Wrist Watch: Pebble vs. Basis Band

I'm Jeff and I am an early adopter. There. I said it. I admit to my vice (that's the first step, right?) As an admitted early adopter I was one of the early backers of the Pebble smart watch on Kickstarter, and I received my Pebble shortly after the first production run. Although I have had my Pebble for more than a month now, I have only worn it several times. That's because the same week that my Pebble arrived, I also received my Basis Band… another new gadget I ordered early enough to be among the first to receive.

One Available Wrist

As most humans, I only have two wrists, one of which has been home to a bracelet since my early teens. After all these years I have grown accustomed to wearing just a bracelet on my right wrist. I feel awkward without it, and I prefer to wear only a single bracelet on that wrist. Which leaves me just my left wrist for any other watch or band device. Hence having to choose between my newly acquired Basis and Pebble. Here's why, for the moment, the Basis has won the battle for my left wrist…

Connected Self vs. Quantified Self

I, like many of you, am addicted to my smartphone. My Samsung Galaxy SIII is the last thing I look at before I go to bed and the first thing I grab when I wake up in the morning. No, these are not great habits. Yes, they mean I live an uber-connected life, feeding myself a constant stream of information via a phone that is rarely, if ever, further than a meter from my media overloaded brain. As if my mobile habit wasn't bad enough, I find I am also addicted to fitness tracking devices, and own all generations of the Fitbit (plus an Aria wi-fi scale), a Jawbone UP bracelet, a Motorola ACTV gps watch, several generations of old Garmin GPS watches, a Nike+ FuelBand, and now, the Basis Band.

Up until the arrival of the Basis, I was wearing my Nike FUELband on my left wrist, using it as both a watch, and a fitness tracker. Since the FUELband does not track sleep, I also wear my FitBit regularly. With both the Pebble and Basis as shiny new options for my left wrist, I retired my Nike FUELband, and ultimately chose the Basis as my daily wrist mate, leaving the Pebble for "special occasions" as described in more detail below. While the Pebble is an awesome device, when weighing the true benefits of wearing it all day, every day, I decided the fitness data provided by the Basis truly added more value for me.

The Pebble

Firstly, both the Pebble and the Basis Band are great devices. They are both well manufactured, comfortable and cool looking to wear, and deliver on their respective promised features and functions. The Pebble, while lauded as a "smartwatch," is really more accurately a "connected" watch. In the current early stage, it essentially becomes an extension of your smartphone, passing along alerts and messages to the e-ink screen on your wrist, and letting you then decide whether said alert or message warrants retrieving your smartphone from a pocket or purse to take further action.

My conclusion: during the day, when your phone is generally handy and accessible (often right in front of you on your desk), getting alerts on your watch is just an additional distraction and doesn't necessarily add much convenience or value to the smartphone or watch experience. I can glance at my phone screen just as easily as I can glance at my wrist when my phone is faithfully at my side (sadly, my norm.) Where the Pebble does shine, and where it really is a pleasure to wear, is when you are at an event or in a situation where it really is inconvenient or inappropriate to be constantly addressing your phone. The times I have worn, and thoroughly been delighted by my Pebble have been at concerts, the theater, and social events, where I can remain "in the moment" and not with my face rudely glancing down at my phone, yet still feel completely connected and have no FOMO (fear of missing out) because even though my phone is tucked neatly in a pocket, I will know everything it is trying to tell me. In these situations, the Pebble rocks.

The Basis Band

As fitness trackers go, the Basis is the closest thing to an "all in one" device I have found. With a slew of sensors, the Basis tracks steps, calories, heart rate, body temp, perspiration and sleep. And it tells time! It does all this quite seamlessly and elegantly in a watch form factor that looks great and is light and comfortable to wear. What I love about the Basis is that it is a passive device. Just wear it like a watch and it tracks everything. Even sleep tracking is automatic, a big plus, as every other device I have used to track sleep requires you to "start" and "end" some type of "sleep mode" for sleep tracking to engage, resulting in many missed nights of data. The Basis software (currently web only, with apps reportedly coming very soon), is both detailed and slick, including some neat gamification elements as you earn points and unlock "habits" for further trackable goals. My only complaint about the Basis, and it is not that big of a deal, is that the screen is not very bright, even when backlit. I suspect this was a trade-off in favor of better battery life, since there are so many active sensors working 24/7 on this device.

Best of Both Worlds

I am a huge fan of the "quantified self" movement and strongly believe that when you track activities you will do them more, and I absolutely know that I exercise more regularly now that I am fully aware of my progress each day. The Basis is a great fitness companion and subtle coach, pushing me through awareness toward my daily goal. Thus, for me, the Basis provides much more utility and value as my "all the time" watch than the Pebble does. However, as soon as I hit my daily 10,000 step goal (and especially when I go out on a Saturday night), I am happy to switch to my Pebble, and give my smartphone some time to hibernate in my pocket, leaving my hands free for fun.

Have you tried a Pebble or a Basis Band? What are your thoughts?

(Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are Amazon Affiliate links to help support my gadget addiction...)

