Nike FuelBand SE review

Nike wants us to win the hour, win the day

Nike Fuelband SE
Fitness gets a splash of colour

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We like

If there's one thing that can be said for the Nike FuelBand SE it's that it's still one very stylish bit of tech. The addition of colours will go down well and it still feels (for the most part) comfortable on the wrist.

But it's really all about Sessions this time around, which is a great new feature. It makes the SE feel much more valid as a day-to-day tracker, even if you're still not keen on the Fuel points system.

We're also a big fan of the social features that have been thrown in, though you'll obviously need to have some FuelBand friends to take advantage of this one.

We dislike

While we love Sessions, the lack of certain other features means that the FuelBand SE doesn't feel quite accurate enough. The omission of an altimeter is a bit annoying, for one thing.

Size constraints are understandable but 2013 has brought a lot of new contenders into the fitness wearable market and Nike needs to make sure it's keeping up with the competition.

But really, it's the lack of an Android app that still stings the hardest. Sure, it will probably appear eventually, but Nike is still leaving a huge demographic out in the cold a year down the line. It just feels wrong.

Verdict

The Nike FuelBand SE reckons it's an Olympic leap beyond the original, but if you're not making full use of Sessions on a day to day basis, its strides forward aren't massive.

Nonetheless, it's still a stylish piece of tech and we guarantee you'll start to gamify your life a little more when wearing it. But for anyone who owns last year's iteration, it's tough to recommend paying out for the Second Edition, especially now that Nike has made its improved algorithms available to the original device.

Hugh Langley

Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.


Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.