GetActive eZ pedometer and portal review

Walking is good for health. This, we all know. Dou you also know that walking for 10,000 steps a day, every day is very good for health? The idea is good but there is a problem here! Walking is utterly boring and there is no excitement! Another problem is, how can you possibly count number of steps that you take day in, day out. Even to think of counting in head feels ridiculously foolish. For the second problem, we can use smartphone applications like “Google Fit” or use pedmeters from Omron or FitBit or Xiaomi etc. What about the first problem? What if we say that there is a way you can upload your ‘number of steps’ online and get ranked among those who does the same? Wouldn’t it be interesting to compete with others in ‘number of steps taken’? If so, GetActive is the ecosystem that you should try.

The pedometers from GetActive are not like those boring pedometers that record data for x number of days and do nothing. GetActive pedometer, when connected to a computer or smartphone will sync up with the online database and upload data (number of steps, calorie, distance covered etc). There are two ranking lists (monthly and weekly) where your stats are matched with that of others and a rank is provided (based on number of steps). The better you do, the higher you go in the list. Also, there is GetActive Fitness Currency that can be used to get fitness books/tools. The more you walk, the easier it is to accumulate points and redeem the points to get gifts. All in all, this is a very good initiative to make people walk.

Packaging

Nothing much to talk about w.r.t packaging. The packaging is minimalistic. Device, clip, strap, USB sync cable and manual are included in the box. There is no specific way to use the device. You can hang it using the neck band, you can clip it to shirt, keep it in your pocket. As of now, I am using the device by keeping it in my pocket. The bundled USB cable is of low quality and am using my Smartphone’s sync cable (USB to micro-USB) cable to connect eZ to my computer.

Device

Thanks to the smooth rubbery material used, the device feels good in hand. It is extremely lightweight and when you keep it in the pocket, you will not notice any difference. The Device is thin enough to give good grip when held in hand. The monochrome display covers the face and there is a button next to the display using which you can check various stats like steps covered, distance, calories burned, % done for the day etc. The back of the device has a removable battery cover and you can use regular 1 rupee or 2 rupee coin to reveal the 3V lithium battery. There is a reset button and we are not sure how that works as nothing happens when we press it.

Getactive portal

Once you install GetActive software on your windows/osx computer, the application will detect the device when it is connected to the computer and upload the data to the GetActive portal. Do note that once the device is tied to a person’s account, it cannot be untagged from the account. From the portal, you can redeem your GetActive currency, check statistics like weekly and monthly average (steps, calories, distance, duration), check your rank, your badges, manage your buddies list etc. One unique feature that we really like is ‘virtual trek’. There are lot of virtual treks. Take Bangalore Electronic City to Bangalore ITPL for example. Once you set this virtual trek, your every step is considered as a part of the trek. The distance between these two places is 32kms (approx.) and the trek is marked as complete once you clock 32kms on your pedometer. You can even check how the virtual trek is going. There are many such treks (some between cities and some between locations).

Issues

There are a few issues. Friend finder is extremely inaccurate. Some of my friends are on GetActive but I am not able to find them. Also, there is no option to click and add GetActive users that you see in the ranking list to your buddies list.

One issue with pedometers is that they start counting steps while we are in a moving vehicle due to those tiny vibrations. There is not option to turn this device off whenever it is needed.

Conclusion

GetActive is a new and unique way of having fun with walking. You get to socialize with other fitness minded personnel, you get to be more fit and you get to win goodies. We strongly suggest you to be a part of this #walkindia movement. There are pedometers from other brands like Omron that are much cheaper but hey, they are not as fun as this one to use.