I rode my first e-bike less than two years ago. I quickly wanted more speed, more torque, and more range. But I quickly realized that bike helmets don’t offer enough protection at higher speeds. Thankfully, the creatives behind the Virgo e-bike helmet thought similarly and have created a new type of safety helmet specifically designed for the higher speeds of electric bikes.
It’s kind of a minor miracle of physics and evolution that we can walk as efficiently as we do; our feet coordinate with our knees, hips, back, and shoulders to keep us upright and moving, but that doesn’t mean we can’t improve along the way. Baliston by STARCK is all about figuring out how to quantify and improve your stride while also improving your style! How do they do? Let’s find out!
I am a big fan of working out at home. It’s pretty easy to build a decent home gym for yourself, even in a small space, but the one thing you really can’t do well in small spaces is boxing. I had pretty much given up on trying to incorporate regular cardio boxing into my routines, but then I got to test the Quiet Punch. And now I’m in love.
Raina and I have used a Withings Smart Scale for the last few years. It’s an older, basic model, but it gets the job done. Now the company has released its latest smart scale, the Body Smart; this is certainly not the kind of scale that any of us grew up with!
We’ve reviewed portable blenders before, but the BlenderCap by Cruz is something else. Designed by two former Apple Engineers, BlenderCap is one of the most functional and best-designed solutions we’ve yet seen for making smoothies, shakes, frozen drinks, or flavored ices while traveling or on the go. All you need to create your favorite concoctions are the ingredients, some ice, a wide-mouth bottle, and the BlenderCap by Cruz will do the rest.
I’m picky about my sneakers. I tore my left ACL several years ago, and the subsequent recovery means that my knee gets the final vote on a pair of shoes. If it’s not happy, I’m not happy. Luckily for my aesthetic tastes and my knee, the NOBULL TrainerPlus in neon blue ticks all the boxes!
When the first images of the Dyson Zone appeared in late March last year, the internet had an absolute field day. Headphones with a detachable mask that served as a personal air purifier? April Fools’ Day had come early! Everyone who saw the photos or read about them had a strong opinion, and it’s understandable why. The Dyson Zone has a very unique and possibly polarizing design, but underneath its futuristic and slightly dystopian style is an impressive melding of audio and health tech that works.
CITIZEN has a deservedly excellent reputation for making stylish and reliable wristwatches. They’re taking their eye for style and combining it with some seriously smart machine learning to make smartwatches that actually adapt to your needs. The second generation of CITIZEN CZ Smart watches will be powered by the YouQ application with the aim of improving your health and your daily routine!
Withings offers many amazing medical devices to quantify your health, from scales to blood pressure measurements to fitness trackers. But they’re taking that kind of health monitoring to a whole new level of dedication with the Withings U-Scan, which functions as basically a connected home urine lab.
Bike riding is a super fun outdoor activity, whether you ride intensely or just like to tool around town. The downside is in winter and bad weather when you need to take the training indoors and hook up to a device to cycle in place. It’s just not the same, either emotionally or physically. TrueKinetix can’t help (as much) with your desire to get outside, but they can help make it a more fulfilling exercise with TrueTrainer.
There are many ways to practice self-care, especially with respect to your muscles. You can use one of the many, many massage guns available, you can foam roll, and you can soak in Epsom salts. Or, you can try one of the more interesting treatments available, like red light therapy from the DNA Vibe’s Jazz Band Live.
Even if you don’t consider sitting to be the new smoking, daily sitting for long periods can cause negative health issues; many of us don’t have a choice. We buy adjustable desks that can go from sitting to standing height with the press of a button. But now what? Standing still for long periods, especially on hard floors, is uncomfortable. And surprise! Standing all day comes with its own host of health problems. The WalkingPad A1 Pro Foldable Under Desk Treadmill might be the perfect solution, as long as you can master the fine art of walking as you work.
We discussed our concerns regarding privacy and period-tracking apps a few months ago. It’s still unclear whether that’s a legitimate fear or just a terrible hypothetical, but it is within the realm of possibility, which makes Apple’s newest Watch feature even more perplexing. If there’s concern about the safety of cycle-tracking, do you really want your Apple Watch Series 8 automatically monitoring it?
Smartwatches are everywhere, but that doesn’t mean there’s no niche for a dedicated fitness tracker. Sometimes, you want that laser focus on your health over every notification possible. Amazon thinks they can get a foot in the door with the Amazon Halo View. We’ve put it through its paces to see if it can compete for wrist space among some stiff competition. The Amazon Halo View is a delightfully lightweight companion. It comes in at around 21g, which is just slightly more than half the weight of an Apple Watch. It’s quite slim and doesn’t interfere with wrist movements when…
I will be the first to admit I have a problem with hydration. Intellectually, I get that you need to drink plenty of liquids, especially if you’re working out regularly or living through the current east coast heat wave. But I’m terrible at actually drinking enough water, so when I was offered the chance to try the new Tailwinds Active Hydration Drink Mix, I was excited that it might improve my usual dehydrated state. How was it? Read on to find out!
We’ve reviewed quite a few massage guns at Gear Diary; most of them are priced in the $75 to $125 range, and all do an excellent job of unclenching sore muscles and improving recovery times. One company has taken the budget-friendly massage gun concept to a whole new level by selling theirs for under $30. But is it possible to make an effective massage gun and sell it at that price? We’ve been testing the Taotronics 10 Speed Massage Gun, and we have some good news!
Privacy has become a big discussion point these days since it feels like every app wants permission to use your camera, access your microphone, and track you all over the place. Ensuring that your private information is securely kept becomes especially relevant when considering apps that track your health, particularly those that track your reproductive health. Do you really need to be concerned about your privacy when using health apps? For many reasons, the answer is yes.
There’s something so effortlessly fashionable about the chunky, utilitarian design of a traditional diving watch. But other than being able to withstand abyss-like pressures underwater, even the most expensive diving watches can’t do much more than tell the time and apprise the wearer of how long they’ve been underwater. The Withings ScanWatch Horizon, on the other hand, offers luxury dive watch design and features, but it is so much more than just a great-looking watch that is also water-resistant to 10ATMs.
I reviewed the Perfectly Snug bed topper some months ago and still love it. A thick, breathable mattress topper that is also smart and adjustable, offering heat and coolness to help me get a good night’s sleep. But it was only last week, when I was laid out with a cold, that I learned how truly great the product is.
There are many ways to track your overall health, but most focus heavily on physical markers like heart rate; this is helpful, for sure, but that doesn’t always tell you how your body is doing when you’re not actively working out. You can track what you eat and guess pretty well, but being able to quantify whether you’re burning fat or carbs and how your body responds to workouts can make a huge difference — enter Lumen, which aims to “hack your metabolism” to maximize your health.
Smart scales continue to get more intelligent, and none is more advanced than the Withings Body Scan, which provides daily analysis and record of biomarkers associated with common health conditions. Not only can the Body Scan monitor segmental body composition, heart rate, and vascular age, it also provides measurements that will assess nerve activity and heart rhythm using a 6-lead ECG. With a tool like this in your arsenal, it has never been easier to take proactive control over your health!