The Timex Ironman Move X20 is special. It is the only fitness band in India from a watchmaker. In fact, it seems the American company has realised that it is better off bringing its global image to India than perpetuating the gold watch culture that it got caught up in India. The Move X20 is meant for those with arm active lifestyle. For those who are more demanding, there is also a Run X20 with built in GPS.
The Move X20 is a simple fitness band. It is easy to wear and feels comfortable on your wrist. Just select the colours judiciously. The review unit I got was pink and hence I could wear it only over the weekends. The band is waterproof and that is why it uses a contact charging model instead of micro USB that would leave a hole in the band.
What is good
The band is not that complicated. It has two buttons, one for home and the other for next/select. The home button also sets the modes, switching from workout to sleep or find phone. The band does a lot of stuff. It clocks steps, miles covered and calories burnt. It also vibrates when calls come in and display messages. There is even a whether panel.
You can capture specific workout sessions by starting a session and this shows as separate entities on the app. Great feature for those who are on goal-based plans. The Ironman app is quite comprehensive and gives you days for not just workouts, but also the time spent sleeping as well as the overall calories burnt. It also keeps a calendar of your activities at a daily, weekly and monthly basis.
The band is waterproof and is not really bothered by sweat. However, it might not be good enough to go in the pool with you. The battery life is good and can last a week on a full charge. So you can live by recharging the band every Sunday.
What is not that good
The first thing on the list has to be the charging cable. It is almost like an energy band for the fitness band and needs to be tied around the Move X20 so that it stays in contact. But it doesn’t most of the time and you come ready to start your day only to find that the band has not yet charged. If Timex is serious about this segment, they have to fix this.
There seems to be a serious issue with the calorie counter. Often I woke up to find that I had burnt over 400 calories doing nothing. And this happened even on days I didn’t wear it to sleep. I have tried a whole bunch of smart bands and the best I have done is over 20 km of walking when I have burnt around 500 kilo calorie. But on the Move X20, a 6-km walk can end up burning 750 kilo calorie. On certain days, I burnt over 1,500 kilocalorie. If this was true then I would not have been a diabetic.
I am not sure I want to be fiddling around with two buttons when I am working out or jogging. It would have been better had there been a touch function on the band to just wake it up and swipe.
Should you buy it?
I cannot recommend this band simply because it has too many rough edges, the worst being the frustrating charger.
It is also not a cheap band; at the moment the Samsung Gear Fit is a better buy at half the price. If you want Timex, the Ironman Run X20 seems a better option now.
** Estimated street price: Rs 8,995
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