The Basis Peak was released to a fanfare of expectation back in October but, three months on, the device has become beset by syncing issues and frustration over the lack of notification features.
Essential reading: Best fitness tracker 2015
The good news for Basis buyers is that the notification features are on the way. A spokesperson for Basis confirmed to Wareable that the smartwatch-style functionality, which enables users to get messages from their smartphone on their fitness watch, will be available to consumers by the end of January. Nearly two months later than advertised.
In addition, a post on the Basis support forum by Alexa Ahrens, a customer support representative at the company, revealed: “[the development team] are wrapping up the extended beta testing and plan on launching notifications by the end of the month."
Negative reviews
However, digging deeper into the reviews and feedback on the Basis forum reveals problems with the Peak's syncing abilities, an experience we've encountered during our own review process.
Here at Wareable we've been testing the Basis Peak for over a month, waiting for the notification features to arrive before publishing the review. After two weeks, the Peak stopped syncing with our iPhone 6, forcing us to contact the support team for a resolution.
The experience doesn't appear to be an isolated incident. Nearly half of Amazon's reviews for the Basis Peak are one or two stars, and a huge proportion of those negative comments complain of syncing problems with the device.
It's a real shame because our testing of the Basis Peak has proved it to be a supremely accurate heart rate monitor and an effective activity tracker, proving Intel's claims regarding the superior science used in the device.
However, until its full features arrive and syncing issues are solved, it's going to be a long road for Basis to win back lost trust among its consumers.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.