Review on Spire Stone: Smart Stress Management and Fitness Tracker for iOS & Android by Julian Perkins

Unfortunately I will be returning the Spire Tracker. I liked it in theory and really wanted it to work, but I'm afraid it was completely unreliable and inaccurate in my experience. I'm giving it two stars for a number of reasons - again, the theory behind this lovely little device is great, and for some people I think it works phenomenally. Unfortunately, in practice, I feel like there must be too many factors (related to placement and the body it's on) to really get an accurate breath analysis. If it can't be accurate to breathtaking accuracy, it loses all functional value to me. (Note to Spire - perhaps consider adding a Bluetooth-enabled chest strap, with a minimal profile and maximum comfort that would increase its accuracy?) For some background, I'm a psychiatrist. I know that my posture and breathing are not very good and that they often 1) correspond to stress and 2) cause physical tension and pain. I hoped for a little more understanding and awareness in my everyday life. Trouble was, right out of the box I noticed the syncing didn't match my breathing. I tried to give him enough time to "learn" me, but I found that the internship had a big impact on him. (I wanted guys to have different dress codes; something like bras, just to be able to fit it in the middle of my chest. Lol.) When I put it on my belt, I found that my poor posture largely mirrored Spire's negated ability. feeling my breath - thinking I'm not breathing at all, or thinking I'm breathing in when I'm breathing out; interrupted by the slightest fidgeting or movement; only alerted me to "tension" when I was the opposite of tension, drinking coffee and laughing with friends, or lying on my back watching a silly comedy. tense me up Since dealing with extremely intrusive tech and troubleshooting, paying bills, speaking to my mom (just kidding), I haven't received a single notification from the Spire that I might be stressed or need a deep breath. That didn't bode well for me. TL; DR - I think it would be much more accurate if worn on the chest, but it makes it difficult to work for people who don't wear bras. As for the belt, I'm sure that the position of the device, body shape, posture and many other factors can affect its accuracy. I found it inaccurate and therefore useless.