Home Health and Fitness

Great ideas: Water bottle with built in pill storage

I’m lucky that I no longer have to take prescription medications, but for those of you that do, check out this water bottle that has a built in pill holder.

The 20-ounce food grade polycarbonate bottle holds water or other beverages, but it also holds your daily meds in its built-in 7 slot pill box.

Each pill slot is labeled with a letter for the day of the week to keep your medication neatly organized. The pill holder can also be removed from the bottle for cleaning.

The BPA free water bottle has a screw top that doubles as a cup. It looks like a great idea for hikers, or anyone else who is on the go.

You can buy a bottle for $7.69 from www.newchic.com and you can find them on Amazon too.

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Great ideas: Water bottle with built in pill storage originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 13, 2017 at 11:52 am.

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ŌURA Ring review

The majority of fitness trackers on the market have been designed to be worn on the wrist like a watch or worn at the waist clipped to a belt. But today, I am going to show you the ŌURA fitness tracker that is worn on your finger like a ring. 

What is it?

ŌURA is a ring with sensors inside the band that tracks activity like steps, sleep, respirations, and heart rate info.

What’s in the box?

ŌURA ring
Charging dock
micro USB cable
Quick start guide

The ŌURA ring is made of scratch resistant ceramic zirconia that is 100% non-allergenic. While it might look like a plastic ring in the images, it feels very hard and smooth like something made of ceramic. It’s also waterproof to 50m /164 ft, so you can wear it while showering and swimming.

The ring is available in stealth black like the one sent to me, arctic white, and mirror black.

The shape and size of the ring remind me of a guy’s high school class ring. The ring does have some weight to it, but not enough to be bothersome.

As you will notice in the image above, the part of the ring that touches the underside of your finger, has three raised sensors. According to ŌURA, these sensors:

  • Senses the arteries in your finger, just like the hospital pulse oximeter
  • Captures 250 samples per second for a constant flow of reliable data
    Detects blood volume pulse, body temperature and activity level with advanced sensors
  • Determines sleep stages with precision comparable to clinical sleep labs

There are also two flat contacts inside of the top of the ring that are used to charge the ring’s internal battery.

Included with the ring is a small white charging dock that has two spring loaded electrical contacts.

As you probably have already guessed, the ring is pressed down on the post in the center of the dock. When it’s seated properly, a yellow LED on the dock will pulse to let you know that the ring is charging. When charging is done, the LED remains steady.

How do you know what size ŌURA Ring to buy?

With most fitness tracking devices, you don’t need to know your exact wrist size to order one. But with ŌURA, even if you do know your ring size, you might not want to buy the ŌURA in that size due to the sensors that stick up from the bottom of the band.

How do you know which size to order? ŌURA will send you a free ring sizing kit which includes a set of dummy rings of the sizes that they offer. They suggest that you wear the size you think you want to buy for 24hrs to make sure it’s the right size for you. Everyone’s hands and fingers can swell during the day or night and you don’t want to buy an ŌURA ring that is so large that the sensors don’t make good contact with your finger or too small that the ring gets stuck on your finger.

The only ring I wear is a silver wedding band. The ŌURA ring is definitely on the large side for a ring that I would want to wear 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

It took me a little while to get used to wearing the ŌURA because the band is wider than what I’m used to. But if you already like to wear larger rings, it probably won’t be a problem for you.

If I’m going to wear a fitness tracking device, I’d rather it be on my finger than my wrist. I can understand that this is a personal preference, but the ŌURA ring felt less in the way of my everyday activities than wrist worn trackers which tend to rub my wrist when I’m typing which is what I do all day long.

It’s also less annoying to wear at night compared to a wrist worn tracker for sleep tracking.

The only time I took off the ŌURA ring was when I was working out on a TotalGym because the skin on my finger would get pinched between the ring’s band and the TotalGym handle.  If you don’t know what a TotalGym is, it’s a cable style exercise machine that has handles that you pull to do various exercises.

