Nix’s Hydration Biosensor is for athletes who sweat the details

In every single place I look, folks and devices are yelling at me to hydrate. On social media, the algorithm bombards me with health and sweetness influencers who say I ought to drink a gallon of water a day. (Glowing pores and skin! Shed that final cussed 5 kilos! Extra vitality!) The assorted smartwatches I check all have these hydration widgets for monitoring my every day water consumption. Not too way back, I had a “sensible” water bottle that flashed hourly rainbow LED lights as a reminder to drink up. Most just lately, I’ve been carrying this little pod on my bicep. It, too, tells me to hydrate — however in a method that’s surprisingly helpful.

The $129 Nix Hydration Biosensor is a pod-and-patch combo that alerts endurance athletes when they need to hydrate throughout a exercise. It claims to provide personalised hydration suggestions, in addition to calculate your particular person electrolyte loss relying on sure elements like climate and sweat fee. It’s overkill. Hydration doesn’t want to be this costly or sophisticated. However for information nerds and endurance athletes, the Nix sensor does supply some sensible steerage that, for some, could be well worth the worth.

A couple of months in the past, I examined the Gatorade Good Gx bottle and the Gx Sweat Patch. It was one other gadget-patch combo that claimed to learn your sweat within the identify of extra clever hydration, however I wasn’t a fan. Not solely did it really feel like a car to promote me extra Gatorade, the sweat patch by no means labored for me. It left me cautious that the Nix sensor would even be a tool that was higher in idea than execution. However whereas the merchandise are related, Nix delivers a greater general expertise.

The Nix sensor has two elements: a reusable sensor pod and single-use patches. The patches are fabricated from a latex-free adhesive that’s snug to put on. It jogs my memory of KT Tape in that it’s versatile sufficient to maneuver with you however sticky sufficient to not slide off your pores and skin while you begin sweating. The patches are small (2.75in diameter), and I didn’t have any difficulty becoming it on my bicep. Earlier than a exercise, all you need to do is align the pod with the grooves within the patch’s sensor attachment and twist till it locks in place.

Whereas the sensor and patch have been straightforward sufficient to put on, the large check was whether or not it’d be capable of learn my sweat, particularly since I’m testing this within the winter. Not solely do I sweat much less in winter, however I’m not a kind of robotic runners who can log 10 miles within the freezing wind in nothing however a T-shirt and shorts. Apart from sweat detection, I used to be curious to see whether or not the sensor would catch on my lengthy sleeves or if carrying a number of layers would trigger any points.

Apparently, my bicep is sweatier than my forearm, and it made a distinction. In accordance with Nix, the bicep is among the greatest locations to estimate your complete bodily fluid and electrolyte loss whereas delivering person expertise. (Gatorade’s patches go on the forearm, and neither patch is validated for different elements of the physique.) On three out of 4 check runs, the Nix sensor was simply in a position to get a studying. I’ll get into my botched run beneath, however I guarantee you it wasn’t as a result of it couldn’t detect sweat. As for my sleeves, I didn’t have any issues apart from once I needed to reconnect the sensor after already placing on my shirt. All which means is, in winter, you’ve acquired to watch out to verify every little thing’s related earlier than you head out.

Nix additionally makes it simpler to add and sync information. It principally works like several smartwatch or health tracker. If you’re carried out with the exercise, you finish it within the app, await Bluetooth to do its factor, and voilá. Knowledge seems. (Syncing can take a scorching second, however that’s commonplace.) You are able to do this with the patch on or off, too. Conversely, Gatorade makes you snap an image of the patch, and the entire system depends on analyzing the sweat-activated ink sample on a used patch, which, when you’re not sweaty sufficient, gained’t work. Even if you’re sweaty sufficient, typically you’ll must retake the photograph as effectively.

One other factor I appreciated was the charging case. It may appear too huge, given the dimensions of the pod, however I truly like that. I’ve used and misplaced loads of foot pods and different small wearables with small instances. That is large enough to simply discover, whether or not it’s on a nightstand or stashed in a bag. Plus, the lid has a slot the place you’ll be able to stick a patch for comfort. And since it’s a charging case, you don’t actually have to fret in regards to the battery. The sensor pod lasts 36 hours on a single cost, however as long as you’re placing it again within the case while you’re carried out, you gained’t have to fret about it for just a few months.

