However, because of multiple reasons I decided to stop the experiment after 19 days, and I will explain below why.
Reason 1: Readings vary way too much
Like I said in the first post, I was going to run the HealBe alongside my Fibit and MyFitnessPal, to get an as accurate comparison as possible.
Let's start with the most anticipated results first, the calories consumed.
At times it would not track everything, or it would be perfectly on track and all of a sudden cut down 600+ calories somewhere in the day for no apparent reason.
Of course I wasn't expecting a perfect reading, but in this case it didn't give me the confidence to just wear it on it's own and not track in MyFitnessal, which is ultimately the whole purpose of the HealBe.
The calories out were a little bit better on track, but at times it would read a really high calorie expenditure and for example on the 19th day, a much lower one (about a 500 calorie difference)
Reason 2 - It's too damn bigPerhaps if you're a male, this might be a lesser issue, but the tracker is really big and bulky.
It gets stuck behind clothing and it really looks like you're under some type of police surveillance.
What makes other wearables like FitBit so attractive, is that they are way smaller and less obvious. During my testing time I got a lot of questions about the device, even from strangers.
Reason 3 - It actually hurts
The back of the device it quite rough, and scratches your skin, which was one of the reasons I didn't wear it to bed (other reason follows)
Pretty much the entire time I had a red mark on my wrist becasue of the abraision.
Reason 4 - The battery drains fast
The battery holds up for a day, if that, so you either need to make sure when you leave the house that it's fully charged, or bring the charger with you. I also noticed that when charging, it often didn't make proper contact and it wouldn't charge properly. After fiddling with it a bit each time, the pins would connect and start charging.
So in the end I let it charge overnight, therefore I have no readings for sleep or stresslevel.
Reason 5 - It's not practical
I'm not sure why this type of design was chosen, but the blue LEDs are really impractical to read. You need to press the button on the side to read off time, steps, calores, etc., but I would barely use this option. Telling time on my FitBit or phone is much easier and clearer.
Reason 6 - You actually still need to tell it you're eating
In the days before I started the experiment, I was very confused on how it was working, because it was giving me crazy numbers. But then I realized, that before you start a meal, you actually need to press and hold the button on the side for a few seconds, until the word "FOOD" appears. This way, you are telling it that you are having a meal and it will register the app.
So in a way, it's not 100% automatic.
More on that function here: https://healbe.com/us/manual##goto_10
To conclude
I really wanted to believe. And I still think that this type of tracking it possible, but it would probably need more developing and research to really be 100% accurate.
Again, I was prepared to accept some variance, but more in the max 200 calorie range.
In the end over the course of the 19 days, there was a 6289 calorie difference on intake, which on average is 331 calories per day. Looking at longer term measuring, this would simply not work.
On calories out there was a 2790 difference, which was much better, but that technology is already widely available, like with FitBit.
Information disclosure
HealBe chart: https://goo.gl/RCICnw
FitBit: https://www.fitbit.com/user/2GDB9T
MyFitnessPal: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/penotti
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