most out of this activity tracker you need to pay close attention to the compatible smartphones. If you cannot sync your smartphone with the Lifeband Activity, then you might have a very frustrating experience.
• It is advisable to buy LG HRM Headphones along with this activity tracker if you can afford. With these you are certain to get the best out of this Lifeband tracker.
• The Lifeband Touch battery life is dependent on useage characteristics as well as battery age. It is possible that you might not achieve the specified battery life performance.

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Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity Tracker

Fitbit Flex is a slim, elegant activity and sleep tracker from Fitbit Incorporation. Fitbit is a company based in San Francisco California which specializes in health and fitness wearable innovation. Some of their products include Fitbit Flex wireless activity and sleep tracker, Fitbit Zip wireless activity tracker, Fitbit One Wireless activity tracker, Aria WiFi Smart Scale, Fitbit Force wireless activity and sleep tracker and many others.

Fitbit flex is a comfortable wearable that you can use to track steps taken, calories burned and distance covered all day long. While at night you can use it to track the quality of your sleep and at the same time wake you up in the morning by the vibrations of an embedded vibration motor. At the core of fitbit flex is fitbit's leading edge three axis Micro Electro Mechanical Sensor (MEMS) accelerometer which enables it to accurately track movements.  These movements are interpreted and processed by proprietary software installed on Flex to give meaningful statistical data.

Attractive features on the Wireless Fitbit Flex

• Wireless Stats Sync

Fitbit flex supports low energy Bluetooth 4.0 which allows you to wirelessly transfer stats data to your PC or Mac pre-installed with fitbit connect application if you are within reception range of the Bluetooth dongle inserted in the USB port of your PC. Fitbit Flex is able to sync stats data with most iOS and Android based Smartphones through Bluetooth. See your progress in real time on the fitbit dashboard all day long.

• Setting and having a go at your goal

With flex you choose which goal to track. Is it the the steps taken, calories burned? Or the distance to be covered? Challenge yourself and monitor your progress in real time. Flex is designed with five LED lights that light up to indicate your progress for the set goal. Each light represents 20% progress.

• Fitbit app

With the freely available fitbit app for iOS and Android smartphones, you have a host of tools available at your disposal. For instance, you can track, log and map out runs and workout routes using the Mobilerun feature. Food tools are my favorite. You can scan foodstuff barcodes and immediately build a nutritional profile from a database of over 350,000 foodstuffs and restaurants. So as you workout, you are able to check the calories burned against the calories consumed. This feature creates an incentive to push your workouts even further.

• Compatibility with 'traditional' apps

Fitbit is compatible with many health and fitness apps that we have got accustomed to. Apps like Run Keeper, Map My Fitness, Lose it, etc work well with fitbit. You are able to export data to these apps and apps like Lose It, also let you import their data into your fitbit dashboard, so you can access stats by either app.

Full tech specs of fitbit Flex

• Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC enabled

• Fitbit flex can aggregates minute data for the past 7 days and  daily data for the past 30 days. Regular syncing is advisable to avoid loss of valuable stats data since older stats are automatically deleted to free up memory space.

• Fitbit flex has a Lithium-polymer battery which lasts up to 5 days on a single charge. This might however change with the age of the battery.

• 3 axis MEMS sensor for tracking movements

• Vibration motor for waking you up in the morning

• Water resistant up to pressures equivalent to 1 Atmosphere or 10m of water.

• Wrist sizes: 140-176 mm and 161-209 mm, width: 13.99 mm

 

Buying tips

• Flex works well in optimum environmental conditions. It works well in pressures below 5 Atmospheres while under water, temperatures between -20° to 45° C and a maximum operating altitude of 30,000 ft.

• The fitbit connect application requires an internet connection. It is designed to work online.

• If you envisage using a PC for data sync, you will need a free USB port to insert in a Bluetooth sync dongle.

• Fitbit app is compatible with Operating systems; Windows XP/7/8, Mac OS X 10.5 or higher and browsers; Firefox, Internet explorer, Safari and Google chrome.

• The flex is neither a smartwatch nor does it include functionality of a smartwatch; it is purely a fitness wristband.

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The Smartwatch Device Evolution

The smartwatch device market is gaining momentum. A number of players are joining the race. Among them include Sony, Nike, Seiko, Garmin, Motorola, LG, Hyundai, Pebble, Samsung and others. Samsung,  Sony and Pebble have the lion's share of the market. Innovation and development in the smartwatch is taking shape and today's smartwatch is equipped to do much more than when the first smart watch was introduced by Seiko in 1982. Pebble's smartwatch for instance can;

• Monitor and track body health: You can track your body activity using apps such as, Runkeeper, Runtastic, Movable, and Let's Muv installed on your smartwatch, for information about steps, sleep patterns, calories burned and so much more.
• Text messaging: The e-mail to SMS app takes advantage of email-to-text services by cellular providers  to deliver short emails to mobiles as SMS messages. The Email to SMS app enables users create a few pre-written texts—such as "In a meeting!" or "Driving now. Will text you later"—that can be sent directly from the watch. 
• Check sports scores: The ESPN Pebble app makes it possible to get a quick glance at NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA Football or NCAA Basketball scores.
• Act as a remote camera shutter: Your smartwatch can quickly be turned into a camera shutter for smartphones and cameras using a Pebble app. Similar features are also available on smartphone cameras through watch apps like PebbleCamera, Pebble Snap and PebbCam, among others.

•  Shake to get Yelp recommendations: If you're looking for loads of Yelp listings to evaluate, you'll still want to use your phone or laptop for that. But when you need a quick pick for a restaurant or bar, just open the Yelp Pebble app and shake your arm for a nearby recommendation. 

Samsung smartwatches have taken the market by storm. Realistically the gadgets are sleak and with a very beautiful cosmetic look. Samsung's recent Gear fit, Galaxy Gear and Gear 2 Neo smartwatches are the hottest selling from the Samsung brand.

With Samsung Galaxy Gear Smartwatches you can make phone calls, see messages as they arrive, take photos, Track your fitness and so much more.

If you plan to acquire a smartwatch, be ready to part with anything between $100 and $500.

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