Nix additionally gives real-time hydration alerts. This was a hit-or-miss characteristic for me for the reason that alerts principally come from the Nix app in your telephone. If I had the Nix app open and on display screen, the alerts have been extra noticeable. If I made a decision to have one in every of my many different health apps open, I tended to overlook them completely. You’ll be able to decide to get them in your Apple Watch or sure Garmin smartwatches, however once more, I’ve custom-made my exercise views to indicate me precisely what I need to see, so this wasn’t my favourite possibility. Plus, the app warns that it may possibly take about 25 minutes earlier than there’s sufficient sweat for the sensor to learn, nevertheless it may additionally take a bit longer. Throughout one check, I didn’t see any related information till 35 minutes into the run and always checking took me out of the zone. I like distraction-free working, so I most well-liked reviewing my information after a exercise after which making use of what I realized to the subsequent. However, on the danger of dogpiling on Gatorade, at the very least you may have the choice for real-time alerts in order for you them.

Whereas the Nix sensor wipes the ground with Gatorade’s sweat patch, there are some downsides. For me, the largest one is connectivity. Whereas I didn’t have a lot bother with the sensor’s Bluetooth throughout setup, it crapped out on me twice throughout testing. A type of occasions was fairly minor. I’d already completed an hour-long run once I seen the sensor had misplaced connection to my telephone. As a result of I used to be dwelling, I used to be in a position to take the pod out of the patch and reinsert it earlier than getting within the bathe. All the pieces reconnected, downside solved. I used to be additionally nonetheless in a position to add my information.

The second time was my botched check run. I had put a totally charged pod right into a patch, accurately positioned it on my bicep, acquired dressed, laced up my footwear, began up all my different wearables, and… forgot to hit begin within the Nix app. (It was early, and I’m not a morning individual.) I didn’t discover my goof till midway by a 105-minute future. I attempted to begin a belated exercise — some information is best than no information, proper? — however the pod wouldn’t hook up with my telephone. This was regardless of the actual fact I may see the Nix was on, and if LED indicator lights are to be believed, working. I attempted fidgeting with the sensor, locked and unlocked the sensor by my sleeve, turned my telephone on and off, after which tried turning the pod on and off. No luck. I attempted the entire rigamarole just a few extra occasions later within the run, simply in case it was my location. Nada. It wouldn’t reconnect to my telephone till I used to be again dwelling. At that time, I attempted to see if it may add my sweat information however no luck there, both.

That royally sucked. I missed out on useful long-run information, and lengthy runs are when hydration is most necessary! Even worse, these are single-use patches, and I’d wasted one. It prices $25 for a refill pack of 4, which means every patch is $6.25. Human error performed a big position on this, however higher connectivity may’ve at the very least saved the scenario. I made a foolish mistake, however not an implausible one.

I get why the sweat patches are single-use. Adhesives by no means stick fairly as effectively after the primary time. Plus, you’d have to clean off previous sweat for correct information, and adhesives break down with water and cleaning soap. However understanding this doesn’t cease these patches from feeling wasteful — each monetarily and environmentally. Nix does have a partnership with Terracycle, so you’ll be able to at the very least recycle used patches at no cost. I respect the choice, however I needed to root by Nix’s FAQs to even discover out about it, and the entire course of requires a bunch of additional steps. Individuals are lazy, and I’ve a sense most used Nix patches will find yourself in a landfill anyway.

Whereas I’m airing my gripes, it’s a bummer that the Nix sensor doesn’t help exercise sorts outdoors of indoor/outside working and biking. You don’t actually want granular hydration information for yoga, pumping iron on the health club, or a brief HIIT exercise, nevertheless it’d be good for lengthy hikes, different kinds of strenuous cardio, or outside sports activities. Hopefully, Nix will add help for extra exercise sorts down the road.

I used to be additionally upset to see Nix is iOS-only for the time being. The corporate says that Android compatibility is slated for this month (February 2023), nevertheless it wasn’t out there once I was testing the system.

