LifeTrak Zoom Hrv Intensity + Recovery Trainer

I tested LifeTraks Zoom for a week and found it to be a very disappointing piece of kit. The Zoom produced very inaccurate measurements of heart rate by +/- 10-12 bpm even compared to fitbit charge that is also a wrist based monitor. Compared with the Gold standard Polar H7 heart rate monitor the Fitbit charge was quicker at responding to heart rate changes than the Zoom and way more accurate. Often times the Zoom went in the opposite direction to what my heart rate was actually doing before eventually settling to a number close to my actual heart rate. Even with careful placement of the module and by cleaning the area to lower my skin impedance didn't fix the erratic results for long. Another disappointing aspect is that the Zoom is not a true "live" heart rate monitor out of workout mode, which at this stage of fitness trackers you would think that live heart rate monitoring is really a basic standard? Fixing the module to the leg during cycling again gave inaccurate cadence, step count and mileage compared to my Fitbit, Garmin and Polar sensors, all of which gave a similar results. Sleep detection was another disappointing feature with the Zoom giving me on average 2 hours more sleep than I actually had (I wish). The Zoom also requires constant syncing to upload any of its information to apps dashboard as the Zoom doesn't constantly stream any data, which is pretty poor compared with other fitness trackers on the market. Failing to push the button 3 times for a sync usually resulted in 3 minute VScan that I wasn't able to abort, so I had to wait for that to to finish before proceeding with a sync. The Heart Rate Variability (HRV) feature was originally what I purchased this device for which proved to be likewise disappointing. The scores it provided were erratic and subjective when compared to the iOS HRV apps like "HRV4Training", "Elite HRV", and free software such as Kubios HRV V3. The Zooms algorithm had problems when my heart rates fell below 50 bpm at rest, the Zoom thinking I was stressed would produce a score that recommend I need to take a rest day? Doing a Vscan likewise produced the same erratic results with no explanation for the arbitrary results it produced. Ive been monitoring my HRV for over 2 years and the results produced by the Zoom were nowhere near accurate and just totally wrong. Very basic software in the Zoom app, which has no actual measurements / scale to gauge your progress or results by just a bunch of horizontal lines with no numbers? All in all I found the Zoom to be a very disappointing and over priced amateurish product compared to cheaper fitness trackers on the market. The HRV feature can be more accurately measured by free apps found in the App Store such as "Elite HRV" that actually explain its scoring system with tangeable science. The Zoom really needs alot more thought and tweaking to bring it up to a commercial standard. I've sent mine back today for a refund ..... My advice is to look elsewhere other than the Zoom there are much better products at cheaper prices, simpler, which do a whole lot more than the LifeTrack Zoom.