Tracking your stats with the ŌURA ring

First of all, what stats can ŌURA track?

During the day when you’re awake, the ring tracks the timing and intensity of your daily activity (and inactivity) and at night while you sleep, it tracks your pulse waveform, heart rate dynamics, body temperature, and movement to identify the different stages of your sleep.

You can read about the accuracy and how it works here: https://ouraring.com/the-science/

Since the ring does not have any type of display to show you how you’re progressing towards your goals, you have to install the iOS or Android ŌURA app on your mobile device. The ring uses Bluetooth to sync the data with your phone or tablet.

The app has an easy to read interface that is arranged into a dashboard, sleep, activity, and readiness screens.



The activity tracking screen shows info like the number of steps you walked, distance traveled, active time, and how long you were inactive each day. All of this data is used to determine your daily activity score. You can use this information to improve your health by consciously getting up and moving more.

The readiness tracking screen uses info about your sleep from the night before, your resting heart rate, body temperature, and more to create a score that lets you know if your body is ready for your next epic workout or if you should take a nap instead.



The sleep tracking data captured by the ŌURA ring provides a lot of good info on how restful your sleep is (or isn’t) by showing how long you were in each sleep level, how long you were awake each night and your resting heart rate. Just like with activity, ŌURA gives each night a sleep score.


A dashboard view shows your overall scores on one screen.

The app is pretty good, but it is missing one obvious feature, which is a live view of your stats. Although the ring tracks your heart rate, your body temp, and respiratory rate, you can’t check to see your current reading for any of those stats.

There’s also no way that I’ve found to export the data, but it does sync with Apple Health.

Battery life

Since the ring is small and it’s collecting data 24/7, it shouldn’t be a surprise that you’ll need to charge the ŌURA ring more often than other wearable trackers. During my review period, I was charging it every 2-3 days. The good news is that the ring charges pretty quickly, so you can put it on the charger when you get home from work and it will be ready to wear and track again in about an hour.

Final thoughts

There are 100’s of fitness trackers on the market, but I’ve only seen two fitness trackers that are rings and the ŌURA ring is one of them. Maybe that’s why fitness tracker rings are so expensive. That’s the biggest issue that I have with the ŌURA… the price. Most people don’t have an extra $299 – $499 to spend on a wearable fitness tracker. If you don’t mind the price, this is a really cool activity tracker and makes me hope that it will spark a trend for more smaller wearables like this one.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by ŌURA. Please visit their site for more info and Amazon to order.

 

Product Information

Price: $299 – $499
Manufacturer: ŌURA
Pros:
  • Truly wearable
  • Waterproof
Cons:
  • Expensive
  • Large ring for smaller hands
  • No display on the ring

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ŌURA Ring review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 11, 2017 at 10:54 am.

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Oreck WK16001 Air Response HEPA air purifier review

From allergens to smelly pets (or kids), we could all use a little fresh air now and then.  I’m one of those “misses work” type allergy sufferers. I’ve spent a lot of money over the years in an effort to get some relief, especially when I’m home and out of the deadly winds of the desert.  My latest weapon in the battle against airborne particulates?  The Oreck Air Response air purifier. How does it stack up?

To start with, let’s talk indoor air purifier options.  For years, I’ve sworn by my Blueair Classic 505.  It’s quiet, it’s effective, it’s big in a “we’re gonna need a bigger boat” kind of way, and it’s $800.  That’s perhaps a worthwhile investment for a room like a bedroom where breathing is particularly helpful, but what about the rest of the house?  There are plenty of nooks and crannies in the average home that are just crying out for a little air-cleaning love, and I can say that this little Oreck does a heck of a job.

