Actiwatch 4 & Actiwatch 7 vs. MotionWatch 8

The Actiwatch 4 and Actiwatch 7 are now discontinued products. As direct replacement CamNtech has launched the MotionWatch 8 which has a number of significant advances over the Actiwatch models:

Connectivity

Previous Actiwatch models required a reader to communicate telemetrically between the Actiwatch and PC. However the MotionWatch 8 features an onboard Micro-B USB port allowing direct connection between the host PC and MotionWatch. This offers two distinct advantages; communication speed – all data can be downloaded within 50 seconds, and cost; now there is no longer a need for an additional reader unit.

Functionality

Due to battery and processing limitations Actiwatch models were split into separate areas e.g. those that could record light, those that featured NPCRA analysis or activity monitoring, however the MotionWatch includes many features as standard: light sensor, event marker with visual feedback, NPCRA software analysis and waterproofing. This allows a single unit where several Actiwatch models may have previously been needed.

Battery

Actiwatch models had previously been limited by battery type: those Actiwatches with user replaceable batteries could not offer waterproofing or long battery life and those that had longer life however had a much more complicated battery change that required return to the manufacturer. MotionWatch 8 offers the best of both worlds: a standard CR2032 which lasts approximately 6 months and can be easily changed by the user yet still offers robust waterproofing.

Backward compatibility

Actiwatch 4 and Actiwatch 7 data can be imported into CamNtech’s new MotionWare software. Unlike other manufacturers CamNtech understand the importance of legacy data and fully support migration to our latest software. Note however that the activity counts from the MotionWatch are not directly comparable to the old Actiwatches. The new digital tri-axial accelerometer used in the MotionWatch is greatly improved from old Actiwatch devices and both increases reliability and reduces variability but does not generate exactly equivalent results.

Validation

The MotionWatch has been validated against polysomnography; initial details were presented at ESRS 2012: Validation of a new Actigraph MotionWatch versus Polysomnography on 70 healthy and suspected sleep disordered subjects.  There will be a more detailed publication of this comparison to follow.

Please see here for more information on MotionWatch 8