In the 21st century, it should be no surprise that everything is becoming “smarter.” We have smart phones, smart tablets, etc. Now, we have smart bands. More and more of these devices are hitting the market and it does not look they will slow down anytime soon. Right now, there are two kinds of smart bands in the market.
On one hand, you have the more expensive ones like the Fitbit, and Jawbone. They have very good features and the digital data display is excellent, but we found out that many users, including ourselves, got the same impression after using them. Although the features are very impressive, users can only look at the statistical data collected by the smart band every day. Quite frankly, it gets tiring. You cannot really use them in the long run.
On the other hand, you have a new smart band like the Oaxis Star 21, which is not like the other smartbands we have come to be familiar with. If you are looking for a device that can help you come up with better and healthier habits, this just might help you. Yes, we mentioned habits, which are to be formed by this little device on your wrist. Sounds scary? Let’s start with the overview of the packaging and unboxing first before getting on to it.
Packaging and unboxing
This one of the most beautiful cell phone packages I have seen in a long time. Check out the flashy design.
On the back, there is a simple description of the product. Besides its special features and the fact that you can look at the time with it, it is not that different from other smart bands today.
The idea behind the Oaxis Star 21 is that it is a device that can help you develop good habits in 21 days. We will delve more on that later.
Here are the specifications. Its weight is 18g is one of the highlights, but we will analyze the specs and features later in this review.
The Oaxis Star 21 International Edition Package comes with the outer and inner boxes, the band itself, the manual, charging cable, etc.
Photos and Analysis
Notice how shiny Oaxis Star.21 is. That’s because it comes it comes with 84 triangular folds. No matter what angle you look at it, every surface will reflect light. What is more fascinating is the fact that there are 21 LED lights underneath it, which provide you notifications, according to the different activity or function.
Check out the latch. It even has two triangular folds.
The rubber used to make this band is very soft and comfortable to the touch. The designers at Oaxis had some hard time choosing the right material, which could be a perfect combination of weight, style, durability, but most importantly – comfort to the user. The rubber is made of the thermoplastic polyurethane, which should ensure the latter mentioned features. What is more, this material should perfectly resist dirt, should be capable of resisting sweat and moisture, and be dermatologically safe. During our testing we found out that the smart band does feel comfortable on the hand. Of course, you would need to get used to it (as you would need to any new watch). However, after extensive use in the gym (2.5 hours), we found that there was some sweat underneath the smart band and a bit of smudginess (which is kind of natural to everyone), but overall, it did not itch like hell. Having said that, we can say that it is comfortable smart band for those active ones and it would not become annoying even after extensive periods of time.
We have a black version as our review unit. However, we think that other colour options, which include blue (two variations), red, green, white, are more appealing than this one. Anyway, it is always a personal choice.
There are four screws at this part of the band. The two on the left hold together the small cover, which can be opened. This is where the charging port is located. We do not think that this is the best place to put it. Thus, charging this device may be a bit of a pain. On the other hand, the Star 21 has an advantage over other smart bands by installing Micro USB charging port. Therefore, it eliminates the need of carrying an extra proprietary charger. Thus, you can charge this device with a spare Micro USB cable found in your drawer or use the one provided with your smartphone. Also, other manufacturers find it difficult to manage the Micro USB charging port with the waterproof capabilities. Therefore, we need to give a lot of credit to the Oaxis’ design team.
There are many LED lights hidden here! (the total of 21, which matches the number of 21 days – the main concept of the device). When they light up, it is like watching the stars at night. The layout that you see here is the time display mode, in which you can read the time like using a watch. As you may presume, the combination of lighted up LED’s changes according to the functionality you choose. Also, they are used to track your daily progress. The whole idea behind this is that LED’s can show things much simpler and elegant. Besides that, OAXIS believes that opting out numbers or letters lets a user concentrate more on his/her activities rather than competing with other people or having additional distractions. Well, we can say that it is an interesting and quite innovative idea. During our testing, we noticed that it is really less distracting and lets you forget about the numbers when exercising. On the other hand, part of the reason we say this, because it takes some time to get used to seeing only LED’s. Another thing to consider is that we are not sure if it could be really motivating for all the people, as some of us are used to measure their achievements by numbers. In the end, we congratulate Oaxis on taking a different approach.
This layout is for looking at how much calories you burned. When all five light up, it shows that you have reached your goal for burning calories. Honestly, it is a bit hard to reach the goal, as we are not really sports people. Anyway, we always tried to take “smart band motivates us” approach to succeed. Well, it helped, kind of.
The N-shaped layout shows that this band is in night mode.
