Why I Opt for the Halo Band Over More Expensive Fitness Trackers Every Time

Fitness trackers have always interested me—but not for the reasons you’d think. 

I don’t care about timing my workouts, measuring my heart rate during a session, or counting how many calories I’ve burned (although there’s nothing wrong with these metrics). When I’m at the gym, all I care about is having a workout that leaves me pumped full of dopamine and feeling stronger than I was the day before. So why would I concern myself with fancy fitness trackers at all? Two reasons: I’m fascinated with my sleep and dedicated to my step goal (because I have a desk job). 

Enter: Halo Band. 

The Halo Band is a no-frills, budget-friendly ($70) activity tracker that stands up to the popular, high-end fitness trackers on the market. While the Halo Band offers workout and calorie-monitoring features, they’re not the stars of the show for me.

In the past, I’ve used trackers like the Oura Ring ($350) and looked into purchasing a Fitbit ($80-$200) or a Whoop (which is free for the band but requires a monthly subscription to use). For those who need to monitor their blood oxygen level and internal body temperature, features like a pulse oximeter and thermometer can be really useful.

As someone who just wants to ensure I’m getting in enough daily movement and wants to learn a little more about my sleep patterns, the Halo Band is a winner for me. What’s more—I find Halo Band’s sleep analytics incredibly accurate. Other sleep trackers I’ve used had clear discrepancies, but the Halo Band seems to be spot on.

Available at Amazon

Buy now: Amazon Halo Band $70

Every night, the Halo Band tracks my sleep by monitoring:

• The amount of time I’m in REM, deep, and light sleep 
• My total time in bed and how long it takes me to doze off
• Nightly disturbances and the cumulative time spent awake throughout the night
• Sleep efficiency (the percentage of time I spend asleep when I’m in bed)
• And even my body temperature 

The best part about having all of this nifty information is that I can use it to improve my sleep hygiene. Though the Halo Band won’t tell you why you’ve had a bad night’s sleep (that’s up to you to piece together, just like with any other tracker) it’ll assure you that your tiredness isn’t in your head. Its data will clearly say—yes you’ve had a bad night. And for me, that’s enough to get me on track. When I see that I’ve only had 6 hours of sleep one night, I make sure to prioritize sleep the next night. I make a conscious effort to lay off the caffeine during the day, do some deep breathing before bed, and shoot for a solid eight hours of shut-eye. Even for those who've already customized their sleep environment with an adjustable bed, having this data available can only enhance their sleep quality.

Besides the insightful sleep stats the Halo Band gives me, I also use the tracker to keep tabs on my daily step count. Before using the Halo Band, I mainly tracked my steps with my iPhone’s Health app. But this caused problems as I don’t always grab my phone for the little moments throughout the day—going downstairs to grab something, walking to the mailbox, or moving around the gym to pick up dumbbells. Once I got the Halo Band (which is strapped to me day in and day out) I compared my Health app’s step count to my Halo Band’s. Almost every day I clocked an additional 1,500–2,500 steps on my Band compared to the Health app, which seems right on track.

While the Halo Band offers a monthly membership to access all features, unlike competitor options, opting out of the membership doesn’t render the tracker useless. You still retain full access to all the features worth using. Plus, if you opt for the membership, it’s an affordable $4 per month, whereas competitor subscriptions jump upwards of $30 per month. 

The only downside I’ve found to the Halo Band? When I say the tracker is no-frills, that includes its appearance too. Unfortunately, it isn’t nearly as classy in aesthetics as its competitors, so you shouldn’t expect to wear this to any fancy events. The good news is that it has accessory band options, so you can spice it up by ditching the velcro fabric strap that comes with the tracker. But the accuracy, price point, and ease of use of the Halo Band more than make up for the lack of sparkle around its presentation.