Actofit: Take II, Actofit Rise review

Actofit just notified me that they are sending a replacement unit for my original device, the Gen 1 Actofit fitness tracker.

The new device is called the Actofit Rise and it looks good on paper with continuous heart rate, GPS and is IP67 waterproof.

The thing I liked most about this device in its first incarnation was its ability to track reps and sets in the gym along with the ability to train new exercises, such as kayak paddle strokes.  Unfortunately, the first release of this product was buggy and not quite ready for prime time.

If this new device delivers on gym tracking abilities and is a reasonable all-day, every day fitness tracker then it might displace the Amazfit Bip as my main device.

We shall see.

Update 9/24/18: The device arrived in the mail today.

I was expecting to set it up through the app on the phone but it took me a while to realize the device itself runs a full version of Android and all setup of Bluetooth, Wifi, etc. happens through the device itself.

As you can imagine, my reading glasses were required once the keyboard popped up on the device and inputting things likes my Gmail user name and password and wifi password should qualify me as a world-class surgeon.  And, no, a stylus did not work, so it took me several attempts.

The device is large compared to the Amazfit Bip, the Atlas Wearables 2 and the first generation of the Actofit, yet the virtual keyboard on the device is very, very small.

I’m reserving judgement until my first gym workout, but I have visions of wearing reading glasses to the gym and fighting with sweaty fingers to input numbers for amount of weight used and correcting the number of reps in case it gets it wrong.

I can’t imagine battery life will be very good considering it is running a full version of Android, but the device is so big they might have a big battery packed in there.

I think the key is going to be keeping BLE and wifi turned off until I need to upload my workouts to the cloud to then be able to pull into the app on the phone.

Reserving judgement, but it is not at all what I expected.

Out of the box

Size vs. the Amazfit Bip

Size vs. the Atlas Wearable 2 (well worn!)

Size vs. the Gen 1 Actofit

Actofit Rise first impressions and early review video

Update 9/26/18:

I was unable to get the device to track workouts and then Actofit informed me that freestyle mode is not available yet and will come in a future update, so for now you have to follow guided routines.  The good news, though, is that you can create your own, custom guided workouts.

Well, that didn’t exactly work at first either, until a new app update came via Play Store overnight last night.

So I updated the app today, created 3 different guided workouts, and when I hit the gym to start the workouts and track them, the Actofit Rise failed to recognize even a single rep of any of the 4 different exercises.

So for now, the product is useless and falls short on promises.  I’m shocked they took so long to develop the gen 2 tracker and it still has so far to go.

I’ll re-review it if and when they do any major upgrades or improvements, but it is going in a drawer until then.

I’d really like to hear from other users of the new device to see if their experience is any different from mine.  I suppose it is possible I got a faulty device.

Update October 24, 2018:

I’m continuing to play with the device and have learned you need to treat it like any other phone or Android device.  If you want reasonable battery life, make sure wifi, BLE and Location Services are all turned off.  It woke me up far too early the other morning as it chimed when the battery died. Quite sooner than I anticipated.

The step counter seems to drastically over-count steps but I actually quite like the on-demand heart rate and blood pressure measurements. Lack of sleep analysis is a major drawback.

More and more, I just can’t shake the feeling that a device so big and bulky just seems like a child’s toy.  I can’t imagine others seeing it on my wrist and thinking any differently.

I’ll keep you updated as I gain experience with the device, but it is still not a credible gym tracker for those who program their own workouts, it lacks sleep analysis and over-counts steps, so at this point it is little more than a novelty.

Update Feb. 7, 2019:

Actofit has not responded to my inquiries and I was recently informed the watch is actually something called the FINOW Q1 PRO watch they sourced from China and apparently simply installed their workout tracking software on it.