Diwali sale 2016: Here are 5 Fitness Bands to gift this festive season

Smartwatches were ideally positioned to replace/complement your smartphone, but didn’t really take off in that direction. The devices are better known for their fitness tracking abilities. While things didn’t go as planned for the smartwatch category, fitness bands managed to cross the bridge and go mainstream. They are handy (literally), helpful, suit all types, whether a fitness freak or casual morning walker, work with a companion app and are budget friendly to a great extent. This Diwali, fitness bands could be one of the most ideal gifts to snugly fit into a gift box. Here are five such options. Mi Band 2  Xiaomi often puts the Band series on flash sale at Re 1, and if you’ve missed on the sale, then Mi Band 2 won’t really make a dent in your pockets. At Rs 1,999, it is a sleek, lightweight fitness band with an OLED display, touch-sensitive button and all-new design, and also an improved pedometer algorithm. At that price, you get live heart-rate tracking, twist to check time function, decent battery life, among other features.  You can read our one-month with Xiaomi band , before taking the plunge and buying the band from Mi store or Amazon. GoQii 2  The second version of the GoQii band, or rather, a “fitness coaching platform” makes for yet another perfect gift. Unlike other bands, GoQii comes free and you need to pay only for the subscription. With the band 2.0, the startup also reduced the subscription rates — Rs 1,999 for 3 months, Rs 2,999 for 6 months and Rs 3,999 for 12 months. It’s a sleek band with a large OLED display and has a USB charging point. It has a battery that promises to provide juice that will last up to two weeks. In addition to usual fitness capabilities, the subscription gives you access to a GoQii doctor  (general physician), you can share your diagnosis reports with Thyrocare and Max Healthcare hospitals, and the Health Locker will ensure all your details are safe and confidential. Besides, it supports NFC payments with Axis Bank, which expands to over one lakh merchants across India. You can buy GoQii subscriptions here. Fitbit Charge 2 [caption id=“attachment_332381” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  The Fitbit Charge 2 Image: Fitbit[/caption] The Fitbit Charge 2, priced at Rs 14,999, is a great option for those looking for a full-fledged fitness companion. It is an improvement on the Fitbit Charge HR. So, you will get a cardio fitness level tracker that scores your cardio fitness based on activity tracking, heart rate and user profile. Then there is beat to beat tracking to determine breathing rate, used for relaxation sessions which encourage users to take long, deep, slow breaths. There are real-time visualisations and animations to better help users calm down. Besides, it will automatically track different activities, including walking, exercising and sleeping has got smarter. There is a multi sport mode that allows tracking of specific activities such as running, biking, yoga or weights. For runners, there is route tracking through GPS pairing with the smartphone app, as well as real time statistics on the pace of the run and the distance covered so far. It is now available for as low as Rs 11,999. Garmin Vivofit 3  Those looking for something priced between Redmi Band 2 and FitBit Charge 2, can check out the Garmin Vivofit 3 Activity tracker. True to its name, the tracker will nudge you to stay active throughout the day. It will alert users on noticing inactivity for an hour, and will reset only if the user walks for a few minutes. It has a battery life that lasts almost a year, claims the company. It shows steps, calories, distance, intensity minutes and time of day on backlit display and also monitors sleep. The Vivofit 3 is available here for Rs 5479. Samsung GearFit 2  If you are looking for a band from a seasoned OEM then the Samsung Gear Fit 2 is a cool option. Available in various colour options including black, blue and pink, the band sports a curved shape. With 3-4 days of battery life, it works with Galaxy as well as non-Galaxy devices. Some of the features include heart rate monitor, GPS tracks running, water resistant ability, and more. It is available on Samsung’s e-store as well as online stores for Rs 13,990.