Misfit Shine 2

The Shine 2 comes with all you see here.

It's slender, lightweight design makes it easy to wear

The bonus clip allows it to be placed on your shirt, belt or shoe!

All your information is displayed via the LED Lights.

Editor rating: 8.0 / 10

User's rating: based on 0 user ratings

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By Brian Price

Misfit Shine 2 Review Facts

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Having been one of the first to break out into the fitness tracker industry, this particular line has had a lot of people sitting there and awaiting the next rendition. Those that did wait were not disappointed by all that we found on this particular brand. Everyone who did has said it was worth it and that the tried and true, tested and remade Misfit is exactly what they hoped would come out of it. Fitness trackers have become extremely popular among fitness guru’s and one of the biggest issues is that many of the designs do not seem to have gone through enough testing of the designs released- if any at all. The controls are hard, the screens to small or if touch screen, don’t respond the way they should. With this line, they took some time before shooting back out into the market with an improved rendition which took some of the customer input from the first line into consideration. While they had their issues with the first attempt, the second run seems to have addressed not only many of the issues of the first Misfit but also of the competition out there to try and corner a piece of the market. This means we have a bit more to really look into before we can give our say, after all, if we want to play fair, if they say they have addressed issues, we want to be sure they are holding to their words. That being said, just a quick glance over the product had our brows raised and intrigued us to dig deeper- it isn’t often you can feel any type of arm-related gear could be worn without a gender stereotype affixed to it!

Editor's Pros & Cons

Pros

Long battery life (6 months)
Easy to Use
Light
Slim build
Several ways to wear it

Cons

No digital readout
Not rechargeable batteries

Activities

The activities that a tracker records or gives information on is usually best left when discussing its apps, but there are a couple of immediate questions when it comes to where you can comfortably wear one of these and what you can do with it on. The surprising answer is- anything really! With its sleek look and thin design, it doesn’t look bad no matter what you wear it with, and with improvements made on certain areas, it is not likely to go sliding from your wrist either. This device is also designed to go into the water- so if you are going to get wet, it still doesn’t need to come off your wrist first. Many people wear it around the clock and find it as comfortable and easy to forget, if not more so, than a normal watch. In other words, this tracker has definitely leaped ahead of its predecessor in the activities you can choose to go with and not have to worry about losing it or looking bad.

Basic Features

Most trackers don’t really have a way to connect to anything other than the wrist band, and with some of the activities that they track, it would do better on a belt or a shoe strap. With the Misfit you have that option. It actually has a way to easily connect it where you feel the most accurate information can be collected. This basic transition from watch band to anywhere you need it tracker is its most basic extra. Of course, like all trackers, it has that extreme base of looking like an armband or watch, but this little extra is something we think should be a norm with all trackers. It is also incredibly thin and light, which means you aren’t likely to get uncomfortable wearing it either, which is very nice. Many trackers have taken on the additional task of acting as your watch, and while the Shine 2 does tell time, you have to tap it to have it light up accordingly. There is no screen, so reading the time might be a bit interesting to learn.

Advanced Features

This one has a series of lights along the outer edge which can change color based on what it is letting you know. Unlike before where there was less of a definition as to what it was registering (exercise or phone call) this one will light accordingly and is easier to interpret. The most advanced feature it really has good bragging rights to, though, is how well it tracks swimming laps. When it comes to steps, walking is tracked pretty easily, but running not so much, and its sleep monitor is interesting as well. In the end, this one is meant more for basic uses rather than to give you a heavy read on every little detail of your routine- which might be refreshing with all those other fitness devices that seem to want to pack everything under the sun into them. The only advanced feature we feel that it might have benefitted from, that it lacked, was a heart monitor of some sort.

Connectivity

If you are looking for connectivity, this is definitely the tracker you want. If you have one of the most updated phones or even a Windows-based handset, you are able to connect with this tracker- and can even use it to have your phone take hands-free selfies! This Tracker is unique in that it isn’t built to only be used by a specific company, so it truly is the most versatile version of a tracker that you can get. It seems to even be able to handle any wireless device with blue tooth in some fashion, so checking yourself should be a snap despite it not giving you the information directly on the face. You can even turn on your music and switch tracks from a distance which is plain awesome if you want to listen to tracks in the shower but don’t want to risk wet hands on your phone or device!

Apps

This is where you get most of your information, so you definitely want to put it on any device you plan to use it with. The interesting quality with this particular tracker is that it doesn’t try to track your exact number of steps, but rather bases it all on a points system, rewarding you with said points every time you reach a goal. For some of us, this may actually be a better option than steps- since we can’t use excuses or try to trick the tracker when we get ‘close enough’ to the number we wanted. Since we can’t see an exact count, we have to just work until we hit the goal and trying to ‘trick’ it when we think we are close may end up being more work than we want it to be.
The app tracks all your exercises, your sleep time, your weight progress, and it is where you go to set up your music and picture taking as well. It’s simple to navigate and leaves little questions as to what you are up to. Of course, as stated earlier, you will have to download it to any and all the devices you want to be able to access it on, but it doesn’t take up too much space and really, having all the info in the app and access on your other devices does save a lot on the battery life.