I've been into the whole bio-hacking/self-quantification tech scene for about a decade. During that time I have bought, used, tested and come to rely on several of the devices (Oura Ring, Whoop, Garmin devices, Polar devices, etc). I had high hopes for this one. Specifically, I was looking for a device to monitor my HRV all night, while at the same time making it easier to take morning HRV values using HRV4Training (this device was reported to be able to connect to the app and send accurate R-R Interval data). I've been disappointed with everything.Let me go through the list of things it does and how well it does them.First and most basic, steps. It appears to measure steps accurately enough. The only issue some might have is the inability to set a custom stride length to get an accurate distance. This is not a big deal for most, but if you want to use it to measure distances of runs, many will get inaccurate distances.I found the heart rate measurements to be extremely inaccurate. Wearing the device at night, it consistently measures my resting heart rate between 75-80 bpm. Being a life long endurance athlete, my resting HR hovers around 40. After two weeks of wearing the Zoom all night I'm yet to have an average resting HR reading below 75. Ironically, when I'm up and moving around, the device seems to record much more accurately and my average HR over the first hour post-waking drops to the mid-40s.I've tried it during a couple of training sessions, one crossfit workout, one running, one cycling on the road and the last on a indoor cycling trainer. The device was placed on my wrist using the additional Velcro strap LifeTrak offers. The heart rate bounced all over the place and showed no consistency when measured against my Garmin Run chest strap or my Wahoo Tickr X strap. Most of this was probably because of movement artifacts the device is unable to account for.How does the inaccurate HR measurements affect the HRV measurements? I can't be sure but I will note a couple things about its usefulness as a HRV measurement tool. LifeTrak states it automatically measures HRV when it thinks you are asleep and provides waking recommendations as to your level of recovery. Of the 12 days I wore it while asleep, only twice did it automatically measure HRV and provide insight in the morning. I don't know why it failed to do so the other 10 nights. Each morning I find myself having to start a manual measurement. How accurate is it? It's hard to tell but over the two weeks I compared it to my HRV values using my Oura Ring, HRV4Training app and my Garmin 935 it showed no consistency with other measurement tools. HRV4Training (using the phone's camera), Garmin and the Oura Ring were usually in agreement with each other. At least they agreed if I was above or below my baseline. I found the Zoom reported exactly the opposite. When looking at the raw numbers like rMSSD, after taking manual measurements with both the Zoom and HRV4Training at the same time (while laying in bed), Zoom would report a rMSSD of 50, when HRV4Training recorded 123. I can't be sure which is correct but I've used HRV4Training for over a year and I'm confidence it produces accurate readings.How about the Zoom's ability to connect to third party apps for both HRV and HR. It's cumbersome to say the least. If you want to connect it to EliteHRV or HRV4Training you need to understand you are only going to get the device to connect and transmit R-R Interval data for a maximum of 3 minutes. If you usually perform longer tests, you are out of luck. You would think you would be able to place the Zoom in workout mode, connect it to your favorite HRV app and have it transmit for as long as you would like, but you can't. When placed in workout mode, the Zoom does/cannot transmit R-R Interval data. So you are stuck placing in into three minute R-R Interval mode by tapping the button twice if you want HRV data.Let's talk sleep tracking. To say the Zoom is worthless is being nice. I don't know the algorithm they use, but it is the worst device I have ever used in terms of recognizing activity vs sleep vs periods of inactivity. Every time I'm in my car driving, sitting at my work desk or watching TV, the device thinks I'm sleeping (see screenshot). I've attempted to use the different sensitivity setting on the device but none work. The device recognized between 10 and 16 hours of "sleep" each day I used it. The only way I found it get accurate sleep readings is to only put it on at night, when I go to bed. Having said that, if you move it at all during the day, it thinks you are wearing it and records the time it sits still as sleep. Unlike other devices like the Oura Ring, the Zoom does not seem to be programmed to recognize when it is not on your wrist via the HR sensor.The blue light sensor? It's a nice idea if you want to quantify it, but if you decide to wear it somewhere that the light doesn't shine, you are out of luck. So if you live somewhere where it is cold at night and tend to wear long sleeves, the device is worthless. You can put it on top of your clothes but then the HR sensor is worthless.Bottomline, the device aims to be a cheaper substitute for devices such as the Oura Ring or Whoop, but I found it so inaccurate the data it did produce could not be applied to my training.If you are looking for a one-stop self quantification device that does HR, HRV, Sleep, Steps and Recovery, I would recommend you spend the extra money and look to buy the Oura Ring or Whoop. This device just isn't that good.

I purchased this a few months ago. I enjoy swimming and wanted a monitor to track my activity. Initially I didn't feel it was all that accurate with my performance compared to other's had projected. I believe a firmware and/or software upgrade recently has provided more accurate results. The Vscan/Vscore Im not to impressed by. It attempts to determine if you should rest or work out today. For example I feel great today coming off a 2 hr swim yesterday. Its telling me to rest. Im swimming after work. No fatigue. The battery life is disappointing. It dropped 30% after my workout yesterday and can last up to 5 days. Tech support wasnt easy to reach. Had to find it on internet. Their turn around times were about 5 days per reply. I had a firmware upgrade issue and it was resolved by a soft reset. Overall about 2 weeks or so. I like the resting HR concept. I use this as an indicator of my overall heart health for a period of time. Other nice features about the product is the sleep monitor and other vital stats provided in the dashboard. There a blue light monitor which I assume compares how long your in front of a computer or tv compared to sunlight. I didnt see much on this feature on the net. The watch is durable and its easy to recharge. Overall I would recommend this fitness monitor it is now very accurate for swimming.