Microsoft Band 2 was the second-generation

smart band Smart or SMART may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014 * Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com * ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper * ''SMart'', a children's television seri ...

with

smartwatch A smartwatch is a wearable computer in the form of a watch; modern smartwatches provide a local touchscreen interface for daily use, while an associated smartphone app provides management and telemetry, such as long-term biomonitoring. While ea ...

features developed by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

. Announced on October 6, 2015, it succeeded the original

Microsoft Band Microsoft Band is a discontinued smart band with smartwatch and activity tracker/fitness tracker features, created and developed by Microsoft. It was announced on October 29, 2014. The Microsoft Band incorporates fitness tracking and health-ori ...

and was initially available in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. It was later also available in Australia through the Sydney flagship store, Microsoft online store, and selected retailers such as JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman. Like its predecessor, it incorporates

fitness tracking An activity tracker, also known as a fitness tracker, is a device or application for monitoring and tracking fitness-related metrics such as distance walked or run, calorie consumption, and in some cases heartbeat. It is a type of wearable comp ...

and is compatible with

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

and Android smartphones via a

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...

connection. On October 3, 2016, it was discontinued.The Microsoft Band is dead - The Verge
/ref> On May 31, 2019, the Band's companion app stopped working and Microsoft offered refunds for customers who were still active platform users.

Technology

The Microsoft Band 2 includes multiple sensors: Although the Microsoft Band 2 is primarily designed for use with activities related to fitness, it also provides extensive smartwatch-like features such as sleep tracking, communication tools, as well as many standard features you would expect on a digital wrist watch.

Sleep tracking

The Band 2 uses its sensors to track sleep patterns when it is worn to bed. It can advise whether the user woke during the night, and provide information about sleep quality and duration.

Communication tools

When paired with a smartphone, the Band 2 can exchange information with the smartphone. This allows the Band 2 to show: * Alerts and previews of incoming messages sent via SMS to the smartphone * Alerts and previews of emails downloaded by the smartphone * Alerts from the notification centre of the smartphone (Windows Phone) * Call log of missed calls

Watch

The Microsoft Band 2 can be used as a replacement for a normal digital wrist watch. It includes the following standard time features: * Time (12- or 24-hour), * Date (day of month and day of week) * Timer feature * Stop watch with lap timer * Alarm

Criticism

Mobile Operating Systems

Certain functions of the Microsoft Band 2, such as the ability to reply to text messages using Cortana, are only available when paired with phones running a Microsoft mobile OS. Android users can reply with a set of predefined messages while iOS users cannot reply at all. Additionally, certain sync issues—most notably inaccuracies in the weather tile. Some have made efforts to rectify the situation using Microsoft’s Web Tiles. There are issues when using the Band with

Windows 10 Mobile Windows 10 Mobile is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft. First released in 2015, it is a successor to Windows Phone 8.1, but was marketed by Microsoft as being an edition of its PC operating system Windows 10. Wind ...

Durability

There have been several reports that the plastic

elastomer An elastomer is a polymer with viscoelasticity (i.e. both viscosity and elasticity) and with weak intermolecular forces, generally low Young's modulus and high failure strain compared with other materials. The term, a portmanteau of ''elastic p ...

band material will fail after minimal use. Users describe cracks developing in the band, which required device replacement by Microsoft. Microsoft will not make the strap slightly thicker, and has decided to discontinue the line.

References

External links

* {{Smartwatch Microsoft hardware Products introduced in 2015 Discontinued Microsoft products Smartwatches Smart bands