Atlas Wearables Wristband

Atlas 2 uses a gyroscope, which is a feature also found on most smartphones, to recognize exercises. Atlas 2 has 2 primary modes - Guided Programs where you input your program for Atlas 2 to track and Free Exercise. It also has a Cardio feature but it does nothing except track time.First the bad -1. Atlas 2 has a poor record of exercise recognition. While you try to maintain perfect form so the gadget recognizes the exercise the effort distracts you from your exercise and you stress on it. At some point I just got tired of watching the gadget and in the end it recorded different exercises except the ones I was performing.2. You HAVE to input each and every exercise you will do on your PC or phone and then synch it with gadget. Mind you, it does this after you enter EACH exercise and it takes something like 10-20 seconds to do so. So if you input 20 exercises that is close to 7 minutes of waiting! You need internet connection because your phone connects to their server to access the exercises. Even for the Free Exercise mode you still need to choose the exercise it will recognize.3. It has a limited number of exercises. Atlas 2 claims you can train the gadget to recognize some exercises and then label it. I tried it but lost patience. It also claims you can strap the gadget on your legs for leg exercises. I tried this but it puzzles me that it can recognize a barbell squat but not a leg extension. Weird.4. Battery life is good for 3 hours. Also even if you turn it off somehow it turns itself on. So when I charge it the night before my workout, it turns itself on during the next day and by the time I work out the battery is all gone. Hassle!5. When the gadget is turned on you pretty much cannot move as any other movement the gadget interprets it as an exercise. Funnily when you are on the Guided Exercise mode and you have Exercise 1 then 2 then 3, etc you cannot change the sequence of your exercise. The gadget simply won't start counting the reps. In the gym when equipment is still being used sometimes you just go ahead with your other exercises and then go back to the equipment. This is such a hassle.The good -1. It measures your calories burned. It is probably an algorithm but I felt really justified when I found out my program allowed me to burn 1,000+ calories, proving this is just as good, if not better than cardio.2. It tracks your heart rate across all exercises the whole time. It also measures how long you do an exercise and how long you rest. Pretty good to know which exercises you are really pumping oxygen on.Overall I give Atlas 2 a 2 stars. It is great that there is a gadget like this (and its competitor called The Beast) but I don't know if it is the technology or the hardware or the app that is wonky. Simply put the whole user experience is NOT intuitive. You are supposed to slip this on and then forget about it and just synch it with your smartphone after the exercise. Instead I end up having to keep checking it if it works, mid-exercise. Very frustrating because I had high expectations that this will help me in my fitness journey. The makers are saying Atlas 3 is coming out and that they re-wrote the app and blah blah. IDK but the basic issue is the gyroscope is just plain wonky.I'd love to hear though if there are others who have a positive experience with this and maybe tell me if I am doing something wrong with it. Been using it for 2 months+ already.

Greetings all. I waited on reviewing this because I wanted to use it consistently for an extended period of time to fully understand it. I purchased this after getting frustrated with the Beast sensor. The Atlas 2 comes with a Coaching mode, a Freestyle mode, and a Cardio mode. I've used both the Freestyle and Cardio.Unless I'm traveling, I normally hit the gym, as a weight lifter, 5 days a week. I normally do about three days of heavy lifting and two other days of cardio/abs. I was looking for a tracker that could capture data like heart rate, calorie burn, velocity, while also guessing what exercise I'm actually doing.Exercises - The Atlas 2 has a good sized database of exercises, and if it's in the list, does an excellent job of figuring out which exercise you're doing - as long as you are following good form. There are a number of exercises I do, which I would consider to be in the range of moderately popular, that I couldn't find in the database. For those instances, the Atlas 2 has a pretty decent learning mode. The learning mode took some getting used to. You almost have to burn a gym session to get it to track the proper form you're trying to teach it. However, once you've completed teaching the Atlas 2 your new exercise - it does a good job identifying that exercise when you do it for real. It's also nice that you can remove the tracker from the wristband. I've been able to teach the Atlas 2 hanging leg lifts by putting the tracker inside my sock by my ankle.Fit - the Atlas Wristband 2 feels just like a watch and does not get in the way. The only time I ever re-adjust it is when using wrist straps for shoulder shrugs or barbell rows.Function - The positive here is that when tracking weight - it does a very good job. However, I've found that I have to be careful of movement after completing a set as the Atlas continually tracks movement. It would be nice if there was an ability to pause the Atlas, or have a configurable between-sets-rest-pause. It would also be convenient if the Atlas 2 provided an option to "lock" itself to the current exercise being performed to minimize false readings. As compared to the Beast Sensor, however, the Atlas 2 is significantly better.Battery - This is the primary reason I couldn't give the Atlas 2 five stars. For the first five to six months, the Atlas 2 charged up well and lasted throughout my workouts. I normally train in the gym an average of 90 minutes. I normally keep the Atlas 2 on Power Saving mode, so the display is normally off unless I touch it. At this point, I charge the Atlas 2 the night before, pull it off the charger (laptop) in the morning when I leave to hit the gym, and the Atlas 2 barely makes it an hour before it completely dies. Disappointing.Phone & Online app - The phone app is pretty intuitive, but limited in what you can do. You can use the app to review performance, sync the Atlas 2, look up pre-defined exercise, and put the Atlas 2 in learn mode. The Online app (website) has more features, and lets you edit your previous workouts. One feature that I would like to see added would be the ability to combine completed workouts as a session. Sometimes I incorporate both weight lifting and cardio in the same session. The Atlas 2 tracks them as two completely separate workouts.Overall, as a gym rat, I am pretty impressed with what the Atlas 2 is capable of, especially considering the price. Other than the short battery life, I would highly recommend this to anyone wanting to ditch the notebook.