I wore 4 wearables on my left arm, and 6 on my right arm, to understand how they might vary with regard to number of steps walked and calories burned during a working day. The results are very interesting with variances between devices on both arms lower than my test on 14th Feb 2016. Perhaps my arms were not out of sync in terms how one swung more than the other today?

1. Real World Test
Activity tracking using 10 wearables
15th Feb 2016
Maneesh Juneja

2. Disclosure
• I have no commercial ties to any of the companies that make the
wearable technology used in this test
• All of the devices were purchased by me using my own funds
• My views expressed are my own

3. 10 devices.
4 smartwatches. 6 activity trackers.
From Left to Right
Huawei Watch
Microsoft Band 2
Basis Peak
Apple Watch
From Left to Right
Mi Band 1S
Fitbit Flex
Misfit Flash

4. Background
• The majority of the population are yet to use a wearable to track activity
• Insurers, employers and healthcare systems may be experimenting with
using basic data obtained from wearables
• My objective is to test the accuracy of wearables in terms of walking
(steps, miles walked, calories burned)
• This is a real world test, not a clinical trial
• Needs to be repeated & results validated
• Measurements may vary because the device is not closest to the wrist. I
will have to repeat the test later, but swapping the position of devices on
each arm
• Need a baseline for reference – mechanical German made waist mounted
pedometer has been ordered

5. Left arm (my non dominant arm) - smartwatches
• All devices worn continuously for 11 hours during the day
• All devices were fully charged prior to start of test
• Each device was connected by Bluetooth to the phone for duration of test
• Basis Peak, Microsoft Band, and Huawei watch paired with Samsung
Galaxy S6 Edge +
• Apple Watch paired with iPhone 6+
• All devices are were touching my skin (some use heart rate monitoring
for calorie burned algorithm)
• My exact date of birth (or year and month), weight (108kg), height (6’2”)
entered in apps for all devices

6. Right arm (my dominant arm) - information
• All devices worn continuously for 11 hours during the day
• 3 different models, but wearing 2 identical products of each model
• In addition to comparing with the smartwatches on my left arm, I’m interested
whether the identical products also produce identical results
• 3 devices connected by Bluetooth to iPhone 6+
• 3 devices connected by Bluetooth to Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+
• All 6 devices were touching my skin
• My exact date of birth (or year and month), weight (108kg), height (6’2”)
entered in apps for all devices
• In Fitbit app, dominant arm as a location selected
• In Mi Band app, right arm as a location selected
• In Misfit app, wrist as a location selected

7. Data from Left Arm
Full table of results from both arms in later slides

8. Huawei Watch
Basis Peak
Microsoft Band 2
Apple Watch

9. Data from Right Arm
Showing screenshots from app since the devices don’t have displays

10. Mi Band 1S (1st away from wrist) Mi Band 1S (2nd away from wrist)

11. Fitbit Flex Green (3rd away from wrist) Fitbit Flex Red (4th away from wrist)
I often work unusual hours,
so I sometimes nap in the
afternoon.
Note the minor difference
in time asleep, despite
being identical products on
the same arm

12. Misfit Black (5th away from wrist) Misfit White (6th away from wrist)

13. Q. Why are calories on Apple watch so low?
• A. Apple Watch only shows ‘active’ calories. The Health app will show
the ‘resting’ and ‘active’ calories, when added up can be compared
with other devices. I assume this applies to the low numbers from
Huawei Watch & Mi Band 1S too.
362.53+2,009.9
= 2,372.43

