You know me by now. I mean, I think you do. I’m 6’4” with bad posture and a dislike of wearables. You didn’t know that? Well if you don’t know, now you know.
Then one day, the Lumo Lift hit my desk. It’s a wearable posture and activity tracker. In some ways right up my alley, and in others…not so much.
How It Works
The Lumo Lift is unlike any wearable I’ve seen. Most of them go on the wrist like a watch, but the Lumo Lift goes on your shirt near your collarbone. It’s magnetic, the smaller piece goes on the outside. Once in place, you sit up and click the lift to set it in place. It will now begin tracking your posture and steps.
You can set your posture and step goals in the app on your smartphone. There’s also a coach mode that will buzz you whenever you begin slouching. The coach mode is extremely annoying, but it’s also extremely effective as all you have to do is actually sit up straight to get it to stop.
Pros
Having good posture is linked to many health benefits. Everyone knows that you are supposed to sit up straight. Your dad definitely told you that all the time growing up.
The Lumo Lift is like having your dad connected to your shirt buzzing you every time you slouch. That’s really a good thing. When I wore the Lumo Lift I consistently had better posture every day. My back was actually sore after a few days because I so rarely focus on sitting up.
The Lumo Lift also tracks your steps like other wearables. It was good to know how many steps I was taking per day and it definitely caused me to walk more. I often edited stories while walking the halls just to get more steps in.
Cons
The major problem I had with the Lumo Lift had to do with the battery life. The only way to charge it is with a USB connector to your computer. And there isn’t a way to turn it off. When it is taken off and laid flat it does go into sleep mode, but that doesn’t seem to save too much battery.
For example, my computer isn’t near my bed at night so when I would take it off before I went to sleep I wouldn’t think to charge it. When I’d wake up the next morning it would be almost dead. I’d spend the first 2-3 hours of the day with it charging, which meant I was losing valuable posture and step tracking hours. It got to the point where this would happen every few days. The battery lasts a couple of days fully charged, but it could last quite a bit longer if there was a way to turn the Lumo Lift off to save the battery. It would also be beneficial if there was a wall charger so there isn’t a reliance on a computer.
It’s also a bit awkward to have a metal square on your shirt above your collarbone. I imagine it’s similar to issues that the first wrist wearables caused people, but since this particular one is pretty uncommon it’s not easy to explain.
It wouldn’t be an issue if you were wearing a suit or multiple layers, but in the summer in Texas I’m just wearing one shirt so it has to be on the outside.
Verdict
The Lumo Lift was a fairly enjoyable wearable that really benefitted me and got me thinking about my posture and my daily activity.
Will I continue wearing it? I probably should, but I’m tired of dealing with the battery life and wearing a weird square on my collarbone. If those issues were fixed (especially the battery), I would consider wearing it at least a few days a week. They can be purchased online starting at $79 a piece.
Scott Bedgood 