How to prevent getting sunburned with the Microsoft Band 2

Long exposure to ultraviolet light can damage your skin and eyes that may result in health problems, weaken your immune system, and cause skin cancer. It can be prevented with proper use of sunscreen and clothing coverage. The Microsoft Band 2 can help by letting you know the current UV index. It is the measurement of the intensity of the UV radiation from the sun on a scale of one to 11, with one being low risk and 11 being an extreme risk.

How do you check the UV index on the Microsoft Band 2? We'll show you.

1. Enable the UV tile. On your phone, open the Microsoft Health app, tap the hamburger button, and tap Manage tiles. The UV tile is off by default. Use the slider to turn it on, and then hit the save button.

2. On your Microsoft Band 2, press the power button, and tap the UV tile.

3. Press the Action button to check the UV level.

4. Face the clasp of the Band towards the sky for a few seconds and then the UV Index will be displayed.

What can you do with this information? Use this table from Microsoft as a guide.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

UV Index	What to do
1, 2 (Low)	If you burn easily, cover up and use SPF 30+.
3, 4, 5 (Moderate)	Wear a hat, sunglasses, and SPF 30+ (reapply every two hours). Seek shade at midday.
6, 7 (High)	Reduce time in the sun at midday. Cover up and apply SPF 30+ every two hours.
8, 9, 10 (Very High)	Minimize time in the sun at midday. Apply SPF 30+ every two hours, even when it's cloudy. Be sure to cover up.
11 (Extreme)	Avoid the sun at midday and apply SPF 30+ every two hours, even when it's cloudy. Protective clothing recommended.

For even more protection, you can set UV exposure reminders. Tap the UV tile, swipe left and change the UV reminder option to On.

If your Microsoft Band 2 detects exposure to UV light, it alerts you if you continue to be exposed. You can choose a reminder cadence from 30 minutes to 120 minutes. Pick a longer cadence if you're sufficiently protected with sunblock and clothing, and a shorter cadence if you want to be reminded to get out of the sun.

Is UV monitoring important to you? Will you be using it on the Microsoft Band 2? Let us know in the comments!

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Mark Guim is Video Editor at Windows Central. He switched to Windows because the MacBook Pro isn't Pro enough. You can follow him on Twitter at @markguim.

