We loved the Misfit Ray and the original Misfit Shine but since our lives continue to get more complicated and busy with each waking day, we were overjoyed when the new Misfit Shine 2 landed on our desk.
The Misfit Shine 2 is an advanced, premium fitness and sleep monitor that is every bit as intelligent as it is stylish. If we ever needed the encouragement to live a more active life, then this is it. With a range of new and updated features and technicalities it aims to act as an extension of your health and fitness goals, resulting in a becoming the very best version of yourself possible.
Never being overly enthused about the sometimes masculine design of fitness trackers, I was pleasantly surprised at the Shine 2’s minimalist, modular design that is their thinnest yet at only 8mm and crafted from aircraft grade aluminium. Coming in jet black and rose gold versions, there’s an option for both men and women and won’t leave you ashamed or embarrassed of wearing your new arm candy at work or play. Furthermore, being modular, you can wear it anywhere! Whether on your wrist, in your pocket or even pinned to your waistband.
I took to wearing the new Misfit Shine 2 (on my wrist nonetheless) to see if it really did make a difference to my mindset.
So what exactly does the Misift Shine 2 do? Well, in a nutshell it tracks distance travelled, calories burned, steps taken, various activities undertaken and even automatically monitors the length and quality of your sleep.
New features make this exciting piece of wearable tech even better than its predecessors of the Ray and the Shine, with 12 tri-colour LED lights that make reading the time and viewing progress of activity that bit easier to navigate in any light, especially the harsh sunlight here in the Middle East. There are also vibration alerts that you can sync to your phone so you’ll never miss an important call again, something I found particularly helpful when running outside with my headphones on, but can be turned off if you don’t want a jolt every time you receive a text message. This same vibration monitor even gives you a bit of a nudge if you’ve been stationary for too long which is an excellent addition for those that spend the majority of their days chained to a desk.
I found it quite easy to sync my Shine 2 up to my iPhone which offers an advanced way of storing data and tracking your activity progress and sleep patterns. If you download the Misfit app (which I strongly recommend), you can program the Shine 2 to do things that other activity trackers can only dream about doing; fancy taking a selfie to document your work out? Well the Shine 2 has a remote selfie button, a music controller and many other ‘crucial’ features that make this device a real pleasure to wear. The Misfit Shine 2 is compatible with most modern iOS, Android and Windows mobile devices and can also be synced to many third-party fitness tracking applications such as MyFitnessPal, which I admit to having had on my phone for quite few months and never a reason to log in, until now that is.
The Misfit Shine 2 is also capable of detecting 9 different types of exercises which you can add to the app; from walking and running to tennis and dancing, all going someway to helping you achieve your daily activity goal which you can set (and alter) at the start of your use. What’s even better is that this handy device is even water-resistant to 50 meters meaning you can submerge yourself for a swim whilst still tracking your activity.
All in all the Misfit Shine 2 is one of the most powerful fitness trackers on the market today – as beautiful as it is durable, a fantastic gadget that integrates perfectly into your lifestyle and the only time that you need to take it off is when you want to. Misfit may have only been around since 2011 but in this short time its become one of the leading wearable tech brands thanks to its line of sleek and inexpensive activity trackers and the Misfit Shine 2, its first major update in two years, is the perfect staple product; the best-looking, lowest-maintenance activity tracker I’ve had the pleasure of wearing.
The Insider UAE 