To get correct outcomes, Nix recommends a sweaty run or biking session that lasts at the very least 45 minutes. When you efficiently log a exercise, the app spits out a abstract that features the train, whether or not it was indoors or outside, and what you used to hydrate. You’ll additionally see temperature, humidity, dew level, photo voltaic load, wind, and altitude. As for hydration metrics, the app will inform you how a lot fluid and electrolytes you misplaced throughout the exercise, in addition to your sweat composition (aka, how salty your sweat is).

There’s additionally a extra basic sweat profile that aggregates information from a number of exercises. There you’ll be able to see your estimated sweat fee, electrolyte loss fee, sweat composition, and Nix Index, a proprietary rating that’s meant to indicate how sweaty a specific exercise was for you.

After I informed my partner about this, they gave me a withering look. It’s the identical one they provide me at any time when I clarify a brand new doodad I’m testing and the information it tracks. It’s derision incarnate. You see, my partner and I are polar opposites in terms of health information. My partner is a kind of naturally gifted athletes who handle to run just like the wind on 4 hours of sleep and a half-eaten protein bar. They solely begrudgingly use an Apple Watch to stream music as a result of they’ll’t be bothered with offline playlists. They’ve by no means as soon as reviewed their exercise stats. This sensor isn’t for easy-going Sort B athletes like my partner.

It’s for folks like me, the Sort A doofuses that use color-coded spreadsheets for coaching logs and set out their exercise garments the night time earlier than. The nerds who lookup and evaluate a number of coaching plans and vitality goo diet labels earlier than selecting one. Those who look within the mirror and assume, “I, a quantified sicko, might be optimized for most efficiency.”

I’m totally conscious that I don’t want Nix to run a well-hydrated 13.1 miles. I’ve run loads of races earlier than I ever tried Nix and have all the time crossed the end line in a single piece. However I additionally know I can do higher. I respect understanding I sweat about 7.8 ounces of fluid and 365mg of electrolytes per hour within the winter. I like understanding I ought to use a sports activities drink with roughly 47mg of electrolytes per ounce. You are able to do the maths your self, nevertheless it’s a headache. Sports activities drink corporations don’t make it straightforward to determine and evaluate electrolyte ranges, and advertising tends to deal with carbs as an alternative.

That’s why it’s cool that there’s a useful chart proper on this app I can reference that lets me evaluate electrolyte ranges of common sports activities drink manufacturers. Seems Liquid IV is the one that almost all intently matches my electrolyte wants. It’s not onerous proof, however anecdotally, my coaching has improved since I coincidentally made the swap from Maurtens just a few months in the past. I’ll one hundred pc use this info once I’m getting ready my subsequent future.

The underside line is it helps me plan my runs, which in flip alleviates my anxiousness about finishing stated runs to my ridiculous and arbitrary requirements. If planning helps you’re feeling extra assured a couple of run or a biking session, then there are just a few situations the place I can see the Nix sensor being a worthy funding.

For instance, when you’re a triathlete who ceaselessly races in all types of climates. The Nix could possibly be useful in fine-tuning your hydration technique everytime you practice in an unfamiliar setting. Or, when you’re notably warmth delicate, this would possibly allow you to improve summer time mileage safely. Individuals simply beginning to deal with longer distances may additionally profit. Personally, I’d have appreciated a place to begin once I was new to hydration and fueling methods.

However paying $130 for a sensor and $25 for patch refills is so much, particularly because you’re not going to be carrying a patch for each exercise. For most individuals, that is best as a benchmark instrument that you simply get away when the climate, your setting, or your coaching regimens change. Somewhat additional to provide you a slight edge. That’s the factor about devices like these. They’re not important. They’re a “good to have” if, and provided that, the expense is smart.

In case you’re bought on the thought of hydration patches and making an attempt to resolve between this and Gatorade Gx patches — simply go along with Nix. It’s costlier up entrance, however in the long term, you get 4 patches in a $25 refill in comparison with two. It’s additionally extra thoughtfully designed, works reliably, and provides you extra actionable information. It’s what Gatorade was making an attempt to do, however higher.