AirPop Active+ Halo face masks now not working at Best Buy
The AirPop Halo, which we’ve done more than one review trying to give it a chance, is now available at Best Buy for $59.99 with replacement inner mask packs available for $19.99. I cannot stress enough how absolutely amateur hour the software experience has been, and as of July 10th, which is the last time I tried it, either the halo sensor has died or we were once again having app/connectivity issues.
Through two phones I’ve watched the software fail to connect, disconnect during a workout, and report that after logging 40 breaths through the mask that I’d essentially eliminated 5 cigarettes from my lungs already. By workout I got an average of 15 steps in before the thing disconnected the last time I tried.
Top that with the product shipped claiming the Android app was coming, then the Android app came and worked for nobody judging by the app reviews at the time, they yanked the app from the store, still sold it on their website as having an Android app, only published 5-star reviews on their website automatically which is how a 5-star review informing people of that fact and that there was no Android app become the only real review up. They finally removed that it had a working Android app from the website text but left AirPop Administrator answers in the frequently asked questions claiming that they did in fact have an Android app.
The app, when it works, it really doesn’t. From getting the location wrong. claiming 40 or so breaths through it was 5 cigarettes filtered, to not staying connected and most of a workout being re-connecting, it’s been useless.
Random side note: airlines will ask you to change the mask because it appears to people who don’t know the mask that it has a port. It doesn’t have a port. I just ran into this during vacation and thought I’d mention it. Everyone I talked to agreed it was medical grade but thought that the next person was going to hassle me because of the Halo sensor. To be clear, this is just a warning if you’re traveling by air to have a backup mask handy.
I make no money not selling product, just warning you that the Halo sensor/app experience has been abysmal and completely unworkable up to last week. The website was at best outdated and unmaintained and at worst false advertising. The app was clearly a badly translated probably re-skinned port from China (the original terms and conditions you had to agree to were in Hanzi / simplified Chinese if I remember correctly,) and most of the initial problems related to being unable to log into their servers.
Maybe it’s better today and maybe my Halo battery is just dead but if I paid for that mask I would be livid. To be absolutely clear also, I used this mask for several months as a primary and as a mask it was pretty darn good for a seal.