The Air Response I am reviewing is the medium size, weighing in at just under 12lbs compared to my Blueair 505’s 33lbs. It’s also less than half the size at 8.5″ x 16.3″ x 18.6″.  Don’t let its small size fool you, however, as it can really move some air when you need it to.   This smaller unit is designed to completely recycle the air in a roughly 200 square foot room in 12 minutes when at its highest speed.   The unit uses a two-stage filtration system starting with an activated carbon filter for odor reduction, then a HEPA filter.  The cost to replace both is $29.99, which I don’t feel is excessive for the performance.  The display on top of the unit will alert you when you need to order a new filter, and though I’ve thrown everything I can at it for a month, I haven’t been asked to replace the filter.  Given that replacement filters is where most companies “get you,” I’m encouraged by the low cost of replacements.

 I sense something. A presence I haven’t felt since…

The Air Response features a particulate sensor that will automatically change the fan speed if there are more nasties in the air.   Simply set the unit to automatic and it will intelligently manage the air flow. While I initially feared that this was a mere gimmick, I’ve found it to be surprisingly accurate and useful. It was particularly fun when my Corgi decided to shake herself off after running around in the back yard for a bit.  The accent light on the Air Response immediately went from blue (a-ok, chief – no dust ’round here!) to red (I’m givin’ her all she’s got captain!) resulting in her jumping back as if she were under attack by the air police. Shortly after, the light switched down to purple (minor threat from airborne attackers) then finally back to blue.  I say this is a solid feature and not merely hype.  Well done, Oreck!

The Sound of Clean

Assuming you don’t leave the unit in Automatic mode, the Air Response has three user selectable speeds, the lowest of which is essentially inaudible from any more than a meter away, while the highest is audible from the dark side of the moon.  In fact, I found myself needing to play Pink Floyd at eleven in order to drown out the guttural roar of this tiny giant.   If you’ve ever owned a quality Oreck vacuum cleaner, you know that some dark magic must be involved to generate so much air flow in such a small package, and this air purifier clearly shares some DNA with the decades of mini-monster vacuums Oreck has produced.

Summing up

I’m happy with the Air Response purifier.   It’s quiet when it can be, a bit on the loud side when it needs to be, but very rarely stays loud for more than a minute or two.  Remember when your mom told you “It’s good that your open wound hurts! That means it’s healing!”  I’m sorry, but she was incorrect.  However, if your mom had said “It’s good that your air purifier occasionally drowns out the Slayer album you have playing on your 1100 watt speaker system, that means it’s working!” it would have been much closer to the truth.   I say it’s a good thing, I sincerely hope I will not be sued by a particular home decor magnate for saying so.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Oreck. Please visit their site for more info and Amazon to order.

 

 

 

Product Information

Price: $229.99
Manufacturer: Oreck
Retailer: Amazon
Pros:
  • Effective auto-sensing system that minimizes noise while maximizing effectiveness
  • Attractive design
  • Lighting can be turned on or off depending on your preference
Cons:
  • When at full speed, is louder than the space shuttle

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Oreck WK16001 Air Response HEPA air purifier review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 9, 2017 at 11:00 am.

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Activ5 isometric workout device review

The Activ5 handheld system, by Activbody, is a portable isometric workout program that can be used for 5 minute (or longer if you choose) workouts at home, at the office, or while traveling. I’m a fitness junkie,  so I was more than excited to give this a try!  Let’s take a look…

What’s in the box (See pic below)

1 Activ5 handheld device
1 Stand for your smartphone during workouts
1 Towel

Setting it up

The first thing that is required is to go to the app store (Apple or Android) and get the free Activ5 mobile coaching app.  After you follow the directions to register, you will be instructed to power on the device. There is only one button and it is located on the side of the unit next to a little indicator light.  You need to hold down that button for 2 seconds and the indicator will turn blue, which means it’s looking for a Bluetooth connection. After it’s connected, the light turns green and when not connected, the light will be red.  Very straightforward and easy to set up.

Now comes the fun part!  The screen appears below that runs you through a quick tutorial on where to place your hands on the unit to get the maximum benefit and most precise readings on the display.

Now you get to set the max power for each exercise as they come up so you have a starting point and you can track your strength as time goes on. As you can see for the shoulder press, I set my new personal record at 22 lbs. of pressure.  After you set the max power, you go on to the actual exercise.