Comfort

Did we say this thing is light? How about the fact that it is sleek and slim? If you want comfort, this thing delivers in the best payload ever. Not only is it comfortable to wear in its watch-like mode, but it can be removed from the wrist band and has an easy to use clip so that it can be pinned to your shirt, belt, or shoe as needed and wanted. The first version of the Shine 2 had issues clipping into the wrist band, but after a few customers pointed out that it simply was not stable enough, the company offered to replace the way it went in for those who had purchased it, and changed the product so that the most current ones (for over a year at the time this was written in 2019) come with the new clip set up. With this newest rendition, it stays secure no matter how you are wearing it- and many forget they even have it on till they look down and see it!

Style

This tracker looks great on anyone. While the Shine looked almost too ‘effeminate’ for some, this one has a perfect ‘unisex’ appearance to it making everyone feel comfortable enough to put it on. We don’t really feel anything is really gender identified (I mean really, it’s a silver disc in a black band, kind of odd to think of it as being too anything in that sense) those who did feel that way said this one did not give off that same air. It’s stylish and looks good with almost anything and because it isn’t bulky, if you have sleeves on, it slides right under with ease. Given that you can wear it in so many ways, you are bound to find a way that suits your taste, and maybe even find a band in a color you prefer.

Durability

Due to its design, this one is particularly durable in nature. It’s slender so it’s less likely to crack if it drops, and it being light only further prevents this kind of accidental break. It’s also less likely to get easily crushed, though testing this or any other theory on something you pay money for is not recommended. Given that it can also track your laps when swimming, it is also not going to get into any trouble by getting wet, so when it comes to trackers, this one likely will outlast most. Since it doesn’t have a face to get scratched up or cracked, it even has that bonus to its durability as well.

Face

While this tracker doesn’t have a ‘face’ per se, it does have a front and a back. The front side of its disk is a beautifully done metallic silver and along the outer edge is a clock like series of LED lights which is how it gives you the information that it can. This could be a little confusing to figure out just be looking at it, but we are sure that a good read of the booklet it undoubtedly comes with will help you to interpret which light and what color means what. By tapping on its surface, you switch between the modes, but it is a good idea to have your device on you to make sure it is set right the first few times till you get the hang of it. No one has any complaints about the tap sensor in it, if anything they have all said it's easy to use an doesn’t have the same issue as touch screens where its either too sensitive or not sensitive at all. Instead, everyone says it has just the right sensitivity level to make it so accidental switches don’t happen, and you aren’t tapping at it endlessly just to make it go where you want.

Band

This was the complaint about the first Shine as well as the first version of the Shine 2. The band was simply too loose and it either did let go of the disk or always felt like it would, making many activities feel unsafe to wear it on the band and not lose it somewhere. While the Shine 2 originally felt a little better, it was still too loose for comfort, so the company decided to rectify the issue and replaced the buyer's clips and began producing the new clip with all future purchases. With this issue resolved, this quickly became one of the more comfortable and popular band types for a tracker. The cool part is that the band itself did not really need to be replaced, and you could fit the disc in most of the older bands, so it continues to be one of the more versatile in design.

Ease of Use

The system is based on taps on the disc’s surface and a series of lights along its outer rim. The lights change color and give information based on how many and where they are located. The number of taps you give the disc changes what function it is doing and all the information is recorded via the app that you download onto your devices. The app itself is extremely easy to use and navigate, the menus and options clearly are shown. What may be considered semi-difficult is memorizing what each light sequence means what, and how many taps take you where. Of course, once you read the instructions and have enough practice at it, like most simply made devices, it becomes one of the easiest out there to work with. Again, we saw a little complaint from those who own it- and in fact, most were waiting for this new version because the first one was already a favorite, and this one kept that trend going.

Battery

Want amazing? Because that is exactly what you get with this tracker’s battery life! Since it doesn’t give you a digital readout, and everything it does do is through its app outside of a few LED lights, this little device will last longer than most any other out there that does the same things for you. While it doesn’t have rechargeable batteries, the watch battery it does use lasts up to six months before you need to replace it- and that is with around the clock use! You can even wear this to bed and put its sleep tracker to true use, unlike many others that offer the same thing. The fact you only need to replace the battery twice a year at most makes this one of the longest-lived on the market.

Price

The price of this particular tracker is about midrange. You can get a few lesser known brands for cheaper, and even some of the trackers from known brands that have fewer options than their biggest and newest versions. However, if you are looking for more options, you will probably have to pay more for a better tracker than this one. The biggest thing to note, though, is that a lot of those selling for less will have less of battery life, and their sleep tracking may not be something that you can so easily utilize as this one. The most inexpensive version of the Shine 2 is around $63 and comes with a black band and rose gold disc. There is also a black disc and blue disc available for a little bit more. Unfortunately, though the silver version we mentioned is currently unavailable, though it may return at a later date.

Accessories

The disc itself can be ordered in different colors, as well as the band. While these don’t really amount to actual accessories, like other objects we have gone over, we felt this was the best area to mention the variety. The Shine 2 is only available in certain colors depending on which place you purchase it through but can be found with the black band, the blue disc, the rose gold disc and the black disc easily.

Key Features

-Control certain device options (music, answering the phone, and Selfies)
-Tap sensitivity is unparalleled
-Battery life is 6 months
-Lightweight
-Can be worn several ways
-Easy to grasp settings
-Sleep monitor
-Waterproof
-Easy to use App

Bottom Line

If you want something that works and lasts a long time, this is definitely the tracker for you. While it may not have all the fancy digital readouts, it does everything you need and can be checked via the app. It’s even waterproof so those who want a good swim tracker that they do not want to have to worry about how wet it gets, this is perfect. This is for those who want the tracker without all the complications.