14. Glossary
•LA = Left Arm
•RA = Right Arm
•1W = 1st away from wrist
•2W = 2nd away from wrist
•And so on

15. Device Firmware version Steps walked Distance
(miles)
Calories burned Steps per mile
(derived)
Position
Huawei Watch Android Wear
1.3.0.2421912
5,976 N/A 432 (Assumed to
be active calories)
N/A Left Arm (4th away
from wrist)
Microsoft Band 2 2.0.4117.0 26 R 5,190 2.73 2,298 1,901 Left Arm (3rd away
from wrist)
Basis Peak 1.18.3.0 4,348 N/A 2,945 N/A Left Arm (2nd
away from wrist)
Apple Watch 2.1 (13S661) 5,545 3.01 2,372 * (Active of
362 + Resting)
1,842 Left Arm (1st away
from wrist)
Mi Band 1S 4.15.11.20
Paired to iPhone 6+
6,045 2.80 392 (Assumed to
be active calories)
2,159 Right Arm (1st
away from wrist)
Mi Band 1S 4.15.11.20
Paired to S6 Edge+
5,763 2.72 379 (Assumed to
be active calories)
2,119 Right Arm (2nd
away from wrist)
Fitbit Flex (Green) 81
Paired to iPhone 6+
5,306 2.57 2,452 2,065 Right Arm (3rd
away from wrist)
Fitbit Flex (Red) 7.81
Paired to S6 Edge+
5,311 2.46 2,392 2,159 Right Arm (4th
away from wrist)
Misfit Flash
(Black)
Not provided in app
Paired to iPhone 6+
4,728 2.00 2,699 2,364 Right Arm (5th
away from wrist)
Misfit Flash
(White)
Not provided in app
Paired to S6 Edge+
4,894 2.10 2,706 2,330 Right Arm (6th
away from wrist)

16. Variance between highest and lowest results
on both arms
Measurement Highest Lowest Variance Percent Variance
Steps 6,045 (Mi Band 1S – RA
2W)
4,348 (Basis Peak – LA
2W) 1,697 39.0%
Distance (miles) 3.01 (Apple Watch – LA
1W)
2.0 (Misfit Flash Black –
RA 5W)
1.01 50.5%
Total Calories
(includes Active
Calories)
2,945 (Basis Peak – LA
2W)
2,298 (Microsoft Band 2
– LA 3W)
647 28.2%
Active Calories
(those from
activity tracked)
432 (Huawei Watch – LA
4W)
362* (Apple Watch – LA
1W)
70 19.3%
*Using 362 rather than 361 for Apple watch based upon data stored in Health app

17. Variance between highest and lowest results
on left arm
Measurement Highest Lowest Variance Percent Variance
Steps 5,976 (Huawei Watch –
LA 4W)
4,348 (Basis Peak – LA
2W)
1,628 37.4%
Distance (miles) 3.01 (Apple Watch – LA
1W)
2.73 (Microsoft Band 2 –
LA 3W)
0.28 10.3%
Calories 2,945 (Basis Peak – LA
2W)
2,298 (Microsoft Band 2
– LA 3W)
647 28.2%

18. Variance between highest and lowest results
on right arm
Measurement Highest Lowest Variance Percent Variance
Steps 6,045 (Mi Band 1S – RA
1W)
4,728 (Misfit Flash Black
–RA 5W)
1,317 27.9%
Distance (miles) 2.80 (Mi Band 1S – RA
1W)
2.00 (Misfit Flash Black
– RA 5W)
0.80 40.0%
Total Calories
(includes Active
Calories)
2,706 (Misfit Flash White
– RA 6W)
2,392 (Fitbit Flex Red –
RA 4W)
314 13.1%

19. Variance between Mi Band 1S on right arm
Measurement 1st away from wrist
(paired to iPhone 6+)
2nd away from wrist
(paired to S6 Edge+)
Variance (2nd away-
1st away)
Percent Variance
Steps 6,045 5,763 -282 -4.7%
Distance
(miles)
2.80 2.72 -0.08 -2.9%
Active
Calories
392 379 -13 -3.3%

20. Variance between Fitbit Flex on right arm
Measurement Green model (3rd away
from wrist)
Red model (4th away
from wrist)
Variance (4th away-
3rd away)
Percent Variance
Steps 5,306 5,311 5 0.1%
Distance
(miles)
2.57 2.46 -0.11 -4.3%
Total Calories
Burned
2,452 2,392 -60 -2.4%

21. Variance between Misfit Flash on right arm
Measurement Black model (5th away
from wrist)
White model (6th away
from wrist)
Variance (6th away-
5th away)
Percent Variance
Steps 4,728 4,894 166 3.5%
Distance
(miles)
2.00 2.10 0.1 5.0%
Total Calories
Burned
2,699 2,706 7 -0.3%

22. All feedback welcome
• If you have any feedback, want to share your own findings, or have
suggestions on how I could improve my testing, please do get in touch
• The best way is on Twitter @maneeshjuneja
• If would rather send me a message privately, you can email me via my
website