Why You Can Trust CNET Mio Slice may help users live a longer and healthier life (hands-on)
Mio's fitness tracker includes a new Personal Activity Intelligence metric that favors heart-rate intensity over step count to help you live a healthier life.
The Mio Slice isn't like any fitness tracker we've seen before. Sure, it can track steps, distance, calories burned, sleep and heart rate. But it may be the first tracker, its maker Mio Global promises, to actually help you live longer and reduce your risk of lifestyle-related diseases.
While companies such as Fitbit, Jawbone and Garmin focus on the number of steps you take, Mio has developed a new metric that uses heart rate information to show how your body responds to physical activity.
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The Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) metric is based on the Hunt Study, a large-scale health study in Norway that linked activity levels to overall health and longevity. Unlike the basic 10,000-step goal, the PAI score is a personal metric. It is based on age, gender, resting heart rate and maximum heart rate. "Whether you work out only occasionally or you are a world-class athlete," Mio claims, "your PAI score will be tailored to your body's response to exercise."
The PAI score is calculated using your heart-rate intensity over a rolling seven-day period. The Hunt Study determined that keeping your PAI score above 100 could increase your lifespan by up to 10 years and provide maximum protection from lifestyle diseases.
The Slice will be the only Mio product to display the PAI score directly on the band itself, but owners of other Mio products (the Alpha 2, Fuse, and Link) can view scores in the PAI mobile app.
I got to spend some time with the Slice and was blown away at how slim it was. Unlike Mio's other products, which tended to be quite bulky, the Slice is something you would actually want to wear throughout the day. I'm also intrigued with the idea of moving away from step count.
In addition to displaying the new PAI metric, the Slice includes a vibrating alarm and can alert you to notifications on your smartphone. The tracker will arrive later this year for $99 in the US.
Mio's PAI mobile app is available now for Android and iOS.