42 Comments

Could have used the new reminder features during RAGBRAI this last summer.
From the title I thought the Microsoft band had a problem where it sunburned you
You are not the only one that thought that ;)
I, on the other hand, first thought "ooh, they have some tips on how not to get a Band-shaped tan line on your arm..."
Lol
Same here. I was so worried because I plan on getting one.
All I thought was Nokia went from being the manliest hammer this nail in a 2x4 with your phone manufacturer, throw your phone at the police during a riot (not recommended, that's f'n dangerous), etc... To Microsoft purchasing them and here ya go hipsters, don't wanna get a burn... You know exactly how that voice sounded in your head. O_O
The Microsoft Sun Banned 2
I can prevent it with common sense (it's not an app)
This sort of implies people never get sunburned, lol. People with fair skin have to be a little more conscious of it.
Good point
I have almost ghostly white skin. Exposure to the sun sets me off on a sneezing rampage with enough force to trigger an earthquake. But I can see this being useful with my mum who cooks like a lobster in the sun.
Lol
Have you ever seen the formula for determining that UV number? It's far more complex than you may expect. Latitude, altitude, ozone levels, cloud cover percentage, several different wavelengths of light, scatter percentage.
Finally a reason for me to get a Band 2. Does the Band 1 also have this feature?
The band 1 has this feature but I don't think it is as advanced. I see in the screenshots above that it can remind you when it gets too high automatically, the Band v1 cannot do that. But otherwise, the Band v1 does tell you the UV conditions.
Get the band 2, curved glass is awesome.
If I remember correctly Band 1 had on demnad while Band 2 has polling and alerts without user interaction.
Thanks for the replies!
Will be nice for next summer, but I don't like UV sensor on the clasp. I prefer screen out of wrist, because it get scratches in a moment when you put hands on table etc. with screen inside, and monitoring feature might be useless when clasp will be inside of wrist :(
Band 2 screen appears to be much more durable. I wear it face-inside at a desk all day and it's crystal clear still. Granted denominator is 5 days but my Band 1 was already scuffed in the same amount of time as I recall. No screen protector on either; the scratches didn't bother me.
I know about gorilla glass, but even my L930 got scratches after few times it was placed with screen down. Not so obvious as on Band 1 after few hours but still unpleasant.
Thanks for comment with your experience, maybe I'll give it a try in a month when my device will arrive :)
Fully agree with your reasoning that having the clasp on the inside makes the continuous uv feature useless and as ' outsider ' this affects that usage. However I barely used the uv feature just a few times to see what the reading would be. But, what kind of table tops do you sport? Sandpaper with diamonds? I never think twice how to put down my phone, on wood or stone and never had scratches in the glass smart phone era, wp era if you will.
Lacquered wood tables or something like tables with plastic coating oustide of cafe etc. Some hard breadcrumb or some big parts from dust leaves tiny scratches that sometimes gives you bright spots when you are watching videos or reading text on white background. I'm mot talking about deep scrathes. I don't have them on L930, but I've got several noticable scratches on side of B1 which contacted with table almost all the time I worked with computers and tried to wear it inside. Just because there were somepressure(low keyboard) so any hard particle might leave pretty noticable scratch. I'll hope that new rounded design and glass won't have this problem.
Concur abt b1, looked old in a few months. The b2 glass i have full confidence in. The rubber being through and through, i expect to show relatively little scuffing, like the polycarbonate being through and through. yet the metal, well we'll see, i expect to scratch. I don't really mind that, but it is why i prefer 'plastic' phones. The genius of the 950 is that after two years, a cover switch wil rejuvenate it instantly, what ever scratching
My band 2 suffered a scratch on day one. It is way off to the side, but it has already happened. I do wear it on the inside of my wrist to try it out that way. My band 1 was worn on the outside. Screen protector has been on order - arriving today. Maybe that will hide the scratch!
You could always just lift your hands up in the air, and wave them around like you just don't care. On a more serious note, while you're walking, your hands probably won't be static by your side, so it's still going to get some exposure as you move your arms. And going back to my first point, you should try waving your arms about when you go outside... it's very liberating... ;-)
This didn't answer the question I had: does Band 2 continuously read UV without user action, or must you interact with the UV tile to take a reading (and the reminders commence for the day or until you stop them?) I can't tell because it's low-UV season here, but it appears its the later, since both your article and the help article from Microsoft never once mention anything about readings other than by tapping the tile.
On band 2 you won't need to interact with the UV tile. It reads your UV exposure(as long as you're not blocking the UV sensor) 24/7.
It's always extreme according to the weather app on my city
For the record, the UV index goes higher than 11 :P
I live in PHX, AZ in the US, I know.y fair Scottish skin does not like the sun
Is Band 2 for US & UK only?
US Canada and UK. Since UK is in EU all EU countries can buy it with no additional costs or delays (delivered in max 3 days for less than 5€).
I wonder how much girth (and cost) this feature added to the Band2. I could easily do without it. And I say this as the owner of a B1 and B2.
Doubtful it added anything to the physical size of the devices, considering the UV sensor is essentially a light sensor tuned to ultraviolet wavelengths. As for the UV app, compared to the others it was probably one of the easiest to write.
good tip, setting the UV Reminder on, didn't know about that! doing it as we speak...
I know the Band 1 doesn't do the continuous monitoring, but I could never get it to detect any UV light in a spot check when I tried it, so just removed the tile in the end - Sounds like it may work better in all cases on the Band 2
How to stop sunburn? Move to the UK.....no chance here! ;-)
Nice! Will use this feature frequently whenever (or if?!) Band2 is released in Europe.
Arriving 20 Nov 2015 - 23 Nov 2015 Pre-ordered Microsoft Band 2 - Medium Sold by: Amazon EU S.a.r.L. £202.31
I got burned by just using OneDrive.

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