How it Works

There are many different kinds of exercises and workouts. There is the Activ5 challenge, which is a 6-week workout that you do three times a day for 15 minutes.  Circumstances didn’t allow me to do that for this review, but I will be doing that next and I’ll post an update on my results.  Other types of workouts to choose from are: Upper Body, Lower Body, Get Strong, Get Toned, Yoga Pilates, Awesome Abs, Butt Burner, Lean Legs, Office, Watching TV, Car/Plane/Train, Hotel, and Surprise me! Below are examples of some exercises that you can do (Click on the pics to enlarge).



You can also choose between over 100 sitting, standing and advanced exercises that target the shoulders, chest, biceps, triceps, forearms, core, obliques, back, glutes, hip flexors, quads, abductor and adductors, hamstrings, or calves and shins.  Each exercise has very detailed instructions on how to do them and give you a diagram on what specific muscles are being targeted.  So, depending on your mood or what you want to accomplish, you just pick a workout, follow the instructions and away you go!

When you are actually doing the exercises, the screen looks like the ones below depending on which you choose.  When you squeeze and put pressure on the device from whatever position you are in, you try and keep your indicator stream (the squiggly orange line) as close to the dotted line as you can.  You will be required to push harder at certain times and the goal is to keep as steady as you can on the line.  In general,  I think isometrics are challenging and keeping a position for any length of time requires some mental discipline.  With the Activ5, you don’t think about how long you are holding a pose because you are concentrating on staying on that line!  It’s pretty amazing.

I personally like the top one because I like it to go horizontally across the screen rather than vertically in the skiing screen.  Just my personal opinion.

Additional Uses

There are games on this thing!!!!!  Sorry, I’ve been waiting to blurt that out.  But seriously, if there are days when you just can’t mentally get yourself to focus on exercise (we’ve all been there), playing these games can make you feel accomplished anyway. There are independent gaming companies that have made games that may just get you addicted to exercise.

My personal favorite is Creep Jump (see screenshot below).  If you remember the game “Flappy Bird” from a few years ago, this is a lot like it, but you have to apply pressure to the device to keep the square from dropping or hitting anything. See the screenshot below.  You can play it on different difficulty levels and use different parts of your body to squeeze the device for an extra challenge.  The first time my daughters and I played this game, we all couldn’t put it down and we were very sore the next day!

Final thoughts

All in all, I was very impressed with this device.  I can see people at any age and activity level benefitting from its use. I used to work with patients in an elder care facility and I led chair exercises.  This would have been a great tool to use to help motivate them to move.  I think it would also be a great tool for people recovering from injuries that need lower impact exercise to stay fit while they recover.  As with anything, to see results you need to DO IT and the nature of this program makes you want to keep going.  The results are trackable so you get input from each exercise and each week as you go forward.  It was my intention to complete the 6 week Activ5 Challenge right off the bat and report my results, however, a vacation and a broken phone interrupted that process.  I realized I had used it enough to do a Part 1 review and now I will begin Part 2, which will be the Challenge and I’ll see first hand how my strength improves. Stay tuned!

Source:  The sample for this review was provided by Activbody, Inc. please visit their site to learn more or to purchase.

 

Product Information

Price: $199.90
Manufacturer: Activbody, Inc.
Requirements:
  • iOS or Android device with Bluetooth
Pros:
  • Portable
  • Fun
  • Can be used by a person at any fitness level
  • Requires only 5 minutes per workout
Cons:
  • If you don't like isometric exercise this is not for you

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Activ5 isometric workout device review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 31, 2017 at 11:00 am.

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BodyGuardz Trainr Pro iPhone case review

With so many wonderful exercise tracking apps on smartphones these days, it seems like a waste of a good run to leave it at home. The trouble is finding a safe way to take it with you. Luckily, there are much better options than pocketing your device and having it slap against your thigh for a few miles, or carrying it in your sweaty hands, threatening to shoot out of your grip like a blade of soap. Enter the Trainr Pro.

