This is how often the Microsoft Band checks your heart rate

The Microsoft Band is making some waves in tech media these days with most initial impression articles giving praise to the new health tracker. Certain, there are some quibbles here and at that place on design or condolement, which is predictable, but overall, many users seem to be quite happy with their new wrist accessory.

Over in our Microsoft Band forums, an interesting question about the Ring's centre rate monitoring came up. Specifically, people were wondering what does it mean to monitor your heart rate continuously?

I decided to find out and asked Microsoft.

On the face of it, this seems obvious only in do, it can mean many different things. Sampling rate for any technology is something with which we find significant variation. Even when I worked in neuro-labs doing electroencephalograms (EEG), the charge per unit at which the samples are taken, and the corporeality of channels used varied from lab to lab, experiment to experiment.

Another concrete example is video. You lot could say a video camera records continuously, just this does not tell you annihilation about the sample rate aka frames per second (FPS). A video camera recording at 5 FPS captures fewer images than 1 recording at 120 FPS. They are both continuous video but not analogous in terms of richness of data.

The problem

Many users have played with the optical heart-rate sensor found on the Microsoft Band, and with different expectations comes different outcomes. Some people establish that the ring seems to be always 'acquiring' a signal when they tap the Me Tile to see their heart rate. That has led some people to believe that the center rate monitoring is not working, as information technology should. Others believe that the Microsoft Band cannot accurately pull in heart rate data from the peak of the wrist.

Such experiences come from a common misunderstanding of how this technology works.

Rates of center rate data conquering

We asked Microsoft specifically about how frequently the Band acquires your center rate, and they were more than happy to provide the information.

We asked about iii specific scenarios: regular activity/step counting, slumber, and workout/run mode. Here are the three conditions

Microsoft Band centre rate sampling frequency

Practise modes (Run and Workout): Middle rate records every second
Sleep tracking : ii minutes on, 8 minutes off. Repeats throughout duration
All other times : 1 minute on, 9 minutes off, and repeating the wheel
Transmission: Y'all can force-check your heart rate at any fourth dimension by tapping the Me Tile

When the Microsoft Band is just being worn nether regular weather, users tin expect 10-infinitesimal intervals for heart rate data collection, which is six information points an 60 minutes. During sleep, the center rate monitor is working slightly harder, taking a longer periodic sample.

Finally, during exercise when the user puts the Ring into Conditioning or Run, the Band goes into a loftier-performance style collecting a user'southward middle charge per unit once every second.

Why this matters

Heart rate, when combined with your physical stats like age, weight, and meridian, can assistance better determine caloric fire. Center rate, in theory, measures your body'due south exertion. Combined with the movement measured past the Ring'south sensors, you get a more than accurate estimate of calories burned during exercise (as opposed to simply movement and no heart charge per unit data).

Accurateness for caloric burn down during exercise is more important than knowing how much (or how lilliputian) you are not burning while sitting on the couch. For slumber, it is a little more than important for other reasons, including detection of sleep disturbances, possibly related to breathing disorders similar sleep apnea or general stress.

The reason the Microsoft Band does not record every second for 24-hours a day should exist credible: battery life .

Turning on the greenish LED optical sensor and leaving information technology on drains the Band'due south batteries within hours, instead of days. Considering those batteries demand to power a colour bear upon screen and ix other sensors, the Microsoft Band has a lot to exercise, so conserving ability is a priority.

There is also the question of value. Having constant heart charge per unit data during exercise is crucial, merely the scientific discipline is a lot less reliable for just lounging around or walking to the kitchen. It may audio nice to have a eye rate monitor that can follow your eye 86,400 times a day but so far there is no applied need for that much data.

Every bit someone who worked in the medical field with patients, I find Microsoft's choices for heart rate sampling to be acceptable, and appropriately prioritized.

Working for you

In conclusion, the Microsoft Band blends technology with smarts to deliver a well thought out production. The Band records your heart charge per unit when virtually needed and backs down when it is not, letting the device last two days on a single charge.

You may not see the centre rate monitor acquiring your pulse every second, but exist assured that it is working behind the scenes, merely as Microsoft intended. Likewise, the Ring acquires your heart charge per unit regardless of position on the wrist. The important affair to remember is it is about consistency and alter over time.

You tin see a graph of your heart charge per unit by going into Steps, Calories, Night, Exercise and Run tiles in the Microsoft Health App and and then borer the graph. That switches graph modes and reveal your heart charge per unit, spanned over the entire twenty-four hour period with highs, lows, and more.

We are doing more with the heart rate sensor on the Microsoft Band in the coming days, including comparing it to chest straps worn during exercise. Stay tuned.