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Fitness Tracker Device; Modern Day Pedometer for your Fitness-Metric Tracker

Throughout the years, Fitness Tracker device has supported the growth of healthy lifestyle trends. With all its functionality and practicability, this device attracts many fitness enthusiasts around the globe. Mostly, it’s because this watch-look-alike device can efficiently help people to maintain their activity and lead them to healthier daily habit. So, no wonder if the order number toward this wearable keeps increasing in the market. Fitness Tracker Device; Modern Day Pedometer for your Fitness-Metric Tracker

Basically, Fitness tracker device is the next level pedometers. But, instead of only counting steps, this small little wrist-accessory is also equipped with several other sensors to support its functions. Even for now, some new models are considered to close enough toward the definition of Class II Medical monitor. That’s why it’s not too much if people hope that someday, there will be a time when fitness tracker will be capable of alerting any medical issue instead of only offering silence alarm.

Fitness Tracker Device or Smartwatch; the Difference

However, even if fitness tracker is quite popular nowadays, some people are still bias about the definition. Especially it’s on the difference between this device and its relative, smartwatch. What makes fitness tracker and smart watch different? Here’s the reason.

Well, with the present of many semi-smartwatch-device, or device which stands between fitness tracker and smartwatch, the definition between two devices are getting lighter. But, we still can spot the difference. The most obvious one can be seen in the physical appearance.

Most smartwatch adopts the classical watch appearance. It has strap, usually leather or rubbery material, and they also have sophisticated touch-screen display. While on the fitness tracker, it’s much simpler.

Fitness Tracker

Fitness Tracker Device; product variation
Various Fitness Tracker Products

Even though some devices already equipped with great quality of display such as Samsung Galaxy Gear Fit, but this display is not as sophisticated as what smartwatch has. Most of them are only having simple screen to show simple notification, such as Xiaomi Mi Band 2 or Fitbit Alta HR. Even in some fitness tracker devices such as Moov Now and Jawbone UP3, they don’t have any display at all.

Further, Fitness tracker is much simpler than smartwatch in term of function. It’s a device that has basic functions such as tracking your exercise and reporting health-metric data. These data are like how many steps taken, calorie burned, distance reached, or even heart rate. So simply speaking, activity tracker or fitness tracker is a device used to track and monitor your fitness and activity.

Smartwatch

Smartwatch
Various Smartwatch Products

On the other hand, smartwatch it’s more like a smartphone extension worn in your wrist. It designed to show notifications from your phone, accessing apps, as well as helping you to communicate.

More specifically, smartwatch has more complex feature such as messaging, playing audio video media, receiving email, phone call, and accessing internet. Even in some devices, it also able to act as independent communication device. It doesn’t need to be connected to smartphone to operate. One example for this is Huawei Watch 2.

How Fitness Tracker Device Operates

To do all its functions, fitness tracker device is equipped with bunch of sensors. One sensor called altimeter. This is the one that will accurately detect altitude. That’s why it’s so beneficial for you who often dealing with height. For example is mount climber. With this wearable device, you can find out the height of mounts you’ve climbed. Or, you can find out the number of stairs you’ve been taken throughout the day.

Another popular sensor that fitness tracker has is accelerometer. This sensor used to measure movement. It detects direction, frequency, duration, acceleration, frequency, and even the pattern of movement. And then, you can also find Gyroscope. This one is used to complete the data by doing rotation and orientation measurement. And don’t forget about heart rate sensor. We can say that this is the most popular sensor that a fitness tracker device should have. Fitness Tracker Device; Next Level of Pedometer

Except all the sensors above, there are bunch other sensors available. They are working together to provide various data such as calories burned during your workout, sleep quality, how many steps taken, overall physical activity, body temperature, and more. The data collected will be converted and transferred to the application on your smartphone. You can read this data in such readable and easy to understood manner in the apps.

Which one should be Chosen?

Finally, we ended up in a question; which one should be chosen, fitness tracker device or smartwatch? From our perspective, it depends on user’s concern. If user more concerns on fitness and wants a simple device which can accurately tracking activity, then fitness tracker device will be perfect. Besides, this tracker is also relatively more comfortable to use during workout. But, for more sophisticated purposes, you can choose smartwatch especially because it can do more than what fitness tracker does.

And the last question is about whether or not this fitness tracker device is really effective to keep our health on track. To answer this question, we involve an intensive research data. Recent study has proved that better result can be achieved by combining weight loss program and fitness-metric monitoring. Fitness Tracker Device; Tracking your activity

This study is done by comparing 8 weeks of intervention with 4 months of follow up to an intensive weight loss program, daily fitness-metric monitoring, and both together combined. And the result suggest intensive weight loss program creates more improvements when it cooperates with daily fitness metric monitoring.

Fitness Tracker Device Requires SDPPI TA Certification in Indonesia

Indonesia is a big market and potential battle field for many manufacturers. Especially with the raising awareness toward health and fitness in several of its big cities such as Jakarta, Bandung, and Surabaya, surely marketing fitness tracker device here will be challenging for manufacturers. But, before you put up your marketing strategy, please be reminded that there is a fundamental rule that should be followed: approval.

It’s really important to pay attention on how to make your product is fully approved and can be legally distributed. Most of the fitness tracker device employs wireless to connect with your smartphone, whether it uses Bluetooth interface, WiFi, or other wireless technology. So, surely it will need RF (Radio Frequency) approval.

Especially in Indonesia, the approval needed for RF product is SDPPI Type Approval certification. Once the device is certified by SDPPI TA certification, your fitness tracker device will be able to be marketed across country.

Consideration before Using Fitness Tracker Device

Lastly, behind all those functionalities, in fact fitness tracker device also has disadvantage. Some people find out that connecting fitness tracker to their social network account may cause privacy violation. Besides, some fitness tracker may transmit personal data to internet server without notifying user.

With all these cases, you don’t have to be worry in purchasing this product. There must be any negatives behind a bunch of positives. So, before deciding to use fitness tracker device, a research will be needed, especially for the deeper understanding toward the wearable device you’re using.

Written by: Eko Prasetyo

Phone: +62 21 8430 5011

email: eko.prasetyo@typeapprovalindonesia.com

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