Amazon Halo Review - Tracking Steps, Sleep, and More

Update April 2023: Amazon has stated that they will no longer support Amazon Halo. This adds it to the list of products they have tried and then abandoned over the years (like the Fire Phone, Cloud Cam, Dash Buttons, and more) . Starting in August 2023 the app will no longer function, rendering the Halo Band and Halo View as useless, expensive, visually unappealing bracelets. As a multi-year user this is disappointing. We are leaving these reviews here to share the things that did work about Halo, despite the annoying subscription business model and lack of features compared to competitors.

Many options exist when trying to select the best daily wearable for step tracking and other wellness tracking. Each of the major tech companies now offers some form of their own wearable, including Amazon. There version is the Amazon Halo Band and Amazon View bands. While Amazon Halo Band compares well to the FitBit and other step trackers, the Amazon View compares to other smart watches like Apple Watch and the FitBit Versa. This article looks at some of the main features of the Amazon Halo Band.

The Halo Bands are a popular wearable and Amazon makes a big push for them around major selling days (including Prime Day and Black Friday). But the purchase of a band is not the last payment thanks to the Halo Membership which charges a monthly subscription fee. While the band itself works without the membership, to get the most out of the features of the Halo Band and Halo View, you need to keep paying this monthly fee.

Fitness Classes. Videos for on-demand workouts. This is the most valuable feature in our opinion and compares favorably to other subscription fitness services.
Sleep Tracking Details. Measurement of REM sleep and sleep types. It is frustrating to know that this analysis can be done anyways since base line sleep data is free, but charging simply for an extra graph seems like a waste.
Body Composition Features. The camera based app feature for finding body fat percentage. Again here it feels like this should be a free feature although it’s worth highlighting that this has nothing to do with having a band, you can get body composition just from a smartphone camera so it makes sense to tie it to something other than a cost of the wearable.
Tone Analysis. Listening to your speech to monitor feeling and emotions. While these features align to many of the voice features of Alexa, it is unclear why it is an added cost to monitor. Thankfully if you decide to go to the free version, and disable the tone analysis, the resulting uptick in battery life is substantial.

Amazon Halo bands monitor a number of different features, and the paired app adds a few more. We have continue to monitor how each of these stats compares to other major brands. In general though the Amazon Halo band and Halo View are fairly consistent in their measurement so comparing day to day when using the same device is fine. That said, the bands do seem to be generally less accurate than other major players. For full analysis read our reviews on the accuracy of Halo Bands for:

The Halo Band was the original and first release by Amazon, with the Halo View coming a few years later. The biggest difference in the two devices, other than the price, is the presence of the screen on the Halo View. The price for both seems to be about the same at most times since both of the devices wind up on deep discount much of the time. It is clear that Amazon wants to turn people onto their Halo membership, and having a low cost band is the best way to do this.

Battery life for a daily wearable is such a crucial feature as it greatly effects the experience of consistently wearing the device. Since the Halo Band and Halo View both offer sleep tracking, as well as step and movement tracking, the ideal situation is to be able to wear them constantly over the course of not just a 24 hour day but an entire week.

The Halo Band claims to have a battery life of “Up to 7 days”. This is a bit misleading though once you start turning on all of the features. The voice monitoring service drains a good chunk of that battery life. Halo View has a similar one week claim and using the watch more often (causing the face to be on) will drain it more. So how often do you need to charge the Halo View? In our experience once every two days is a good habit to get into in order to avoid charge anxiety and finding out that the device died over night!

There are no major features of Halo membership that require any sort of registration with the FDA. The sensor used for monitoring oxygen saturation (SpO2), but even so there is nothing diagnostic about the measurements that Halo bands measure. If there is eventually an FDA registration it may be on the Halo app itself, which has diet, body composition, and other features tied into it. Since this appears to be the hub of wellness tracking for Amazon any additional devices they eventually tie into the service (connected scales, blood pressure cuffs, etc.) would be obvious extensions to features of the app.

Voice activation is a big part of the Amazon device portfolio. Still the bands themselves are not designed to be full fledged Alexa devices. There are options to ask your Alexa to tell you your health summary but these are just short cuts to finding the same information within the Halo membership app. Other devices have similar features, with the ability to parrot back your step and activity data, which we have covered separately in our article on the best fitness tracker integrations with Alexa.

Amazon Halo Review – Tracking Steps, Sleep, and More

Is the Amazon Halo Membership Worth It?

How accurate is Amazon Halo?

Halo Band vs. Halo View

Halo Band Battery Life – Does It Last?

Is Amazon Halo FDA approved?

Alexa for the Amazon Halo and View Bands