Band v2 Enhancements: Better Activity Pause

Besides the physical improvements of the Microsoft Band in version 2, there’s actually a bunch of small but valuable nuances you won't find unless you're using it as a fitness device. I’ll be digging into each of those as my testing continues.

For those familiar with Band v1’s activity pausing capabilities, it left a little to be desired and could sometimes accidentally end a workout before you were ready. I can’t count the number of times that a bead of forehead sweat would end my run activity on an extremely hot summer day. The reason was that when you tapped the Action button the pause and end functions were exposed on the screen. A small bit of sweat or an accidental finger tap would end the activity. I’ve been 15 miles into a 20-mile day when this happened and suffice to say, it was frustrating.

Additionally, if you left the activity paused on the screen, it would end itself after a period of time – thinking you must’ve forgotten to end it yourself. To pause indefinitely, you had to tap outside of the activity to the main tile screen. Sounds confusing, but v1 users know what I mean.

Band v2 has improved this considerably. Now, when you tap the Action button to pause an activity, it pauses indefinitely showing the following screen.

And, to minimize a drop of sweat accidentally ending a session you have to swipe to the left to resume or end the session.

Additionally, you can just tap the Action button again to restart the paused activity.

It may not seem like much, but this improvement is a godsend for those who have experienced a premature and accidental activity termination.

BTW: This enhancement works across all Band v2 activities (run, bike, guided workouts, exercise).

Microsoft Band v2 on Amazon.com: Microsoft Band 2