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LifeTrak Zone C410 review: An accurate and affordable activity tracker that flies under the radar

The Zone C410 is priced cheaper than many of its competitors and offers more features.

Dan Graziano Associate Editor / How To
Dan Graziano is an associate editor for CNET. His work has appeared on BGR, Fox News, Fox Business, and Yahoo News, among other publications. When he isn't tinkering with the latest gadgets and gizmos, he can be found enjoying the sights and sounds of New York City.
Dan Graziano
6 min read

How do you stand out in a crowded wearable market? Offer an activity tracker that is not only accurate, affordable, and loaded with the latest features, but one that is also waterproof and requires no charging. That is exactly what Salutron, a company known for its heart-rate technology in exercise equipment, has done with its latest fitness tracker: the LifeTrak Zone C410.

7.3

LifeTrak Zone C410

The Good

The LifeTrak Zone C410 has an always-on display, accurate tracking, and a waterproof design. It also includes a built-in heart-rate monitor, advanced calibration controls, and one year of battery life. Supports Android, iOS devices, and some third-party apps.

The Bad

The Zone C410 doesn't have an alarm feature or any sort of vibration; the two-step syncing system is clumsy and the automatic sleep detection is easily fooled.

The Bottom Line

The LifeTrak Zone C410 may not be the most stylish activity tracker around, but it's priced cheaper, and offers more features, than many of its competitors. It gets the job done with accurate tracking, long battery life, and a waterproof design.

The watch tracks everything you would expect from a modern fitness tracker: steps, calories, distance, and sleep. Unlike some competitors, however, the Zone C410 is fully waterproof up to 90 feet, meaning you never have to take it off. Other perks are the watch's always-on display and coin battery, which offers approximately one year of battery life, and is priced at $100 (£47, AU$117). Oh, and did I mention it also includes a built-in heart-rate monitor?

LifeTrak Zone C410: Accurate fitness tracking at an affordable price

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Design

The Zone C410 features a rather uninspiring design, at least compared to many of the other activity trackers on the market. There are two small buttons on the right-hand side: one for starting, stopping, and syncing; the other for scrolling through the various display screens. Holding both buttons will activate the display's backlight. A third and larger button on the front of the device can be pressed to scroll through the various tracking modes, or held to calculate your heart rate.

LifeTrak notes that the buttons are not meant to be used while the device is submerged in water. Even so, buttons are left wet and leaking sometimes up to almost an hour after showering.

The watch sits securely on your wrist after poking the two pegs through the rubber watch band, a method used by trackers from Fitbit, Samsung, and others. The band that comes with the watch is reversible and also interchangeable. LifeTrak offers 13 different band color combinations on its website for $14 a piece.

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Sarah Tew/CNET

Unlike bands from competitors, which have a habit of falling off when putting on a jacket or wearing a cuffed shirt, I found the Zone C410 to be rather secure. In fact, the watch never fell off my wrist. It managed to stay on even when working out or playing ice hockey, an activity I would have never trusted my Fitbit with. While I haven't removed the watch since I first put it on, I have noticed that the body is easily scratched.

Features

The always-on grayscale display offers real-time data on your steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, and hours slept. A bar at the top of the screen shows how close you are to achieving your daily goals, which can be customized on the Android and iOS app. Below the daily goal progress bar sits the time and date. Despite a spot for it on the LCD display, the Zone C410 doesn't include an alarm feature, or vibration features.

Older models had a black background with white numbers that were incredibly difficult to read at a quick glance or while outdoors. An updated model that is shipping to customers now reverses the color scheme, making the display much easier to read.

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Dan Graziano/CNET

The Zone C410 stores your tracking data for the past seven days. Information can be viewed in an hourly and weekly chart right on the watch's display. While LifeTrak claims that the Zone C410 isn't app dependent, it's easier to view your information from your Android or iOS device. In addition to all of the tracking features, the watch also includes a basic stopwatch. In the so-called "workout mode," you have the ability to individually track steps, distance, and calories burned.

Where the Zone C410 falls short is when you are ready to sync the watch with your smartphone or tablet. There is no automatic syncing, instead LifeTrak uses a rather clumsy two-step system that requires you to click Refresh on the app and hold the lower-side button on the device.

Tracking

Outside of the look and feel of a device, the thing to consider when buying a fitness tracker is how accurate it is. Well not only is the Zone C410 accurate, it's the most accurate fitness tracker I've ever tested. LifeTrak's watch shined when compared to the now discontinued Fitbit Force and the Samsung Gear Fit. It wasn't just the pedometer that was accurate, it was the heart rate too.

The Zone C410 accurately reported the distance when walking a mile around a track, only off by 0.05 mile. While the heart-rate monitor isn't continuous like the Basis Band, it was able to find my pulse rather quickly and never failed. The results also consistently matched those of a Garmin monitor strapped around my chest. As an added bonus, the Zone C410 tells you the percentage of your maximum heart rate with a small icon under the BPM data. This is valuable information when working out and trying to hit your target heart rate.

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Sarah Tew/CNET

Unlike most of its competitors, you can calibrate the Zone C410 for more accurate results. In the free Android and iOS app, LifeTrak offers three calibration presets: Default, Option A, and Option B.

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Screenshot by Dan Graziano/CNET

Option A increases the sensitivity of the pedometer and is best used when the watch isn't counting enough steps, while Option B decreases the sensitivity and is best used when the watch is counting too many steps. You can also choose to manually program your own calibration settings.

While the Zone C410's pedometers and heart rate tracking are quite accurate, sleep tracking is a different story. The watch can track how many hours you sleep and the quality of that sleep.

Unlike devices from Jawbone and Fitbit, however, the Zone C410 doesn't have to be put into a special sleep mode. The watch automatically detects when you are sleeping and when you wake up.

The only problem, though, is that the automatic sleep mode can be fooled if you ever remove the band, as you can see in the image to the left. I've also noticed that it will sometimes activate when I am simply laying on the couch watching television.

Android and iOS support

The Zone C410 syncs with the free LifeTrak app on Android and iOS. The Android app only supports a limited number of devices such as the Galaxy S5, Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note III, and Nexus 5, while iPhone and iPad devices running iOS 7 are also supported.

The app is very basic and as I mentioned above, the two-step syncing process is frustrating. You can set goals for steps, distance, calories, and sleep, while also customizing your profile with your weight, height, age, sex, and unit preferences (these can also be customized on the watch itself).

The main dashboard provides you with information regarding your average heart rate, steps, calories, distance, sleep, total active minutes, and your workout. Colorful charts that display data from the past day, week, month, and year for each section can be opened by clicking on a specific tracking category.

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Screenshot by Dan Graziano/CNET

The Zone C410 also supports Argus on iOS and MapMyFitness. The lack of compatibility with calorie tracking and dieting app MyFitnessPal is disappointing. I would have also liked to see auto adjustable goals in the app, a feature found in the Garmin Vivofit.

Conclusion

While it has its fair share of frustrations and may not be the prettiest watch out there, the Zone C410 still shines as an activity tracker. Let's be clear: if you are looking for a device that tracks your activity and also gives you notifications from your smartphone, this isn't for you.

The biggest selling point isn't the automatic sleep detection as the company advertises, it's the large and always-on display, accurate tracking, waterproof design, and the fact that you don't have to worry about a charging the watch.

In short, the Zone C410 provides accurate tracking, a laundry list of features, and long battery life for less than the competition. The LifeTrak ZoneC410 retails for $100, £47, and AU$117, and is available now.

7.3

LifeTrak Zone C410

Score Breakdown

Style 6Features 8Ease of use 8