When in night mode, there is a faint red light.
As we have walked through the design and some notification LED’s functionality, we can see that it is a very attractive device for both women and men. It may be also be suitable for all age groups, as it does not look sporty per se, but more on the fashionable side. We should say that more and more manufacturers manage to produce an appealing design, but what about the features? Are they any useful?
Specs and Functions
To understand what the OAXIS Star 21 is capable of, let’s start with the main specs, which include Bluetooth 4.0, water and dust resistant capabilities (IPX6 rating, which should let you easily exercise during rain), 50mAh lithium polymer battery (non-removable), which should last you for 10-15 days on stand-by (as initial testing proved that the manufacturer delivered its promise, where we were able to reach 10-12 days of stand-by time). Moreover, it has built-in storage, which is capable of recording 7 days of activity data. Furthermore, The smart band works on two most popular operating systems in the world – Android (4.3 and up) and iOS (7.0 and up). What is more, besides the black colour, which can be seen in the pictures, there are White, Red, Blue, Green, Black colours to choose. The smart band has the size of 25 x 1.3 x 0.8 cm and it weighs 18 g.
Some Considerations and Further Functionality
Oaxis made a lot of effort and took great steps in designing the Oaxis Star.21 band’s outer appearance so that consumers could wear it for a long time. Furthermore, this smart band is only 18g and its slimmest part is only 1.8mm thick. As we have already mentioned, it took a bit of time to get used to it, but now, after extensive use for days, it does not cause any inconvenience or discomfort even if you use it for 24 hours. It has a port that was exclusively made for this device that is used to connect the Star.21 band to cellphones via Bluetooth connection.
It can monitor the amount of exercise you get in real time as well as how much sleep you are getting (and the quality of it by measuring your heart rate). It can even notify users it is time to work or rest. 21 lights make up the band’s screen.
As far as the steps counter, not all smart bands are capable of doing it right. During our testing, we found that the Star.21 has achieved very high level of accuracy with counting each step we took.
Many smart fitness bands have this feature that allows users to see and rank how much they exercise and how much progress they are making (kind of Leader Board). Although the pedometer and distance rankings look a bit interesting, can they help you develop workout habits in the long run? The Star.21 armband seems to advocate the idea of following a “balanced workout.” Within a span of 21 days, the band lets users set checkpoints in the Star.21’s corresponding App to develop workout habits as well as create a more balanced lifestyle. This device comes with all kinds of functions. The Oaxis Star.21 can monitor your progress through any kind of weather, as well as measure how much calories you burned and quality of sleep. It can also automatically synchronize data and save 7 days worth of information. It was also designed with IP67 dust and water-proof protection and can last for more than 10 days. However, the core and the band cannot be separated. Users will have no choice but to get another band.
Furthermore, to make achieving your goals easier, the creators decided to include the “game” in to their app. It shows if you are in line with your daily goals and the 21 days habit-changing plan. We think that it is quite amusing way of motivation as you are going up in the road if you succeed and go down if you fail. Who want to go down, right?
Another functionality is one of our favorites. It is an alarm function, which works in tact with the built in hardware vibration motor. We loved the fact that we can use it as a silent alarm without waking up others.
As stated before, the idea behind the Oaxis Star. 21 smartband is that you can cultivate good health habits in 21 days. After you keep doing the same thing every day, it eventually becomes a fundamental habit that you cannot forget. Doing the same thing over and over again for 21 days can get really boring. So, to fix this and make it more enjoyable, Oaxis did some things with the design that can give users a great experience using this device as well as help form healthy habits.
Conclusion
To support the whole concept, the Oaxis use some scientific information. Studies show that you can cultivate good and healthy habits by doing them over and over again for 21 days. The Oaxis Star.21 fitness band can help you do this with its many features. It can monitor your sleep, count your steps, how much calories you burn during exercise and some other nifty things for a healthy lifestyle. You can also use it to look at the time just like with a regular analog watch. In addition, when the all the lights are turned on, it is like staring at the bright starry sky at night. It makes a nice alternative to more expensive fitness armbands.
We left the main question to the end – did it change our habits? Did we become healthy and active people? Of course, it is not a magic pill, which get you ripped without going to the gym. Anyway, the Oaxis Star. 21 indeed helped us being more motivated, but for how long, we are not sure. In the end, it all depends on us.
In conclusion, we definitely recommend the Oaxis Star. 21 smart band as we had no issues with any of its features during the review period, the battery life was almost the same as declared by the manufacturer, it has an appealing design, which lets you wear a device all the time and the price point would not drill a hole in your wallet.
