Hi everyone! A great week for us at Shapeheart with the simultaneous launch of our 2 armbands.
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Heart rate tracking on the arm
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Magnetic touchscreen case to use your smartphone
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63% of runners are exercising with their smartphone (80% of people under 30). Yet, existing solutions are not offering a convenient experience. Our armband combines a magnetic case to easily access your apps, and a bluetooth heart rate monitor, the only sensor your phone was missing.
Our sensor is more accurate than any wrist fitness solutions and your heart rate is directly displayed into your favorite running app, so you can easily check your pace, distance, and heart rate at a glance from the same interface.
A first batch of 2000 units without the HR monitor will be in the French stores this week, and 650 connected versions of the armband have already been sold on Kickstarter.
Any feedback would be great whether you are using your phone, a smartwatch, or a chest strap!
@aschwoob what timing, the armband I'd been using since 2014 just fell apart yesterday!
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Hunter
@stan hehe great :) i'm sure you'll like this one. I'm still quite impressed that your armband survived 3 years though ... as they are often low quality armbands. We have really putted great effort into creating a product that is tough, with very beautiful finitions !
@aschwoob Thanks for creating this -- looks nice! Can you share info on the heart rate monitor performance vs. products worn on the wrist or chest?
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Hunter
@editemily Yes of course, the sensor positioned on the arm is more precise than on the wrist. Basically on the wrist the measure depends a lot of ambient light (and then : how you tie up your watch) and movement. On the arm there is less movement (because nearer to the chest) and less ambiant light (because the armband is always tied up to your arm).
Vs Chest strap the precision is 95 % [+/-5 bpm], we made a lot of test and the % of time spent in different HR zone are the same as the one measured with a chest strap.
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This looks like a really nice product, the only problem I had with all smartphone armbands is, that my running form gets really bad when I'm wearing one. I have no idea why, but it makes it harder to move both of my arms the same way. I'm trying to get used to wearing one of these belts where I can store my phone in. No idea if your armband could be able to solve my problems.
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Hunter
@manuelauer Hi Manuel ! What i used to do is that i change the armband from arm time to time. It is made easy thanks to an innovative design with a silicone edge, that allows you to untie the armband without "fully opening" it. You can see more details on our Kickstarter page !
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I'm an occasional runner and what I've found to be lacking in armbands is not the technology, but the form factor. I want to be able to:
1) Put my phone in a place where I won't feel it as I'm running (a minimal arm band serves this purpose well.
2) Insert/remove the phone from the band as quickly as possible. There's nothing worse than being ready to run and having to fuss around with getting the phone to sit properly in the band; if I can just slam it in and head out the door, I can stay focused on getting fit.
Not that you were setting out to accomplish the above with your band, but does your band address those two concerns in any way?
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Hunter
@mvkel yes of course ! thanks to our patented magnetic system it's very easy to pop off your phone and use it (it's touchscreen). We run with a lot of people that really loved how easy it was.
Then regarding comfort we have put a lot of effort to make an armband that is comfortable and holds well to your arm without falling.
Is this washable? What size phones does it fit? I've been looking for just a freakin' armband holder for my iPhone 6S Plus and haven't found anything of decent quality. This would be a step up with all the stats it provides (I'm mainly interested in the "finding your best rate" aspect when running/working out).
Also since this connects via Bluetooth, presumably I won't be able to use my bluetooth headphones while running since it'll be connected to the Heartmonitor?
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@braunshizzle hi ! Yes you can remove the sensor from the silicone case. It's washable but won't withstand wash machine.
That's the second patent : the phone case is touchscreen and can fit most smartphone. On kickstarter we will offer a case that will fit perfectly 5.5" smartphone as the iphone 6s +.
It's a common misunderstanding to think that you won't be able to use your headphone : most running app are able to handle multiple Bluetooth smart devices ! So yes! We are also running with bluetooth headphones AND heart rate tracking.
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