Research Center:
Misfit Path
Hybrid smartwatches are all the rage this year, with more and more fashion brands and watchmakers releasing traditional-looking watches that offer up some smart features. Misfit is the latest to release a hybrid — the Misfit Path — which was first announced at CES 2018. It doesn’t pack any major features we haven’t seen before, but the women’s watch is Misfit’s smallest hybrid to date.
With the Path, you can track basic fitness activity, receive notification alerts, and control some smartphone functions. For an affordable price of $150, the Misfit Path packs all the functions you need into a stunning, compact design. Let’s take a closer look.
Chic and refreshing design
Even though the Misfit Path is small, its slim bezels make the watch face appear larger than average hybrid smartwatches. The 36mm case is the same size as the Fossil Q Neely, another hybrid, but the Path feels much lighter on the wrist. While the Neely looks traditional and classic, we prefer the more modern and chic look of Misfit’s watch.
Our review model has a gold stainless steel case with a matte finish, paired with a purple silicone sport strap. The numbers on the white watch face are represented by small gold dots that make the timepiece look crisp and clean. The two buttons sit on the right edge of the watch, and they’re elongated and flat. This subtle look helps the Path keep its minimal aesthetic.
Brenda Stolyar/Digital Trends
It looks great with any outfit, and it doesn’t stand out too much unlike the flashy Marc Jacobs Riley. Other colorways and materials the Path comes in are stainless steel, rose tone, gold tone, and stainless steel with a gold tone.
The 16mm watch straps wrap around the lugs, which slope down from the case. They are interchangeable, but you may be limited to a particular style of band — it’s not a traditional quick-release mechanism. The strap itself sits snug, without any gaps between your wrist and the watch, and it’s very comfortable to wear. Both the case and watch strap are durable — even after a month of regular use, the case kept its shine and the strap didn’t look worn out.
Stylish smarts
At a first glance, the Path doesn’t look like a smartwatch, but a regular timepiece. That’s the beauty of hybrid watches. Connect the watch to its companion app via Bluetooth, however, and you unlock a host of genuinely useful features.
Even though the Misfit Path is small, its slim bezels make the watch face appear large.
The Misfit app, available both on Google Play and the Apple App Store, lets you assign a function to the bottom button on the watch. The top button, sadly, is designated specifically for activity — when you press it, the watch hands will move to show how far along you are to reaching your step count goal. For example, if you’re halfway to completing a 10,000 step goal, the watch hands will move to the 6 o’clock mark on the watch face.
You can set the bottom button to control a variety of functions on your smartphone. For example, if you set it to control music playback, you can press it once to play or pause music, double tap to go to the next song, triple tap to play the previous song, and long press to increase the volume. You can also use it as a remote selfie button for your smartphone’s camera; and there’s even a “Preso Clicker” function, which lets you go to the next slide when showing a presentation (if the watch is paired to your computer).
While the top button tracks step count, you can also add more fitness functions by assigned the bottom button to track a specific activity, such as running, cycling, soccer, swimming, and more. You’ll need to choose one default activity, and then triple tap the button the start tracking it. You’ll be able to see your progress in the Home section of the app.
Brenda Stolyar/Digital Trends
While the Misfit Path only allows you to designate one button for functions, that doesn’t mean you can stick to one function category. With the “Custom Button” option, you can also assign four different functions to the bottom button. For example, we set a single press to play and pause music, a double press as our selfie button, and long press as “Ring My Phone” – useful when you can’t find your smartphone.
With the “Custom Button” option, you can assign four different functions to the bottom button.
You also have the option of linking an IFTTT account to have the buttons trigger other activities, such as sending an email when you get a specific alert or hit a target goal. We weren’t able to access this yet as some of the Path’s functions in the app are still in beta.
Configuring the Misfit Path is a little more confusing than previous hybrid smartwatches we’ve used. It takes a few extra minutes to figure out the settings you want, but we quickly did get used to using the buttons. We do recommend spending time going through all parts of the app in order to become familiar with each of its features and customization options.
