Amazon Integrates Alexa Into Halo Fitness Device

Halo users will be able to ask Alexa to relay their health data without accessing the Halo app.

Need to Know

  • Halo, Amazon’s wearable fitness device, can now pair with Alexa speakers.
  • Users will be able to ask Alexa questions about their health without having to interact with Halo’s app.
  • Alexa is able to relay information collected by Halo, which includes heart rate, muscle tone, and body fat, but will not archive any Halo data as part of its user history.

Analysis

Amazon has announced that Halo, its wearable fitness device, will soon be able to integrate with Alexa.

Halo, the faceless device that Amazon launched in December of last year, will be able to relay the health data it collects to Alexa, which will then be able to deliver that information to a user when asked. This will give users of both Amazon products the ability to access their Halo health data without having to interact with the Halo app.

Health data collected by Halo includes heart rate, sleep patterns, body fat, and muscle tone, and the app also offers sleep and fitness scores, as well as fitness and health-related goal setting. Alexa will only be able to relay data that users allow Halo to collect, and Amazon says Alexa will not archive Halo data as part of its user history.

The Halo integration works with all Alexa-enabled devices but is not optimized for those that have screens — so charts or graphs displaying fitness data can still only be accessed via the Halo smartphone app. Halo owners will have the option of disabling the Alexa integration at any time.

Halo is Amazon’s first foray into the wearable fitness device industry. The faceless device gives users access to biometric data-tracking, as well as to at-home workouts and meditation programs from brands including Headspace and OrangeTheory, among others, for $3.99 per month. Amazon’s launch of Halo in December came as at-home fitness solutions continued to spike in popularity due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The device is a direct competitor to devices such as the Fitbit, but with its Alexa integration, takes close aim at the Apple Watch in particular. Apple launched a number of new fitness-focused programs in 2020 that leveraged the Watch, such as Apple Fitness+, which is specifically optimized for the Watch. Canadian researchers recently partnered with Apple to determine whether the heart data collected by the Apple Watch can be used to remotely diagnose heart disease, while Apple Health was expanded to the UK and Canada in October 2020.