Basis Peak review

We liked

There are plenty of good ideas here, and the core sleep and activity tracking are reasonably sound. It's a fairly slim, not unattractive device, too. The addition of smartphone alerts is appealing, though it does hit battery life on both the Basis Peak and your mobile.

With so many sensors packed into a far more attractive device than the Microsoft Band, the Basis Peak is highly impressive purely as a piece of tech.

We disliked

The heart rate tracking abilities are a let-down, as is the lack of GPS. The real problem with the Peak, however, it that it'll record your beats per minute, skin temperatures, perspiration and running exploits, but not use them to help you find ways to improve your fitness.

Also, while there's a lack of coaching, context and encouragement for beginners, more advanced athletes will miss GPS and be infuriated by the way it arbitrarily decides your run is over when in fact you've just stopped to tie up your shoelaces.

Verdict

We wouldn't call the Basis Peak a failure. It's certainly better than when it launched, with many bugs got rid of and improvements made. However, it's feature set seems fundamentally flawed by its trying to be all things to all users. The plethora of sensors packed into the Peak make it incredibly expensive if all you want is step counting, and there are much better options if you're a keen and active runner, cyclist or gym-goer.