Three Words for 2013: Move, Measure, Meditate

My friends Chris Brogan and C.C. Chapman are vocal proponents of the practice of choosing three words as your focal point and reminder of goals for the coming year. The challenge is to narrow your annual objectives to three words that serve as guideposts to remind you and keep you centered on the things you have decided really matter.  I've tried to master the art of three words a few times in the past, but not every year.  In fact this year I've chosen to focus more on being in control.  That said, there are three words that I do think I should put at the top of my list this year.  As a faithful, fervent fan of frequent alliteration my three works all start with the letter M:

Move.
Measure.
Meditate.

Move.  In many ways, movement is the secret to all success.  We must increase our movement to be healthy.  We must always keep our mind moving to stay sharp.  We must always keep our careers and relationships moving forward.  For a shark, ceasing to keep moving is a literal death sentence.  For a human, lack of movement leads to stagnation, to depression, to frustration.  In 2013 I want to keep moving.  From literally running for exercise, to advancing personal and business goals, constant and positive movement will be key.

Measure.  We live in the age of big data, and as someone who never really was a numbers guy, I've come to gain an appreciation for the value of measurement.  It started with an obsession with fitness trackers.  I wear both a Fitbit and Nike Fuel Band every day, and I pay attention to the data they provide, relishing in the satisfaction of measurable results, and enjoying the discovery of patterns and new personal records.  Now I want to apply that same appreciation of measurement to track and monitor my progress and results in areas beyond fitness, and especially in business.

Meditate.  Over the summer I was inspired to revisit practicing meditation, something I began in High School but let go of sometime after graduating from college.  Over the past few months I've been sporadically trying to reestablish TM as part of my daily routine, but it hasn't quite stuck yet.  It's a shame, because when I do manage a nice stretch of a few weeks of consistent daily meditation I can tangibly feel the results in my improved energy and awareness, and just plain feeling better.  So, as part of my mission to take better control of my time, I want to make the time for meditation each and every day.

There you have it.  My three words for 2013.  I won't go so far as to tattoo them to my forehead, but I will write them on post it notes, and in my notebooks and hope to refer to them regularly as gentle guides toward a productive and fruitful New Year.

How about you?  Have you selected three words?

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Measurement and Motivation

I am not a numbers guy, but I am a gadget guy.  Lately my love of gadgets has been teaching me the value of numbers, and more importantly, the value of measurement and tracking when it comes to achieving goals.

Is the Weight Over?

As someone who has always been "big boned" (read: overweight) I work very hard to be health conscious.  I have been a vegetarian for over 20 years and vegan for the past 5, and generally I eat well and healthy.  I go to the gym, run and bike ride regularly.  Yet still, the older I get, the harder it seems to be to drop weight.  However, I recently lost 10 pounds and I attribute my sudden success to my gadgets.

Satellites and Smartphones

Even before every smartphone was GPS enabled I used a bulky Garmin GPS watch to track my walks, runs and bike rides.  While it was fun to know how far and fast I went, the data stayed on the watch and I didn't really watch it, except when I was in the midst of exercising.  When my smartphone became GPS enabled, I gave up the Dick Tracy sized watch and starting using apps such as CardioTrainer and RunKeeper to keep track of my physical activities.  With the smartphone it became easy to share my exercise progress on Facebook and Twitter, which led to lots of "moral support" from friends and followers - a great motivator. But still, I was not losing any weight...

Steps Count, And Make You Accountable

When the first FitBit came out I was intrigued.  I had tried a standard pedometer before, but found it inaccurate, and a bit boring.  But the first FitBit had received some mixed reviews and I decided to pass.  Instead, when Jawbone introduced the UP bracelet I was sold.  I own a few great Jawbone products already so I had high hopes for the UP, and liked the idea of a smart bracelet that could be worn all the time.  And I loved the UP... while it worked.  As you may have read, the UP turned out to be a downer, with Jawbone maturely acknowledging its flaws and taking them all back for a full refund.  So it was back to the FitBit, and by now the much improved Fitbit Ultra was available.  I love my FitBit the accompanying software and apps, and being able to see my steps and progress.  I also have a Nike Fuel band and a Motorola MOTOACV gps sports-watch (yeah, I am a gadget geek).  The bottom line is, no matter which device you choose to use, tracking your daily movement will change your behavior, and changing behavior is the best way to lose weight and improve your fitness.

A Daily Race Against Time

All these fitness trackers generally re-set to "0" at midnight, and I find myself frequently taking late-night jogs or extended walks with the dogs just to make sure I hit my daily number, and that, I think, is the magic benefit of tracking your activity.  Knowing where you stand (or move) at any given moment makes you far more likely to take that extra step to hit an attainable daily goal.

Lesson Learned


I am enjoying tracking my Fuel, steps, miles and calories and, based on my experience watching the numbers for my personal fitness, I am finding myself becoming more focused on metrics and measurement in business as well.  The same principles apply.  If your goal is clearly defined, and you know exactly where you stand at any given moment, then you are far more likely to put in the extra effort to make sure you reach that goal.


I'll always be a gadget guy, but now my gadgets have made me more interested in being a numbers guy too...  How about you?  How do you track your fitness and business goals?

*Note: Some product links above are Amazon Affiliate links to help support my Gadget habit...Thanks!

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