Assigning and receiving notifications
Notifications on most hybrid watches rely on assigning an app or contact to a number from 1 through 12 — the watch’s hands will move to one of these numbers when you get notification from that contact or app.
The Path doesn’t try to do anything different here — the wearable does vibrate, and the watch hands go straight to the tick mark on one of the numbers. If you set “Dad” to number three, for example, the watch hands will go straight to the number three if your father calls or texts you.
You can choose up to 24 contacts – 12 for texts and 12 for calls – as well as app notifications. On Android, you’re able to see notifications from any installed app. On our iPhone, we were limited to just six apps — Facebook Messenger, WeChat, Gmail, Line, WhatsApp, Skype, and Viber, which is far less than the 50+ apps we normally see offered on other hybrid smartwatches. We’ve reached out to Misfit to see why we can’t receive notifications from more apps on the iPhone, as it’s likely due to a bug with the beta.
Fitness and sleep tracking
Misfit began as company that offered stylish fitness-tracking wearables, and its emphasis on fitness hasn’t disappeared. Through the Misfit app, you can see the number of steps you’ve taken, calories burned, and miles walked on a daily basis as well as a summary for the entire week. As you scroll through each day, you’ll see more in-depth stats as it breaks down your activity on an hourly basis. We didn’t notice any discrepancies with the results — if you want to use the Path as a basic fitness tracker, it does the job well.
Misfit Path Compared To
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The Misfit Path also tracks sleep. Each morning, you’ll be able to track how many hours you slept, how long you were awake for, and the amount of time you were switching between light and restful sleep. We found the sleep tracker to be precise – recording the accurate amount of time we spent awake and asleep.
Since the Path is water resistant of up to 50 meters, you’ll be able to take it for a swim or shower without worrying about damaging it.
Misfit Move
The Misfit Path does add a feature we haven’t seen on many other hybrid smartwatches. It’s called Misfit Move, and it means the watch notifies you when you’ve been sitting for too long. Apple, Samsung, and Fitbit offer movement reminders like this, but it hasn’t been a common feature with hybrid watches.
Misfit Move is a sensible feature and we’re happy to see it present on the Path.
We set our Misfit Move alerts to remind us every two hours from at 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., when we’re sitting at a desk for the longest period of time. If you find that you don’t want to use the feature at all, you can toggle it off.
It’s a sensible feature and we’re happy to see it present on the Path. It’s an easy and helpful way to encourage people to complete their step goals, the reminder is subtle, and there are plenty of customization options to build it into your daily routine.
Warranty information
The Misfit Path will cost you $150, and the price is the same for all the other color variants. The watch is now available for purchase on Misfit’s website. Misfit offers a limited two-year warranty that covers manufacturing defects, but it doesn’t cover accidental damage to the case or watch strap.
Our Take
The Misfit Path is a comfortable, chic-looking smartwatch that offers a lot of functions for an affordable price tag.
Is there a better alternative?
Yes, if you’re looking for a hybrid smartwatch that’s the same size as the Misfit Path but has a more traditional look, you’ll want to go for the Fossil Q Neely. With an analog design and leather watch strap, it can be worn for casual or formal events. At $155, it’s also affordable and comes with many of the same smartwatch functions.
For a modern but minimalist look, the Skagen Signatur T-Bar hybrid smartwatch also has similar features and a 36mm case. At $123, it’s cheaper than the Misfit Path, but it manages to look extremely elegant. You won’t be able to switch up the watch straps, but it comes in a variety of colorways that suit every style.
How long will it last?
The Misfit Path uses a standard coin-cell battery that’s replaceable through the back of the device. It will last you anywhere between four to six months. Since it connects via Bluetooth, you can keep track of the battery percentage through the app. We used the watch for almost a month with notification settings on, and it only went down to 97 percent.
Expect this timepiece to last you more than four to five years if you take care of it. It’s not made of high-quality materials like sapphire crystal, so it may be prone to scratches and dings if you’re not careful.
Should you buy it?
Yes, the Misfit Path has a beautiful and modern design along with a ton of functionality. It can be worn both day and night, so you’ll find yourself wearing it with almost every outfit.