Valentina Palladino
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Until recently, "fitness tracker" was a glorified name for a pedometer. Most wristbands focused on steps and deriving nebulous calorie counts from how many steps you take, and many of the most high-end fitness bands still put steps at the forefront of daily activity.
Fitness bands like the
Moov Now
take a different approach. The second iteration of the Moov band has a number of workouts that you can try out at your own pace, all featuring a voice coach who guides you while you listen to your favorite tunes. While the $79 Moov Now doesn't have the name recognition of Fitbit or Jawbone, it takes a more active approach to fitness that those who are looking to step up their game or try something new will appreciate.
Design
The Moov Now is smaller and sleeker than the original Moov. It's a tiny disk, similar to the Misfit Flash or Shine, but with a small indicator light on its top. Pressing down on top of the disk will initiate a sync when the app is open, and the light will glow red. The Moov Now comes in blue, white, and red, and each version comes with a silicone strap. It's powered by a coin cell battery, too, meaning you'll get at least six months of use before replacement.
The strap is different from the original as well, as it now has small holes cut out all over it. The holes are supposed to make the entire bracelet more breathable and prevent any skin irritation that could be caused by a solid strap gripping your wrist all day long. The Moov Now module slides into the back of the circular part of the strap like a glove, and I really like this design because it's lightweight, simple, and easy to wear. Since the Moov Now doesn't have a heart rate monitor, you don't need to wear it insanely tight, either, which makes wearing it convenient and comfortable.
THe Moov Now is waterproof, so it tracks swimming, too. While it can be worn alone on your wrist, Moov sells a two-pack of Moov Nows that is essential for anyone trying out the cardio boxing session. Placing a Moov Now on both wrists will let you box pretty much anywhere, no bags needed, and the app will track your progress.
The Moov Now straps on to your wrist or ankle depending on the activity.
The silicone band is stretchy and really easy to wear.
The device comes with small, medium, and large sized bands.
The module slips out of the band so you can easily switch out different sizes.
The small indicator light flashes when you press the device to sync with its mobile app.
Together, the module and the band weigh next to nothing, making it comfortable to wear all day.
The back of the wristband sits flush to your wrist.
You can use the Moov Now as a singular device or as a pair of two devices for its cardio boxing workout.
A personal trainer at your fingertips and in your ears
The Moov Now isn't like other fitness bands that put steps on a pedestal. Instead, the Moov focuses on specific workouts and time spent moving. The first thing you'll notice in its companion app for Android and iOS is a bar at the top of the homepage that shows how many hours and minutes you've been active that day. The Moov uses its accelerometer to measure movement and lack thereof so it can estimate how much time you've spent out of your chair. It uses the same method to estimate sleep time as well.
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Tapping on the arrow next to the bar shows you a breakdown of your active time by hour. While you can't edit your active time if the Moov misjudged it (I found it to be pretty accurate, so I had no desire to do so), you can edit your sleep time. Since neither sleep quantity nor quality can be measured accurately by accelerometers alone, it's a good feature to have if you at least want to input the time you went to bed and the time your alarm went off.
The Moov Now's main feature is guided workouts for activities like running, walking, cycling, swimming, and gym routines. The top bar in the app has icons for all the available activity categories, and tapping on one scrolls down to all those exercise routines. Currently, the "Run & Walk" category has the most workouts, with five to choose from: Running Efficiency, Speed Endurance, Brisk Walking, Sprint Intervals, and Open Training. Selecting one brings you to that workout's dedicated page, where more details can be read along with highlighted traits of that workout like "cardio," "lean muscle," or "low impact." While you can't filter activities by these highlights, they are a good, quick way to determine whether a workout will address your goals.
Setting up the Moov Now for the first time only takes a few taps.
The app will ask you to press the top of the Moov Now to connect it via Bluetooth.
Each workout will tell you how to wear the device.
It takes a second to connect, and you'll see if you can add other Bluetooth-enabled accessories.
Sound check your headphones for volume and then choose your difficulty level.
The Moov Now's voice coach will guide you through the exercise, and you can choose your preferred app view.
The Extras tab shows you stats like range of motion and calories burned.
