REVIEW: Zikto Walk
Wearable technology is all the rage these days as smartwatches, fitness trackers and wrist GPS devices have flooded the golf market. However, the Zikto Walk is the first wearable device that can actually alleviate back pain. On average a person walks about 8,000-10,000 steps a day, adding up to 115,000 miles in a lifetime. Tracking steps is great for losing weight and for cardiovascular health, but what if your walk is wrong? Swinging a golf club only compounds the issue.
Enter Zikto Walk, a new kind of wearable technology that counts steps, tracks 7200 data points per minute to monitor and recommend improvements to posture with a sleek, fashionable wristband. Not only does Zikto Walk help walkers correct their posture while they walk, it generates a workout plan to improve posture based on the user’s individual walking patterns.
Incorrect walking posture has been linked to back and neck pain, knee pain, shoulder pain and sciatica, as well as to stress and low self esteem (there’s a reason we admire people with “backbone,” and that no one wants to be called a “slouch”). Zikto Walk uses tech to empower people with information to improve their health and their body language.
Design and Comfort (4/5)
Much like a FitBit or other similar fitness trackers, the Zikto Walk has a slim profile and rubber wristband that is very comfortable to wear. I'm told the wristband is also easily interchangeable with other color options, however I did not have the chance to test this feature.
Dress shirts and jacket sleeves did get bunched up on the device's bulky face, which does not sit flush against our wrist. This was more of an annoyance than anything else, and the Zikto's overall high-quality metallic design won me over enough to look past this one down point.
Features and Performance (3/5)
You'll need to download a free app on your smartphone to unlock all of the Zikto Watch features, which include step tracking, time, phone calls, texts, and posture, which is determined by irregularities in your gait and walking cadence. All of that was fairly accurate.
However, I found the biometric analysis feature -- which is again determined by your walk -- not very intuitive. Essentially, you wear the Zikto Walk on your right wrist, walk for 20 seconds, then switch to your left wrist for another 20 seconds. The app spits out a report on which of your muscle groups need strengthening, along with exercise videos to help. Unfortunately, an immediate second analysis yielded completely different results only moments later.
Why you should buy the Zikto Walk
At $149.00, the Zikto Walk offers many more features than other wearables at a similar price point. Its design and build are excellent, and the interchangeable wristband is an added plus. The Zikto smartphone app offering exercise videos is also incredibly unique.
Why you should not buy the Zikto Walk
While the Zikto Walk has more features than other similarly-priced devices, there are even more devices that have more features than the Zikto Walk. Smartwatches, for example, can do much of the same if not more.
