Microsoft has done it again by making their new wearable, Microsoft Band 2, a crowd favorite even before its official launch on 30th of October 2015. Sporting a curved AMOLED display and adding a barometer for altitude tracking, Microsoft Band 2 might shame Microsoft Band 1 both in aesthetics and in performance.
The Microsoft Band 2 comes with an improved wrist strip orientation that perfectly conforms to the wearers' wrists. The elastomer band also uses a new adjustable latch with its clasp doubling as the unit's battery housing. This is a welcome change to the MB2 since MB1 had its battery housing within the band itself. This makes battery replacement difficult if not at all cumbersome to many using the MB1.
According to Joe Osborne of Tech Radar, the Microsoft Band 2 which will retail at $249.00 is a bit hefty. Osborne cites that the price range given to the MB2 is near-smartphone price specs. He mentions that the MB2 is set up for all sorts of phone notifications and includes Cortana justifying the tracker's steep pricing.
In addition to these specs, Osborne likewise enumerates other nifty additions that make Microsoft Band 2 a tracker's dream wearable, to wit: optical heart sensor, 3-axis accelerometer, gyrometer GPS, ambient light sensor, skin temperature sensor, UV sensor, capacitive sensor, and galvanic skin response.
It is interesting to note, though, that the MB1 also has all of these to boot except for the new barometer mentioned earlier, curved AMOLED display, and a metal frame.
Trekking further into the new Microsoft Band 2, Microsoft Corporation slashes a 50% discount on their Microsoft Band 1. Quentyn Kennemer of Phandroid reports the price cut is to attract more customers to grab the MB 1 at a budget-friendly $100.00.
Kennemer likewise stated that anyone can also purchase the Microsoft Band 1 from Amazon and Best Buy, respectively.
And finally for the Microsoft Band 2, health advocates laud the new and improvised fitness and health tracker from Microsoft Corporation. According to Kelly Sheridan of Information Week, the update to Microsoft Band 1 has received warm welcome to a huge number of Microsoft's health tracker.
Sheridan also quotes Lindsey Matese as saying, "Microsoft adopted the goal of helping users take control of their health and fitness in a more personalized way," in a presentation held last October 6, 2015 that coincided with Microsoft New York City hardware launch. Lindsay Matese is a member of the Microsoft Band and Health Team.
Sheridan ends raving about the new Microsoft Band 2 by stating that the wearable is designed to be more flexible for people who wear it during their workout and working hours which is a far cry compared to the MB 1 in overall user experience.
The Microsoft Band 2 is the latest iteration of Microsoft Corporation vision in helping maintain one's health and well-being through a wearable device. Microsoft Band 2 picks up where Microsoft Band 1 left off by providing better user experience and delivering better value for money in a compact device. And by doing this, Microsoft Band 2 has already made itself a run-away winner even before it sees release.
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