You can change difficulty levels during interval breaks, and when you're finished, the activity will be saved.
The 7 Minute+ program is good for gym environments.
You can use the voice coach and/or the app's on-screen instructions to follow along.
Each move has a timer, and the GIF-like video at the top shows you how to perform the exercise accurately.
You'll have a few seconds to breathe in between sets, and the activity will be saved at the end.
You can look back at your stats immediately after you've finished the workout.
When you select the workout you want, you tap the top of the Moov to connect it via Bluetooth. For certain routines, you can connect a Bluetooth LE-enabled heart rate monitor for the app to gather information from. Since the Moov delivers voice coaching, the app asks you to "sound check" your headphones, which is just to make sure the volume is optimal. You can continue to listen to your preferred music app, such as iTunes or Spotify, and the female voice that guides you through the workouts—we'll call her Amy—will only lower the music volume when she needs to update you.
After this, you can choose your workout's level of difficulty. While the Moov currently has only nine workout routines to choose from, each has multiple intensity levels, which almost makes up for the paltry selection. A Moov representative told me that the company is working on another body weight workout as well as a spin routine for the Moov Now, although release dates haven't been confirmed.
Amy will give you a short introduction before the workout begins, and then you're on your way. Depending on the type of routine, you may have to listen to Amy more—when I did the Brisk Walking routine on the treadmill at my gym, I just listened whenever Amy chimed in with my cadence update or pointers like "suck in your abs to keep the proper posture." But during the 7-Minute+ routine, I listened for her after every rep when she told me which move came next. If you don't have a problem looking at your phone during these workouts, you can also glance at the app for routines that have you changing positions often.
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The only time I got annoyed with Amy was during workouts that had many rapid changes. The 7-Minute+ routine has you going from jumping jacks to squats to plank pose all in under 30 seconds in some levels, and that means Amy chimes in very frequently, resulting in a low roar of music in the background.
Video shot and edited by Jennifer Hahn.
But overall, having just a voice guide you through a structured workout makes what could be unfamiliar territory more manageable. Trying new workouts can be intimidating, but the Moov Now makes it easy and puts the coach in your ears, pushing you privately toward a reachable goal. I also appreciated how the Moov Now suggested different intensity levels for me depending on how well I did during previous intervals.
When you've finished a workout, the Moov shows you your history, which you can access from the homepage of the app from the bottom bar. You can tap each individual workout to see all its recorded stats, including the levels you completed, your best set, and breakdowns of all your sets and intervals from that routine. There's a lot of information that the device records for each workout, especially when you get into routines with a variety of different moves within them. It's overwhelming when you first see all the RPM and rep counts, but it's good information to have for those who are really looking to push themselves to the next level.
A fitness band for exercise, not steps
One thing any Moov Now user will have to get used to is being an active player in their fitness regimen. With bands like the Jawbone Up3 or the Fitbit Charge, you can get away with putting the device on your wrist and forgetting about it for days. In some ways that's a good thing, but it can lead to lackluster results—or even
abandonment of the device
all together.
If you're serious about exercising more or getting in shape, having a device that doesn't let you skate by with daily step counts could be better for you. With the Moov Now, you have to interact with the device and the app if you want to use it at all, and if you're doing that, you're probably working out regularly using some of the device's routines. The device balances choice and guidance well, allowing you to customize your workout just enough and then follow Amy the Voice Coach to success. While I wish it had a bigger list of activities to choose from now, it doesn't take away from the fact that the Moov Now is a much more focused fitness device than the most popular models out there.
The Good
The voice coach is a great guide through both easy and difficult routines. She keeps you on track while helping you perform a little better each time.
Super small and weightless design lets you forget about the device on your body.
It's waterproof, so you can track each stroke you take while swimming and shower with it, too.
Six-month battery life means the Moov Now isn't another tracker you have to worry about recharging regularly.
The Bad
Running currently has the most robust variety of routines to choose from—cycling and swimming only have general tracking.
Since the bands are meant for wrists and ankles, even the medium sizes are super long and can be tricky to fasten.
The Ugly
Dedicated fitness trackers like the Moov Now could become obsolete if (when?) smartwatches become more universal.
