The first in-depth review of an early production model of the Healbe GoBe is out from Engadget, and it’s … well, it’s not as bad as a lot of people expected.
The GoBe is likely the most controversial wearable to come down the pike. It had a hugely over-subscribed crowdfunding campaign, based on its claim that it could monitor caloric intake and glucose levels non-invasively and without user input. Scientists and, eventually, journalists widely derided those claims, and Healbe itself would only make them in person after reading a legalistic disclaimer.
It didn’t help that the ship date kept getting pushed back and production numbers kept getting trimmed. But now Engadget has a piece of nearly finished goods (apparently, there’s an issue with the battery and battery life). It turns out that the claims aren’t totally nonsense, but either are they spot on.
GoBe does, in fact, respond to what you eat and counts the calories. It does so, however, over the course of many hours and not particularly accurately. One would not call it a medical device. One even hesitates to call it useful.
You have to remember to push a button a few minutes before you eat or your calories won’t be counted correctly. If the battery runs out before the GoBe is finished analyzing your sweat for caloric intake, well, that data’s lost, too. As slick as the accompanying app seems to be, its reporting abilities are limited, and if you can’t do anything with the data you’ve collected, what’s the point?
One apparently wouldn’t call it attractive, either. It’s pretty bulky; the reviewer said that more than one friend asked if he was wearing a GPS tracker. Your fashionable friends would be appalled.
There is a theory floating around that innovators need to ship not perfect products but minimally acceptable products that can be iterated. Even if you buy that theory, it sounds like the Healbe GoBe just barely clears the bar of “minimally acceptable,” and then only for a very forgiving definition of “acceptable.”
For anybody thinking about buying a GoBe, strongly consider something else. I am one of the original Indigogo backers for the GoBe project and I am utterly disgusted with the entire campaign. The communication from HealBe throughout the campaign has been atrocious, the customer service non-existent, and the actual GoBe..well, at this point it’s non-existent too. My suggestion, buy a good health/fitness tracker like FitBit or Jawbone and pair the device with your smartphone…you’ll save yourself the headache and frustration you would experience with the HealBe GoBe.
Paul:
Thanks for your comment. Do I understand correctly that as an original backer, you still haven’t gotten your tracker from GoBe?
dan
Thanks correct Dan. I am an early bird backer of the project (backing date of 03/11/2014), and as of today I still have not received the GoBe device. Every month since last November, Indigogo backers have been told that devices would be shipped within the month, and every month nothing is delivered. The worst part is, HealBe customer service does not provide backers any information as to why shipments have been delayed. Very disappointed with this project and its management (or lack thereof).
as an Indiegogo backer in 2014, I received my gobe device the day before yesterday. I am VERY disappointed, first to have waited so long, and second that it is such a clunky device.
Physically clunky–the band is so large that I have to use the last possible hole to fasten it on my wrist. It’s uncomfortable and difficult to read. The IPhone software, while slick-looking, has limited info. It keeps asking me to verify whether I ate anything during numerous short time periods before I can get even heart rate info from it. The pedometer function is wildly inaccurate. It told me I took over 3,000 steps while I was washing dishes. The sleep function? After a good nights sleep it told me my sleep was deficient.
I’ll keep wearing it another week or so, then I’ll probably pitch it and get a Fitbit.
I am also another early bird backer. It took more than a year just to receive the device. As mentioned by others, communication throughout the campaign was really bad.
So I’ve been using this device for about a week. It is very buggy, battery life is short (almost a day). The device crashes more often. Don’t leave it till battery drain completely, otherwise it won’t come up easily. Bottom line, I regret having this. I will move to fitbit charge HR.
I, too, am an Indiegogo backer and just received my device on July 9. It is horrible — the setup is poorly explained. The band is huge and hard to fasten on a small wrist. The device will rarely sync with my Bluetooth enabled IPhone. The sleep function recorded NOTHING. The battery drains quickly. The device is huge and clunky looking. The Healbe Gobe website has little info for troubleshooting, nor on what and how to best use the device. Support email gets no response. A HUGE waste of money.
It took well over a year to arrive. I had the same experiences as others have reported, but with less time to experiment. I set it up Sunday afternoon. It lost most of its battery power by Sunday evening. I recharged it and wore it to sleep. After reporting a horrible night’s sleep, it promptly died due to an empty battery. My battery was charged, because contrary to the device’s insistence, I had a great night’s sleep. I used it all day Monday, only to find the battery had died by the time I got home. I recharged it all night, and the app reported a 100% charge. That was the only way I was able to tell that it had charged. The display went out like a dead lightbulb and the face of the device is nothing more than a blank aluminum screen. Healbe has been notified, but I don’t expect to hear anything. After a week, I am dropping it off at a friend’s office. I practice law in Washington and my friend happens to be a senior official at the Federal Trade Commission’s Office of Consumer Affairs. We are going to have a nice chat about both Healbe and their patrons at Indiegogo.