Lechal Vibrating Navigation Insoles

Product Description

Top Reviews

I don't know where I can actually start this review
by paradonym (3 out of 5 stars)
September 2, 2018

Addition after 2 days of usage: both work in a way now... It seems like that one of the vibration motors builds a connection to the other and works as a bridge to the phone for it... 95% of the time the vibrations to signal turns work - only one of them has sometimes a huge delay (described further down) now. For example: If you reach your goal both should vibrate following by a single vibration on the side of where the destination actually is - sometimes one of them (i use them for the right foot, but they're easily changeable through the app) reacts about 10 or 20, sometimes even 40 seconds later.

I'll keep the three star rating... Having them both vibrate without delay is a vital function which at the time of writing (2018/09/04) isn't really reliable while the phone is just 50cm/20ft away.
- After initial problems setting it up (described below) the Lechal Pods now work most of the time... There are still delays here and there - even big delays of around a minute between smartphone and vibration - but on first street walks they had worked. - so +1 star of the initial 2 stars.

But read on for my experience with the setup:

First, let's beginn with the pairing process of them both. You have to charge them at first, I charged them for about 3 hours.

Then I looked on my smartphones Bluetooth to review if something "Lechal"y pops up at the bluetooth menu - "Lechal-QTR" popped up, as a device which wants to have a bluetooth pairing code (it isn't 1234 or 0000)...

So I downloaded the Lechal app - logged in using Google, and - they can't find the Lechal Pods.

Even if they are actually not connected the app now showed an update button - I expected it failing - the Lechal pods aren't connected - and it did - about three times... Suddenly the fourth time I tapped that button the Lechal Pods vibrated and the status messages on the bottom described a firmware transfer...

So they're actually working?

uhm - kinda, after the Firmware update which popped up from nothing after continuously trying they now are found by the app and can be connected.

Opened the tutorial to get to know the direction vibrations - and the pods vibrated - for 4 or 5 direction commands in the tutorial.

So I set one up in a shoe assuming they worked now - and got a bit confused:

the one I already put into my shoe doesn't vibrates anymore on the position checking options the app offers.

So I switched them - and they sometimes vibrate and sometimes not. The left one which was just a few centimeters away from the phone worked, but the one in the shoe didn't.

Imagine your phone on the height of your knees while you sit - and it seemingly can't reach the Pod on the floor anymore...

I tapped some of the buttons to test the right and left - and after around 30 seconds the left Pod vibrated... - and again... - while the other one was completely silent.

The left one kept vibrating a few times more, but that delayed that I can't assign a tutorial step to them...

Now they're connected somehow, I can review the battery status in the app - but everytime they should vibrate they are completely silent.

I don't know what causes that delays up to 40 seconds, I have another fitness tracker wristband and in the area about 5 or 6 smartphones and two bluetooth headphones (from other people) can be found. So bluetooth is pretty heavy in the region.

I'd not suggest taking them out in the streets just yet when you depend on their vibrations, For this I guess the connection has been too unstable at my side. Yes, I know that Navigation is Beta (they warn in the app that this function is still beta) but the basic bluetooth connection is something which has to work.

I may refund them in the coming days if the basic vibration features doesn't get to function with less delay - I might walk about one or two junctions in that time. but I think all of that can be done better using firmware updates and app updates. The basic thing they have to do is to vibrate the moment the Smartphone wants them to vibrate - and if they don't do that they're pretty useless, especially for 60 dollars.

The concept is nice and has nearly no competitors - but the device has a long journey in front of it until it can be used - especially by visually impaired people Ducere (or Lechal wants them to use...

Edit: after a bit rest they now somehow work with less delay. I'll test them the coming days and will edit here if possible.

I'd suggest Lechal to make the devices pairable by the user using the phones bluetooth menu, that way the somewhat difficult process to pair I described above would be a bit easier...
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Not worth it
by Jminning (1 out of 5 stars)
July 28, 2018

Not worth the purchase
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A Lot of Potential But Issues with Execution of the Product
by Phoenix (3 out of 5 stars)
November 21, 2016

If you are using these as an activity tracker, they may work very well for you. If however, you are using them for the GPS features the product is supposed to provide, you may be a disappointed.

Setup is not hard at all. First you need to charge the inserts for a minimum of 2 hours (the part that vibrates that you put in the insoles or, if you have shoe laces, you can put them in the provided shoe lace inserts). Charging the inserts is easy and is done via a USB cable which is connected to a "box" that each insert slides into. Then you need to download an app on your phone as well as do a firmware update. The update took about three or four minutes and setting up the app only took a few minutes as well.

Using the app you can track your activity and you can, theoretically, use the inserts to navigate from any destination you enter into the app. The app also lets you to set default "Home" and "Work" destinations. Unfortunately, the inserts did not work for me as they are intended to. While they are tracking activity, I can feel absolutely no GPS navigation from them even though I have the vibrate setting set to high (you can adjust the setting). No matter what we did or how many times we re-calibrated the inserts we could not get them to navigate for us. If one is using this to navigate a strange city, as the product page suggests, then that is going to be a huge problem since you won't have any idea where to go unless you use the app to direct you, which it will do, but then you can do that with any GPS app and don't necessarily need shoe inserts to do it which negates the need for the product.

Another problem I had with these is the comfort level. I have chronic pain so my situation is a bit unique but I found these inserts to be very uncomfortable and I can't use the shoelace option as my shoes don't have laces. I could perhaps stand wearing them for an hour or so but anything more than that and my feet would be in absolute agony.

