Confession: I'm one of those people who's never entirely understood the fitness tracker craze. I know when I'm hitting the gym enough and when I'm not; don't need a pricey, buzzing gadget to tell me that.
But even I have to admit the Withings Go is the real deal.
The best part of the Go is that it's low maintenance. It lacks the overexcited, buzzy quality of FitBits and other trackers I've worn, it can follow you into the shower and swimming pool, and it requires no instructions after the initial setup about how you want it to track your activity.
A big part of that is the Go's simple E-Ink display. E-Ink technology, which moves black and white particles around in gels and requires no power except when it updates its content, is the sort of attractive solution more always-on devices should have. Just watch the black lines around its edges tick around toward your daily steps goal.
Combine that with the wear-anywhere design and super-long (Withings claims eight months. We shall see.) battery life and it's a machine you hardly have to take off or think about.
In that scenario, where I rarely have to take it off to charge, I can understand the appeal of tracking long-term trends in my health and fitness. Withings' attractive, digestible timeline in its app adds to the appeal.
The tracking is pretty impressive as well. Though it recognized how I haven't been for a run in the last few days since I put on the device, it was also able to tell that I lay awake in bed for awhile last night, but fell asleep for the last few hours. It can also automatically sense the motions of swimming and running.
However, much as I hate to admite it, there is one thing that will probably keep me from wearing this long-term: It makes you one of those people. The first day my girlfriend saw me wearing it, she rolled her eyes hard. Then this past Sunday at brunch, my friend could not stop giggling at my "stupid plastic tech watch-thing."
So, if you're braver than me, this $80 device might be the best fitness tracker for you.
