Please don't give your loved one a fitness tracker for Christmas

Please don't give your loved one a fitness tracker for Christmas

An exercise tracker might seem like a nice Christmas present, something that your loved ones can use throughout the year and that will help them continue a healthier course throughout their lives, but put one under the belt. tree could be a giant bug.

Not that fitness trackers are unpopular, especially when fresh starts loom and New Year's resolutions are made. Google searches for Fitbits peak in the last month of the year and January (although searches for dedicated watches for cycling and running are more stable throughout the year).

The downside is that, regardless of what your good claims are, gifting someone with a fitness tracker is a lot like giving a smartly wrapped basket of soap and deodorizer. In the best of cases, it will end up being used, with a certain resentment, over the course of certain weeks before leaving it in a drawer and forgetting it. The only thing worse would be a smart scale.

Disappointed man opening Christmas present

Giving away a fitness tracker for Christmas could be construed as a not-too-subtle insult (Image credit: Shutterstock / TommyStockProject)

There is also the fact that an increasing number of fitness devices require a continuous subscription if the owner wishes to take advantage of it to the limit. Each and every new Fitbit device comes with a XNUMX-day Fitbit Premium trial, to serve as an example, but if your loved one wants to continue accessing features like their daily readiness score and long-term snoring tracking , you must pay. rate of € nine hundred and ninety-nine / € seven hundred and ninety-nine / AU € fifteen and forty-nine per month.

But what if the person in question is already the fit and healthy type? Well, they may very well have a tracker, even if they don't use it for Christmas Day. In two thousand and nineteen, Fitbit reported that it had twenty-nine million active users on its platform, and that's just one brand.

Amazfit and Xiaomi are also making great strides with watches like the Amazfit Bip and Xiaomi Mi Smart Band six, both inexpensive and equipped with health-tracking tools.

What to give instead

So what is a person to do? Well, I would advise meditating a bit outside the box or, more particularly, under the covers. Everyone appreciates a good night's sleep and there are many technologies that can help you achieve more of.

Earplugs for sleeping, to serve as an example, are a good option. If you know someone who has a problem with a snoring partner or rowdy neighbors, the QuietOn Three outlets are worth checking out. They're completely small and employ the exact same active noise cancellation technology as your favorite headphones to disguise annoying background noise.

Alternatively, for anyone who has trouble turning off at night, the Amazfit Zenbuds will channel soothing sounds right into your ears, with options like light showers and snoring cats. I tried it, it is exquisite.

Woman in bed with Fitfort light on her nightstand

An alarm clock light is a gift that will make mornings less dissonant (Image credit: Fitfort)

A white rumbling machine is another good option (the HoMedics Deep Sleep Mini is great and very affordable), and a wake-up light is a great way to make mornings less surprising for the system. Some of the best also serve as practical table lamps throughout the day, with quite pleasant and colorful ambient lighting.

The difference between all of this and a fitness tracker is that there's no guilt or blame associated with a bad night's sleep, and you're not trying to change the person - you're changing their environment for the better. ayudar.

Alternatively, socks are always and in all circumstances (but you may be missing out on the smart step-tracking socks).