I was given a Misfit Shine in order to prepare this review. All opinions are my own.
The Misfit Shine is a fun little piece of hardware. It seems to me like it’s designed to be attractive, not just functional. It’s a disc a little larger than a quarter in size, and works using a small battery that should last about four months. It comes with a little tool that you can use to replace the battery. Just pry off the back, and it’s a simple process to pop a new battery in. I felt sort of accomplished when I did it. I know thats very sad but usually when I get a new product I have to get my husband to fiddle with it and do all the installation because I have zero patience.
In terms of features, the Shine is waterproof to 150 feet, which is perfect if you swim or do water aerobics, or heck if you scuba dive! It comes with both a wristband and an ingenious little magnetic clip holder which allows the user to fasten the Shine to their clothing, shoes, anything at all and it stays fast. I was worried that I didn’t always want to wear it on my wrist. I have sensitive skin and I have heard some horror stories about how activity bracelets can break you out. And it will function like a watch- tap the dial twice, and the tiny LED light that rim the edge of the Shine will light up in a pattern that indicates the time (it’s pretty easy to learn how to read it, very intuitive). If you tap the face three times it will show you how close you are to meeting your daily goal by what percentage of the LED lights come on. I wore it on my wrist for the Color and Glow event along with my glow bracelets and barely noticed it was there.
The Shine syncs with your Apple device using a free app you can download. It uses bluetooth to connect, though the app does want you to place the Shine on the screen in a little animated circle while it syncs. The app allows you to program specific activities like biking or basketball so you can tell the Shine ahead of time what you’ll be doing and it can more precisely calculate your calorie burn. Of course, you have to sync the Shine to do this, so it means getting out your phone and taking a few minutes to do that, but it’s not that great an inconvenience. You can use the app to set goals, turn features off and on, and to personalize it for your fitness levels.
The Shine is a really clever, attractive fitness tracker and I enjoyed using it. I felt like I was more active when I had it clipped to my clothes and was more aware of how close I got to my goals. It’s a good motivator in an attractive package! And at around $100 ($120 with wrist band) it’s a good budget-minded choice for people worried about reaching their fitness goals.
I like the design of this fitness device better than the Fit Bit. It’s much more attractive.