The optical tracking was ramped up to also track in-exercise heart rate. Using blood flow and this light reflection, the Peak can accurately grab your heart rate. The light reflects back and measures in the optical sensor. “Peak doesn’t necessarily mean peak sports.”The Peak improved on the original model by slimming down, offering a soft silicone strap, adding a touch screen and upping the ability to track heart rate during exercise, among other small improvements.To successfully set itself apart with the sensors on the wrist, the Peak has two LED lights shining into the skin with a particular light frequency to shine through capillaries.

“Peak is inspired by the idea to help you live the best you,” Holove says. At night, the sensors automatically track sleep, and not just duration, but actual cycles.On the software side, Peak merges with an iOS, Android or web app to chart and graph your sleep and movement, allowing for user analysis and reaching “habit” goals. “We will fold more things that we automatically ID over time.”A subdued touchscreen lets users easily and discreetly move between metrics. Basis calls it Body IQ.“We know what your body is doing mechanically to help shape the metrics we track,” Holove says. Without the need to tell the Peak you’ve started running, walking or cycling, the band tracks those specific movements separately throughout the day. The sensors monitor heart rate and perspiration, allowing specially constructed algorithms to automatically tell the Peak when you’ve entered an activity. And in mid-December a free firmware update will add in smartwatch features with phone alerts and notifications on the wrist, soon making it a smartwatch that can track all you need.“You will be getting an experience optimized around fitness and health, but you don’t have to give up smartwatch essentials in order to get that experience,” Holove says.With a sensor on the wrist, Peak, which became widely available in November, tracks more than movement.

If you want to steer clear of a straight band, the Peak provides a watch look and function, but with all tracking capabilities you’d expect from a band.Jeffrey Holove, Basis general manager, tells Edge the Peak is a 24-7 fitness and sleep tracker, but also a device that can track heart rate during exercise without a strap. A relative newcomer to the wearable tracking world, Basis-now owned by Intel, as of March 2014-recently launched its second product, the Basis Peak.

Galvanic skin response readout