This case/armband solution converts from everyday phone to workout companion, and back again when you’re through. I feel I should tackle this review in two parts since there are two individual pieces that have two distinct purposes… the case itself and the fitness band.

Part 1: The Case

The Trainr Pro case is fairly no frills. It’s not particularly handsome, but that’s not its goal.

Nothing exciting, but it does the trick. The sides are imbued with slots to snap it into the armband.

Once the phone is in the case, which was easy enough, even with the rigid sides, the edge of the case is a surrounded by a rubber, shock-absorbing material. It’s got a nice grip and texture to it as well, so it works as a decent everyday case. Covering the back is a thin, semi-transparent sheet of plastic with a good-sized cutout for the camera lens. The case doesn’t add very much weight or bulk to the already large iPhone 7+, but it certainly does drop the sexiness of the device a bit. I was never a fan of phone cases, and this is yet another case that reminds me why. Your mileage may vary.

Part 2: The Band

Accompanying the solid, grippy case is the armband. It mirrors the same sturdy construction and aesthetic of the case, sporting the same black and gray color scheme, along with strips of lighter, reflective material.

The fabric of the band is smooth and seems as if it would fit most arms. I could imagine if you’ve got some serious biceps, you might have to make do with your phone being strapped to your wrist or forearm, but that’s an extreme case. Once I got the band positioned on my arm and secured the velcro strap, it didn’t budge. The fabric is smooth and comfortable, not padded, but it doesn’t really need it.

The iPhone 7+ is one of the largest phones ever made, and it’s got some weight to it, to be sure. Despite that, there wasn’t too much bouncing around of the phone on my arm… I really only noticed it when making very quick movements. The case is very secure when strapped in place. Almost ridiculously so. I should elaborate.

My first mistake when using the armband was to place it on my arm before attempting to attach the case. It’s nearly impossible to gain the leverage to snap the case in place while the band is on your upper arm. There were several moments in my first couple runs where I ended up walking for minutes on end trying to get the case to click into place.

First of all, it’s tough to align the tabs on the case with the grips on the band, as there isn’t much margin for error. They must be more or less perfectly aligned. Then, the force it takes to snap the case in place is more than I thought it would be. It’s easier to notch one side of the grip plate in place and then sort of push out on the other side while pressing down on the front of the phone. Even while doing this, it still takes a good deal of force.

But once that thing is in place, it’s not going anywhere. And that’s really what you want when you’re strapping your $800 phone to your arm just so you can run. At its core, the Trainr case functioned beautifully.

Miles down the road with minimal bouncing and no slip.

I feel like I’m getting the hang of taking the case in and out of the armband, but I’ll admit that the first few attempts were a bit worrisome. With all of those horror stories of people bending their iPhones with seemingly little effort, it always makes me cringe a little feel like I’m going to twist or torque the screen too much.

It could certainly be much easier to get the phone in and out of the armband holder. Though their website states that it’s a “snap,” it feels like more of a pry.

Conclusion

All in all, after testing it on several runs, I’d give the Trainr high marks on what it promises. It’s a shame that the unique snap-on function couldn’t be a little bit easier to use. Given the case’s expensive and delicate contents, I hate to twist and press and bend something that has my phone in it. But I think for many people, it would be a good way to take their phone with them.

See you on the road!

The Trainr Pro is available now from BodyGuardz for $49.95.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by BodyGuardz. Please visit their site for more info and to order. Check them out on Amazon too.

 

Product Information

Price: $49.95
Manufacturer: BodyGuardz
Retailer: Amazon
Pros:
  • – Case is very sturdy and drop-resistant
  • – Armband and case are very secure during activity
Cons:
  • – Phone and case are tricky to get in and out of the armband frame
  • – Case itself is nothing to get excited about

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BodyGuardz Trainr Pro iPhone case review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 22, 2017 at 8:32 am.

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