The Water.io Smart Water Bottle, designed to ensure adequate hydration, was tested by a user who often struggles to stay hydrated throughout the day. Despite previous health issues related to dehydration, such as a two-month-long kidney disease in the summer of 2012, the user hoped that the Smart Water Bottle would encourage better hydration habits, but it did not achieve the desired results.
#### Water.io Smart Water Bottle Review
An overview of the Water.io Smart Water Bottle reveals that it is more effective at tracking hydration than at actively encouraging it. The accompanying app offers significant flexibility and employs a gamified concept with various rewards. It also boasts a long battery life and tracks water intake efficiently. However, the bottle itself does not display hydration progress, provides lenient and misleading status updates, and requires frequent navigation to the app for comprehensive details. It also uses a proprietary magnetic charger, which can be an inconvenience.
#### How It Works
The bottle functions with a companion app that users download to their phones. Upon setting up, users answer questions about their age, sex, height, weight, and other factors to calculate recommended daily water intake. Throughout the day, the bottle reminds users to drink water by vibrating and lighting up its cap. Dual monitoring sensors in the cap track the consumed amount of water to the milliliter, updating this information on the app once the bottle is placed on a flat surface.
A visual indicator on the bottle allows users to check their hydration status at any moment: a green LED ring indicates the user is on track, whereas an orange ring signifies they are behind. Detailed progress can be reviewed in the app, and meeting daily goals triggers a celebratory rainbow light display on the cap.
#### Points of Failure
The bottle’s app set an initially low daily water intake goal of 1.3 liters, which the user manually adjusted to 1.6 liters. During the ten-day review period, the user followed the bottle’s reminders and consistently checked the on-track (green) or off-track (orange) status. Despite adhering to reminders and frequently seeing a green indicator, the data revealed that the user had not met their hydration goal once.
The primary shortfall is the bottle’s inability to provide precise information regarding the distance from the hydration goal. Instead, it implies progress through a simple green or orange light, which can be misleading. On numerous occasions, the green light was displayed despite the user consuming less than half of the day’s goal.
Additionally, the celebratory rainbow display was fleeting and discreet, offering minimal encouragement. The bottle also adds to the growing list of chargeable devices and requires a specific proprietary cable, which can be an inconvenience.
#### Points of Success
Despite its shortcomings, the Water.io Smart Water Bottle boasts a sleek, lightweight design and robust build. The companion app, although somewhat prone to crashing and having a low-quality UI, is feature-rich and allows for the manual input of physical activities and additional hydration sources. The app’s gamified elements, including badges and a leaderboard, provide motivational rewards.
#### Conclusion
The Water.io Smart Water Bottle would benefit greatly from an integrated progress tracker on the bottle and more intelligent status updates regarding hydration goals. While the bottle’s reminders, detailed app-based progress tracking, and gamification elements do encourage hydration to some extent, these features are also available through various online hydration trackers and apps without the need for a $70 investment. Thus, while the Smart Water Bottle is effective for tracking hydration, it falls short in actively promoting better hydration habits.
