Misfit Shine Activity Tracker Hardware Review

Made by: Misfit
Price: $99.99 for the Misfit Shine, wrist strap, and magnetic clip.

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Bottom Line: A great fitness tracker that suffers only from minor design issues.

I’ve enjoyed my time with the Misfit Shine, but it was not without a few ups and downs. The tracker itself is a beautiful little disc about the size of two quarters stacked with a groove all around the edge. The convex disk looks like a small blank watch face when worn on the wrist. It can automatically track steps and sleep, silently, for up to four months on a single battery.

Initial setup of the Shine was a bit of a troubleshooting journey, however. I had apparently not followed the instructions properly when installing the included CR2032 disk battery and crushed one of the connecting terminals. A couple of quick pushes from a screwdriver had the terminal looking pretty normal, but that doesn’t forgive the fact that a well-designed device wouldn’t have fragile pieces like that in a user serviceable area.

Once the device had power, it quickly paired with the iOS app and updated the device firmware. The time can be set from the app, along with a few other simple preferences. Also included are a few features Misfit classifies as "Labs" features, such as Auto Sleep Tracking. That was one of my favorite features and one that Fitbit unfortunately lacks.

The standard Misfit Shine comes with an adjustable rubber wrist strap and a magnetic clip to hold the Shine. While the device hasn’t fallen from the wrist strap in the week plus I’ve been wearing it, it doesn’t seem secure and it worries me that it will fall out. Bumping the shine against something as I’m wearing it has resulted in it coming loose from the strap, but it has yet to fall completely out. I’d love to see another strap with a tighter grip or perhaps one that snaps securely into the groove around the Shine.

While the Misfit Shine app effectively tracks steps, it hides the actual steps a tap away under a points total. This points total is a mysterious calculation that combines both the number of steps taken with the intensity of the steps. The app only allows a user to set a point goal for the day, not a steps goal.

Overall the Misfit Shine is a great activity tracker with just a couple hardware design issues. If you are looking for something to track your steps, the Shine is recommended.