Microsoft Band Heart Rate Zones in Practice

In addition to completing my very first 365-day cycle without missing a run today, I was able to test out the new Heart Rate Zone feature included in this month’s update.

Here’s some quick observations (I'll dig deeper into the value of this feature in a coming article):

1. There are only two Heart Rate Zones that matter, Hard and Very Hard.
2. When you hit the specific Heart Rate Zones during your activity, the HR number on the display will change color.
3. Also, when you hit the specific Heart Rate Zones during your activity, a colored rectangle will frame the entire screen.
4. These colors are difficult to see in bright sunlight.
5. There are no vibration notifications when you hit the Hard or Very Hard Heart Rate Zones, so you have to be constantly watching the Band to see these.
6. At the end of your activity, a new Heart Rate Zone screen is available to view directly on the Band (shown in the main image for this article).
7. The color schemes for Heart Rate Zones on the Band follow the same color scheme as what is shown in the Microsoft Health dashboard, which matches what the “What’s New” tiles says… When you're at 80% maximum heart rate, the heart rate on Band turns orange. At 90%, it turns red.