Overall, the concept is great and if the product actually navigated properly I'd give this a full five stars. However, we spent hours trying to get the inserts to actually navigate and vibrate and no matter what we did they did not work. That issue, combined with the comfort problem, makes me feel that while this product has great potential the execution needs to be a bit more thought out. They should work on making the inserts a bit more comfortable or offering different styles (an arch support style for those who need it, extra cushioning such as a gel insert for those who need that, etc.) and they really need to work on making navigation more intuitive and something that will actually work. Other than that, as an activity tracker, they work just fine. Just don't count on them to help you find your way to or from home.
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the product is not bad, Its not to useful
by Victor (1 out of 5 stars)
May 25, 2017

Well, the product is not bad, Its not to useful.
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Novelty wore off quickly, now I can't even get them to work
by Larson (1 out of 5 stars)
November 23, 2016

I was hoping I could use my Google account to register with this, but it just gives a "Login failed" message and won't proceed. I gave up and just registered a Lechal account.

I had these working for a very brief time, but I now they absolutely refuse to work. My phone detects them, but they won't register. It gets to the Pods found page, shows Lechal pods with every green bar lit up, but when I select that it pops up with a little message at the bottom that says "Pods not connected" and goes through the Scanning Pods process again, over and over.

I've tried resetting the pods by tapping on the textured side, but that doesn't seem to help at all.

The insoles also aren't as comfortable as I'd like. In order to protect the pods, the insoles have a hard underbody, which means that it feels like I'm standing on something hard all day long.
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SIMPLY SUPERB !!!
by Chris D. (5 out of 5 stars)
November 21, 2016

My wife gifted me these smart insoles for my birthday. I had not heard about this product before and must admit that at first, I thought the concept of vibrating footwear was interesting :) But after playing around with this product for a while, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.

For starters, the packaging is brilliant and premium. The setup was quite easy. I downloaded the iPhone app and the setup was pretty straightforward. One of the first things the app had me do was upgrade the firmware on the pods. That took about 2 minutes, but was pretty seamless.

I had the large insoles that needed to be trimmed to my size. This was my first time using insoles so I was not quite sure if I was doing the right thing. However, the size markers at the back of the insoles were a useful guide. Wearing the insoles for the first time did feel a bit strange at first. But after about 10 minutes of using it, my shoes felt like normal and you couldn't tell the difference. The fit and comfort was just like before. I think the manufacturers have done a great job with the design of the insole.

The app has a vibration tutorial section which is helpful for getting used to the vibration patterns. The intensity of the vibration can be adjusted, so that was great.

The navigation feature is absolutely brilliant. And the best part is they allow you to download the entire map (by state or country) to your phone. This is really helpful because I live in an area with not the best cell network so the offline map feature is really helpful and the response is very quick (especially when re-routing). The vibration patterns are pretty simple and after a couple times using it I got the hang of it. I later figured out that while navigating they also have a "simple vibration" option that gives you fewer vibration alerts. This is great once you get used to the product.

My wife and I were in Chicago for the weekend and I decided to use the insoles to walk to a restaurant a couple miles away from our hotel. The experience was great and I must tell you that not having to take your cellphone out in the cold was a real blessing. Interestingly, I have been using the product while I drive and it works really great there as well.

From the activity tracking side, it appears to be much more accurate than my wrist worn wearable (may be the fact that it's at my feet has something to do that). There are a lot of other features from the fitness side that I have not yet tried.

Also the product I purchased included a couple of holders that could be laced onto shoes and the same pods fit in them. I actually laced them up on my formal shoes and it looks and works great there as well.

The battery life is really good. I have been using my insoles for almost 10 days now and I still have 65% of my battery still left.

Overall, a great product. I LOVE IT!!!!!
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User Friendly
by Mujahid (5 out of 5 stars)
May 31, 2017

I've been using the insoles for over 3 months now. The navigation, the fitness track and every part of it is very user friendly. I wanted something that can track my fitness and should be user friendly for a beginner like me, and it does that all with ease. Though did not buy it on Amazon, but still submitting my inputs here. I hope this will help other people to make better buying choice.
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Great product from a promising startup
by Amazon Customer (4 out of 5 stars)
March 4, 2017

I tracked Lechal's progress since the company's inception. Like every startup product, Lechal too disappointed in meeting delivery timelines. But, the product they delivered finally lived up to every promise they made. This an innovative product with a sense of style. I love to walk around in my Lechal shoes, use the navigation feature extensively, and brag about these 'cool' pods to anyone who'd listen.

If i were to identify some weak points, I'd point out the less than impressive battery life of the pods and the fact that i have to re-sync them to the app every day.
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My favorite wearable so far...
by Brad G (5 out of 5 stars)
January 13, 2017

I was following this product for a long time and waited quite a bit to receive it. I have owned it for over 2 weeks and It has more than lived up to my expectations!

I've only charged it once since I got it and it's still got some juice left.

I was able to pair it to my mobile with no problems.

The Navigation is real easy and simple to use. The offline maps work great as well.

The fitness tracking is very accurate and I like that it syncs with my apple health.

Great device so far. Would definitely recommend it!!
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Kudos to Lechal for the wonderful product!!!
by Stephen (5 out of 5 stars)
January 18, 2017

I have used other wearable technology for fitness and my phone for navigation, but this product is very different from all of those - Once you slip the Lechal insoles into your shoes and connect it to the app on your phone it acts as a guide and routes you to the destination through vibrations on your feet.

Initially I faced difficulty in connecting to the app but after I updated the Lechal App (2.0.10) and the firmware the issue was solved and it's quite good apart from occasional glitches.

Insoles are a bit hard and initially one will not be so comfortable, but after wearing it for couple of days it seems fine.

Overall, it's a great product and I would say - go for it.

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