Polar’s Loop 2 Activity Tracker Adds Notifications And Vibrations To Your Wrist

Polar just released a brand-new version of its activity tracker, the Loop 2. The company now competes directly with the Fitbit Charge and Jawbone Up, as the new tracker now packs more features to stay on par with the competition.

Like its predecessor, the Loop 2 is all about passively tracking your activity during the day — it’s not just for when you’re running. It comes with an LED display very reminiscent of Nike’s FuelBand to display your activity. But this time, the display can also show your phone notifications, and the band vibrates.

It’s not ideal, as it seems the Loop 2 can only display a few letters at a time, but it should be enough to get caller ID on your wrist and see if you should bother looking at your phone. It can also act as a silent alarm clock on your wrist, gently vibrating in the morning.

Many Apple Watch users have praised the activity feature that tells you to stand up if you’ve been sitting for too long. The Loop 2 comes with a similar feature. And of course, all your activity is synced with the Polar Flow web service and app.

Battery should last between three and eight days. While Polar’s reputation also comes from its heart-tracking devices, the Loop 2 doesn’t come with a built-in heart tracker. Instead, it works with other heart trackers of the same brand so that you can display your heart rate on the Loop 2 without having to wear another watch. The Loop 2 comes in three colors — white, pink and black; the black version will ship a bit later than the two other versions. It costs $120.