Most fitness trackers are designed to encourage you to reach 10,000 steps a day – but Mio’s new Slice is trying to do something very different and make your wristwear more personalized to your fitness needs.
Mio has previously revealed its Pai technology, but this is the first time we've seen it integrated into a wearable.
Along with a heart rate monitor, fitness and sleep tracking, the Mio Slice may be a good addition to your fitness routine.
Mio Slice price and release date
The Mio Slice is launching in the US in January and will come to the UK at some point this year. So far there’s no word on whether it will be launching in Australia or not.
Mio’s Slice sits in the middle of the fitness tracker price range at $129 (about £100, AU$175) which is a similar price to the Fitbit Charge 2.
Design and features
The Slice looks like your typical fitness tracker – there's a basic black and white play in the center and it wraps around your wrist with a thick silicon band to ensure it won’t be flying off when you’re out for a run.
The tracker is quite thick compared to other bands at this price point, so you may find it a little uncomfortable to wear all of the time.
The strap is secure though and it's particularly easy to put on or take off.
There are four colors to choose from, which are traditional black and navy as well as a white and an orange named Stone and Sienna respectively.
You also have the choice of either small or large strap sizes, depending on how big your wrist is.
There's a large button at the bottom of the display which will help you tap through the different functionality on the Slice including the clock, step tracking, heart rate monitoring and more.
It's also water resistant up to 30 meters, so you won't have to worry about running with this on in the rain.
The Slice isn’t the most attractive fitness tracker on the market, but it also isn’t an ugly choice and you won’t be embarrassed about wearing this on your wrist.
The most interesting element of the Slice is its integration with Pai technology.
Mio’s Pai tech is aimed at giving you a more personalized target to reach rather than just telling you to reach 10,000 steps.
Depending on your health – monitored by the always-on heart rate tracker – the system will give you a score of 100 over a week, depending on how much you've raised your heart rate that week.
If your number is below 100, you need to exercise more while if it’s above you’re in a good place.
Some exercise can be high intensity, but you won’t be moving your feet as much as say running - this is perfect for that scenario.
The Slice syncs directly with the Pai app, which you can download to either iOS or Android to be able to see exactly how well you’re doing.
There's also normal activity tracking as well as sleep tracking on the Slice.
You'll also be able to receive phone notifications through to your wrist, but it's limited to only phone calls and texts at the moment. You can't interact with the messages directly from the band either.
Mio also says the Slice will offer up a five day battery life, which we'll be sure to put to the test in our upcoming full review.
Early verdict
The Slice itself isn’t the most interesting fitness band as it features quite a tired design, but having Pai directly on your wrist may be an interesting enough USP.
Pai is a new way of thinking about fitness trackers and could change the way we consider ourselves getting fit in years to come.
